Final Word

Set the record straight

I find it ironic that in an article on Web accuracy, the author got the chronology of the Web itself wrong in the article sidebar.

For a brief and authoritative history, see the CERN site, http://info.cern.ch, where you will find that the Web was conceptualized by Tim Berners-Lee in March 1989; it became operational in 1990.

The pivotal point in diffusion was really the Mosaic browser, integrating text and graphics and helping more people to see the potential of the Web. It was in 1992 when scientists at NCSA connected to the server at CERN and began the project to create the Mosaic browser in late 1992 and early 1993.

I remember this chronology reasonably well, having set up a Web server in November 1993 and having written my computer science master's thesis at UNC-Chapel Hill on using the Web as an applications development platform in 1994/5.

Joel Dunn,

Chapel Hill

There's another way

Librarians know that much of what is swept up in a Google search is unreliable. All North Carolinians should know that they have an incredibly rich and comprehensive alternative. It is called NC LIVE, which for the past 10 years has offered the citizens of North Carolina online access to a diverse collection of electronic resources including complete articles from over 16,000 newspapers, journals, magazines and encyclopedias, indexing for over 25,000 periodical titles, and access to over 25,000 online print and audio books.

For children, there is a special section that includes several encyclopedias and indexes to full-text articles from children's magazines. There are test-practice opportunities for GED, PSAT, to MCAT and LSAT, to name only a few. There is an incredible amount of historical and genealogical information. There is an abundance of medical information. Only superlatives are adequate to describe these resources, which have been carefully chosen by NC LIVE's governing and advisory committees.

NC LIVE is free to all citizens through libraries -- public, university and college. ...

NC LIVE can be accessed from home by anyone connected to the Internet. The only thing needed is a library card (which everyone should have) and a password. These can be obtained from any public library. Many libraries offer workshops or classes to guide new users.

Martha Tesoro

Rocky Mount