NATURAL-RESOURCES RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET - POSSIBILITIES AND PITFALLS

Recent development of the Internet and World Wide Web provides a myria d of new possibilities for practicing research activities such as info rmation and data collection, research collaboration, result disseminat ion, and scholarly publishing. This paper provides a brief introductio n to the Internet and a functional classification of Internet resource s currently available to natural resources researchers. Four nonexclus ive resource types identified are organizational home pages, repositor ies/archives, collective directories, and forums. Examples are provide d for describing each of the Internet resource types. The distinctive characteristics of the Internet as a research tool include its enormou s and ever-growing information base, global and round-the-clock access , hypertext and hypermedia capabilities, instantaneousness, decentrali zed structure, and relative low cost. New possibilities and problems o ften coexist for each distinctive characteristic, and they are compare d and contrasted using natural resources examples. Recognition and und erstanding of such promises and limits of the Internet as a research t ool are imperative as researchers move into the information age.