Title page Introduction Internet Teaching file Sharing Conclusion References
Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Figure 1 Figure 2

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a world wide collection of computer networks that can communicate with each other using a common set of protocols. Typical functions include electronic mail, electronic news, transfer of files, and the ability to login to a remote computer. More recently, protocols which allow the average person to find and use remote resources have been introduced. Gopher is a protocol developed at the University of Minnesota, which allows searching of tree structures, which are similar to computer directories, but the elements of the tree can be located on any computer in the world which is a gopher server.

The World-Wide-Web protocol, developed at CERN (17), the European high energy physics laboratory, allows links in one document to point to other documents located on any computer which is a World-Wide-Web server. The links can point to text, images, movies, and sounds, making it possible to create multimedia documents. In addition the protocol can support most of the other functions of the Internet, electronic mail, electronic news, file transfer, remote login, and the gopher protocol. The World-Wide-Web is a very general mechanism for client / server interaction. A client program running on a personal computer can access a wide variety of information from different server computers all over the world. Table 1 lists a few of the server sites which are of interest to the Nuclear Medicine community.

How to Get Connected to the Internet

To utilize the Internet you must have access to a computer that is connected to the Internet. This computer may be at your desktop or it may be a remote computer that you log into by modem. Relying on a remote computer limits what Internet services can be used. The goal will be, therefore, to directly connect your desktop computer to the Internet.

To connect your desktop computer directly to the Internet, network cabling must be brought to your desktop computer. A network interface card, usually Ethernet or token ring, must be present in your system to receive the network cable. Software, including Internet network communications software (TCP/IP) and all Internet tools, must also be installed on your computer. Your computer is given a unique Internet name and address, which is obtained from your organization's computer management group. Once configured, your computer becomes a fully functioning node on the Internet. All the Internet tools installed on your system, including World-Wide-Web clients, execute at your desktop computer and do not rely on the capability of another computer system.

At home, or in the absence of network cabling at work, a direct Internet connection can be made through a modem. The Internet communication software required utilizes either SLIP (Serial-Line Internet Protocol) or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) network communication protocols that direct network traffic though your modem instead of a network interface card. The SLIP or PPP software is configured to dial the telephone number of an Internet provider's modem that has a direct connection to the Internet. The Internet provider may be your company, hospital, University, or a commercial fee-for-service Internet Provider (a list of providers can be found on LUNIS). The Commercial providers are numerous and can be reached, at least in major metropolitan areas, with a local telephone call.

Minimum Nuclear Medicine Configuration

The minimum computer configuration for Nuclear Medicine should include the capability for using Mosaic or other World-Wide-Web browsers that require a colorized graphical-user-interface. The ability to play digital audio recordings is desirable but may not be necessary. Many computer platforms support World Wide Web browsers, including Macintosh, Windows for MS-DOS, and the X-windows user interface for UNIX. For efficient use of these browsers, a late model computer is required that has at least 5 megabytes of main memory, 100 megabytes of disk storage, and a high-resolution 8-bit color display. For SLIP or PPP connections to the Internet, a modem capable of at least 14,400 bits/sec (preferably 28,800 bits/sec) with data compression and error correction capabilities should be used. At the very minimum a 9600 bits/sec modem may be used.

Reprinted by permission of the Society of Nuclear Medicine from: Parker JA, et al.: Collaboration using Internet for development of case-based teaching files. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 1996; 37:178-184.

Title page Introduction Internet Teaching file Sharing Conclusion References
Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Figure 1 Figure 2