The Internet is a decentralised worldwide network of computers. No one owns it and virtually all development has been undertaken by committed individuals responding to perceived deficiencies in systems or protocols, and solving technical problems as they arose. Anyone with access to a machine connected to the Internet has access to information on virtually any subject and can offer their own information to the rest of the Internet community. Much of the information available is free and, in effect, the participants barter their wares. To a newcomer it may look like a bizarre world inhabited by computer freaks and hackers, but closer examination reveals a colourful and varied electronic marketplace: a bazaar where custom and practice may appear alien to the newcomer. Originally the participants were almost exclusively computer scientists who had the technical know-how and equipment to exchange information electronically, but improvements in telecommunications and software have enabled access by a much wider community so that the Internet is now developing into a vital piece of information infrastructure through which it will be possible to transmit not just text but also images and video.This paper provides an overview of the Internet: what it is, where it came from and what it offers. It introduces some of the information management tools available and provides guidance on connection. Some comments are made on the implications of the Internet for the information community, drawing on the experience of the Turing Institute's Information Unit which specialises in the provision of information services on advanced computing.Attention is drawn to policy developments in the UK and in the USA, where the creation of an information infrastructure is seen by government and industry as central to economic development. In conclusion it is suggested that the role of librarians and information scientists might be as traders who negotiate and barter with the merchants, tourists, beggars, thieves, fakirs and snake charmers who inhabit this eclectic information bazaar.
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