Resources for Population Studies on the World Wide Web.

This document provides a brief introduction to the population resources available on the World Wide Web. The introduction contains a basic description of the Internet the Web and the use of "hypertext" to gain cross-references. Next two methods of assessing Web material are covered: 1) use of a browser (directions are provided for using Lynx and Netscape Navigator) and 2) providing a specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address (the components of these addresses are explained). The paper continues by suggesting that previously compiled subject resource guides can be used to achieve time-efficient searches and addresses of useful population-related resource guides are listed. The alternative method of using search tools is the next subject covered and the addresses of the most commonly used search tools are given. To illustrate how the range of "hits" will differ because search tools operate differently a table compares the results of population-related searches using the search engines Yahoo Lycos Excite Magellan and Infoseek. Consideration is then given to the demographic software available on the Web (and it is noted that most of this software is free to educational users) as well as to the rapidly increasing array of demographic data provided by such institutions as the UN the US Bureau of the Census and the Population Reference Bureau. A list is provided of electronic journals books conference documents and newspapers available on the Web. Addresses and use instructions are provided for bibliographic resources such as the Population Index the Johns Hopkins University database POPLINE and MEDLINE. It is concluded that this wealth of material has dramatically improved access to information and that the capabilities offered by the Web are only beginning to be understood and appreciated by those working in the field of population.