Media Information Systems - Assignment Example

1) E-Mail: E-mail or electronic mail is a method of exchanging information over electronic networks in digital form. E-Mail entails the sending and receiving of messages encrypted and otherwise through the internet and networks that make use of the SMTP (Standard Mail Transfer Protocol) mechanism. It is a convenient method to send and receive messages in the digital form. E-mail can be used for multiple purposes that include business and personal uses. The mechanism through which E-Mail works is by having a client side receive and send the messages, a server that stores the messages and forwards it to the appropriate users and the kind of protocol used for the exchange, Specific examples of E-mail are Yahoo Mail, Google Mail or Gmail and mail services provided by other vendors of software. Usenet Newsgroups: Usenet Newsgroups are repositories of information within the Usenet system, for messages posted by members of the groups from multiple locations. Usenet newsgroups are functionally similar to discussion forums on the World Wide Web but are technically different from these. The term Usenet Newsgroup is used to denote user groups within the Usenet community who participate in discussions and other exchange of information by sharing news and views about a particular subject. The examples of Usenet Newsgroups are: “list.soc. culture.US”, that deals with the discussion and exchange of information pertaining to the cultural happenings in the US. These newsgroups can be used to exchange information regarding the particular subject and ensure that the users are up-to-date with the current information. LISTSERV’s: A Listserv is a collection of e-mail ids of users who form a group and can receive and send mail from the other members of the group. Unlike normal email that reaches a particular recipient, the messages sent by LISTSERV reach all the people in the list of email id’s that are contained within the LISTSERV. The LISTSERV acts as a facilitator for sending and receiving emails to a particular group of people. Specific examples of LISTSERV’s include those that are used for business purposes in various companies where a LISTSERV is created around users who have a commonality in terms of departments or functional grouping. The LISTSERV’s help people of similar disposition to group together and send and receive messages pertaining to the group. Chatting and Instant Messaging: Chatting and Instant Messaging are real-time exchange of information that differs from e-mail in the synchronicity with which the chats are sent and which dictates the exchange of information in real time as opposed to the email and other mechanisms that take time to reach the intended recipient. The IM or Instant Messaging can take place between two or more people using personal computers and is highly effective in the exchange of information across the networks. File Transfer Protocol (FTP): FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to copy files across a network that uses TCP/IP as the protocol for file sharing. The FTP uses standard protocols in use by the networks like the internet for sharing and exchanging files between different groups of people. The FTP relies on a common protocol to transfer the files and hence can be used by users belonging to different geographical locations to transfer the files securely and reliably. World Wide Web: WWW or World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the internet. By using a web browser, one can access images, text and multimedia files over the internet using the protocols for exchange of information. The WWW relies on getting together users from different locations by use of a standard protocol and can be used to link together the people and systems participating in such an exchange. 2) The previous question listed the definitions of the various services and how they are used for various purposes. To understand the uses of the various services for the benefit of a business: E-Mail can be used to exchange information between employees belonging to different departments and functional groups as well as geographical locations. The use of email is indeed widespread among business users and the various uses of the medium are indeed beneficial to the businesses for rapid exchange of information. Usenet Newsgroups can be used as discussion forums to exchange news and other happenings within the company by different employees. Though Usenet Newsgroups are not used as pervasively as E-mail, nonetheless, the newsgroups derived from the same idea are used in businesses. LISTSERV’s can be built around different departments and can be used as mailing lists that have been created for a specific purpose. These are used to a large extent by the departments in a business for which exchange of information is needed. Chatting and Instant Messaging can be used to exchange information in real time between employees belonging to the same department, different department, spread across different geographical locations and different functional groupings. The advantage of IM is that real time exchange of information can take place as opposed to email. FTP can be used to transfer the files needed by a particular user from a different user who has them. FTP is rather convenient for those who want to download and upload large files in a quick manner. FTP can be used for transfer of large bits of information across the network in a timely and specific manner without data loss. This lends itself to multiple uses for businesses. World Wide Web can be used for business as well as personal purposes in an organization and the business stands to gain because of the way in which the users can access information at their fingertips. The WWW can be used to access and publish information pertaining to the business. Hence, it can be used for information exchange as well as a promotional tool. 3) E-mail: http://gmail.google.com This is an example of a mail service that can be used by businesses. Usenet News Groups: news.admin.net-abuse. Email LISTSERV’s: www.lsoft.com/listserv.stm Chatting and Instant Messaging: gtalk.google.com. This is an example of real time chatting software. FTP: World Wide Web: http://www.microsoft.com. This is an example of a website that can be used to promote one’s business online. References Information Retrieved from: www.w3.org (Accessed July 30, 2010) Read More