E-mail, the Internet, and information access technology in pathology

In the Age of Information, the Internet has become a fast, powerful, international information resource that has forever transformed the way we view and use information. The need to quickly access, search, and manage information has grown into a challenging task as the amount of information that is available has grown exponentially over the past few years. As people venture onto this growing information superhighway, traveling may be fast and easy for the expert user, but for most, the trip can be intimidating. For the pathologist who faces overwhelming amounts of printed information today, there is an increasing need for tools to manage medical informatics. The Internet has become the toolbox for many to efficiently search, find and manage information. However, just as the information itself steadily becomes more and more abundant and complex, the Internet continues to grow more and more sophisticated. This sophistication oftentimes leads to more confusion and may actually limit its potential to users. In an attempt to demystify the Internet, this article will discuss its basic features and functions with a focus on information resources available to the pathologist such as E-mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web. Knowledgeable use of the Internet and its vast resources will greatly increase the quality of patient care.