A chance to get up to speed on the Internet and World
Wide Web as new local group is launched.
You can hardly look anywhere today without seeing references to the Internet
and World Wide Web. Children are using it to help with their homework, families
to get bargains, to plan holidays or interests and the government want all
businesses to get on line. Already some larger businesses are no longer going
to deal with businesses that are not able to cope with the Internet. Up to
now this has presented a major problem to all those not up to speed in this
area, but this new club hopes to overcome this. A part of our plans involve
a new section of the World Wide Web to cover each area.
The New Atlantis Internet Club (NAIC) has just been established to help both
individuals and small businesses to catch up. New Atlantis is a non-profit
organisation that runs a large number of national clubs and over the years
has helped people in many other areas.
The NAIC has two classes of member's individuals and businesses, membership
for individuals costs just £10 a year, and businesses £25 a year.
For this you get a number of workbooks that lead you through the basics,
and up to the point where you are ready to use the Internet. It includes
looking at various ways to get on line, including buying a computer or a
box to connect up to your television, and even finding libraries and other
places where you can access the Internet. For some a way to find out if it
is for them before jumping fully in. One workbook covers a range of the free
and subscription services available and looks at email, Web space and other
services.
Once you reach the point where you can connect up, you get an on line address
to the clubs site, and of course details on how to reach it, where you can
go to learn more, and get details on a range of other club help available.
Members get a free e-mail address, and password, and it is this account name
and password that gets them to the members only part of the site. Details
on this is included within the workbooks.
Most of this online help is in the form of tutorials and pointers telling
you where to get free space, free software and introducing you to areas that
you need to look at. In each case explaining how to use an Internet area
or service before pointing to where to go to gain experience or practice.
Using tags that when you click on them they take you direct to the site or
service being explained. It covers using search engines to find information,
using email, chat and news groups, and mailing lists. On line shops and a
range of other services from stockbrokers to banks are also looked at. You
get to know where to go to find a local business with details and a map of
where they are, to find train and other timetables and it even tells you
how to go about setting up your own web pages, with exercises that are in
themselves really useful.
If anyone has problems they can just email their problem for help. The club
is currently experimenting with an Internet phone system that they hope to
make available (free) to members that will allow members to talk together
and to a support number, as well as other New Atlantis members around the
world.
Using the club web site allows the club to keep down costs, and to keep the
information up to date and to go on developing the material as the Internet
goes on developing.
Although the club itself covers the whole of the UK, some of the sections
on the Internet site are very local allowing you to chat to people like yourself
in your own area, and comparing notes along your journey of discovery. While
learning, members will also create extra new local sections of the World
Wide Web. The club will create and maintain a local index page, while individual
members will create and maintain specific pages or sections on a specific
topic or topics of their choice. If you think of this as a tree, each member
is responsible for adding their own branch or twig, and helping to identify
other local sites or web addresses that can be linked. By this means overall
a magnificent tree will be formed, covering the whole of the UK, with one
branch concentrating on each area. This will all be accessible to everyone
world-wide and become a part of the New Atlantis web site www.new-atlantis.org
(this site).
Business members also get a series of workbooks covering e-commerce, ranging
from setting up your own web site to setting up an electronic shop. It looks
at the range of methods and services available, at taking payments over the
net, and how to get the customers you have now plus a lot of new ones to
get to see your web site. How to register a unique web address and other
business related topics. They also look at using the Internet for telephone
calls, which allows businesses in Britain to call anywhere in the world at
a penny a minute. The aim is to allow small businesses to use the many free
services available and to manage their own site without needing to use
consultants.
Members are also encouraged to offer help and advice to other members through
the web site, and to suggest other help that the club could provide.
Go now to the membership registration form to print
out.
