I've mentioned a few times already that the World Wide Web is growing at an incredible rate. On average, I learn about a new art resource or project on the Web just about every day. The Web has several distinct advantages over Gopher and even telnet and FTP. On the one hand, it's possible to present an attractive document complete with fonts, effects, imagery, and sound. Second, the organizational aspect of your material need not be as a static list. It is possible to place hypertext references within a freewheeling prose. Third, to some extent you have greater control over your unique way of presenting links to the Web. In Gopher, as an example, if I organize a directory where I've researched and found many Usenet groups that relate to art, any other Gopher can simply point to this directory, give it a new name, and effectively now "own" this directory, too. I don't happen to mind this because that's the nature of Gopherspace. The Web, however, has a little bit more ability to be proprietary—a reference to another document at a site can be nested so that the initial home page is the only path to the work. Of course, any URL reference that's accessible via the Web is up for grabs. Finally, the fourth advantage is that Web browsers can run a Gopher, telnet, or FTP session. Additional advantages exist in the individual software. Lynx, for example, has the ability to mail a comment to the owner of a document.
The home-spun nature of home pages have made them an attractive option to many people looking to put information on the network. The only disadvantage I see is that the Web is mapped in a somewhat free form way. This makes it both an adventure and a challenge for those looking to present work and those looking to find work. It does seem, though, that good ideas have a way of getting through and surviving. Once a home page begins to be cross referenced by one or two major sites, the awareness and participation, if any is called for, grows geometrically.
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