Liturgical chant bibliography 4

Extract

Anyone who pays attention to the popular news media will have read or heard a lot lately about the rapidly expanding international network of computer networks known as the Internet. Though the Internet was originally developed by the universities to support international research cooperation and the exchange of scholarly information, the hardware and software have become so cheap and easily available that many commercial firms, non-educational organizations and individuals are now connected to the Internet also. The most explosive growth has been in the multimedia portion of the Internet, known as the World Wide Web, which is able to transmit computerized image, video and sound files as well as text. The lack of any central authority that can regulate or moderate the content of Internet communications has forced governments and citizens to become increasingly embroiled in issues of free speech, fair trade and community responsibility – yet despite the empty chatter, political grandstanding, sales hype and pornography, the Internet remains an unparalleled and unprecedented medium of valuable information, much of which would otherwise be unavailable to many, or available only with extensive travel, inconvenience or expense. The quantity of such information increases daily, and it includes much that is helpful to serious students of medieval music and chant.