In the preface to the first edition. I posed the question "Why another book about the Internet?" The answer I gave then still applies today: although there arc many excellent books on networking, the Internet. HTML. Web design. Web programming. XML. and Web searching, there remains a need for a single survey text that explores these topics holistically In the context of the knowledge and skills needed by those preparing to enter Information technology (IT) Intensive fields such as library and Information science (LIS), business and management Information systems (MIS), and decision science (D1S). Many professions arc Increasingly dependent on these technologies, and this second edition Is Intended to serve as a text for a survey course introducing these Interrelated Internet technologies and applications. It provides an overview of how they work, how the}' arc evolving, and why they arc Important. My goal Is to support courses In LIS or other disciplines that arc aimed at students who arc not technology experts but who find their chosen field mandates an understanding of many technical topics that they may not have encountered In their previous studies. I have drawn on 20 years of experience teaching technology topics to nontechnical audiences at a level that sufficiently addresses the subject without overwhelming those lacking a background in IT. Thus, this book provides an overview of these technologies and builds the foundation necessary to enable the student or practitioner to explore them more fully in subsequent courses or In professional practice. Obviously, because all these technologies have themselves been the subject of entire books. It Is clear that this text cannot reflect the full depth to urhich each could be explored. There arc places where this text Is deliberately more "horizontal" than "vertical* and therefore tends to be a "mile wide and Inches deep" (well, perhaps "yards" deep). Such an approach Is In keeping with both Its survey nature and its Intended nonexpert audience. A major challenge for