The Internet

How are we to study a subject so slippery, so rapidly evolving? It hardly matters where we start, so let's look at Annie and ask what the Library of Congress has to say:
You searched for the SUBJECT: internet W&L CATALOG
98 SUBJECTS found, with 488 entries; SUBJECTS 1-8 are:
1 Internet Access For Library Users Law And Legislation U 2
2 Internet Access For Library Users United States ....... 2
3 Internet Access Providers --> See INTERNET SERVICE PROV 1
4 Internet Addresses Directories ........................ 2
5 Internet Addresses Government Policy United States .... 4
6 Internet Advertising .................................. 8
7 Internet Advertising Computer Network Resources ....... 2
8 Internet Advertising Corrupt Practices United States .. 2
9 Internet Advertising Directories ...................... 2
10 Internet Advertising Law And Legislation United States 1
11 Internet Advertising Rates ............................ 2
12 Internet Banking United States ........................ 2
13 Internet Commerce --> See ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ......... 1
14 Internet Computer Network --> See also WORLD WIDE WEB ( 1
15 Internet Computer Network ............................. 171
16 Internet Computer Network And Children ................ 2
17 Internet Computer Network And Children United States .. 18
18 Internet Computer Network And Children United States Ha 2
19 Internet Computer Network Censorship United States .... 1
20 Internet Computer Network Congresses .................. 3
21 Internet Computer Network Dictionaries ................ 3
22 Internet Computer Network Directories ................. 13
23 Internet Computer Network Economic Aspects ............ 3
24 Internet Computer Network Economic Aspects Congresses . 1
25 Internet Computer Network Economic Aspects United State 1
26 Internet Computer Network Former Soviet Republics Direc 1
27 Internet Computer Network Government Policy ........... 1
28 Internet Computer Network Government Policy Congresses 1
29 Internet Computer Network Government Policy United Stat 2
30 Internet Computer Network Handbooks Manuals Etc ....... 18
31 Internet Computer Network History ..................... 4
32 Internet Computer Network History Juvenile Literature . 1
33 Internet Computer Network In Education ................ 6
34 Internet Computer Network In Education Law And Legislat 1
35 Internet Computer Network In Education United States .. 4
36 Internet Computer Network In Medicine ................. 1
37 Internet Computer Network In Medicine Law And Legislati 1
38 Internet Computer Network Japan United States ......... 1
39 Internet Computer Network Law And Legislation ......... 2
40 Internet Computer Network Law And Legislation C ....... 1
41 Internet Computer Network Law And Legislation China ... 1
42 Internet Computer Network Law And Legislation United St 8
43 Internet Computer Network Moral And Ethical Aspects ... 1
44 Internet Computer Network Periodicals ................. 1
45 Internet Computer Network Political Aspects ........... 5
46 Internet Computer Network Political Aspects United Stat 1
47 Internet Computer Network Prices Congresses ........... 1
48 Internet Computer Network Psychological Aspects ....... 1
49 Internet Computer Network Russia Federation ........... 1
50 Internet Computer Network Security Measures ........... 7
51 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects .............. 22
52 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects Mexico ....... 1
53 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects Periodicals .. 1
54 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects Pictorial Work 1
55 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects Research Metho 1
56 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects United States 1
57 Internet Computer Network Social Aspects United States 1
58 Internet Computer Network Sources ..................... 1
59 Internet Computer Network Study And Teaching Handbooks 1
60 Internet Computer Network Technological Innovations ... 4
61 Internet Computer Network Technological Innovations Uni 4
62 Internet Computer Network United States ............... 54
63 Internet Computer Network United States Cases ......... 1
64 Internet Computer Network United States Censorship .... 1
65 Internet Computer Network United States Costs ......... 1
66 Internet Computer Network United States Directories ... 1
67 Internet Consultants .................................. 1
68 Internet Consulting Services --> See INTERNET CONSULTAN 1
69 Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers ... 2
70 Internet Domain Names ................................. 4
71 Internet Domain Names Government Policy United States . 4
72 Internet Domain Names Law And Legislation United States 4
73 Internet Explorer --> See MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER . 1
74 Internet Fraud United States .......................... 3
75 Internet Fraud United States States ................... 3
76 Internet Gambling United States ....................... 2
77 Internet Games United States Prevention ............... 1
78 Internet Industry --> See Related Subjects ............ 2
79 Internet Industry ..................................... 1
80 Internet Industry Finance ............................. 1
81 Internet Industry Law And Legislation United States ... 1
82 Internet Industry United States Finance Periodicals ... 1
83 Internet Marketing .................................... 15
84 Internet Marketing Corrupt Practices United States .... 4
85 Internet Marketing Cost Effectiveness ................. 1
86 Internet Marketing Planning ........................... 1
87 Internet Marketing United States ...................... 2
88 Internet Programming .................................. 2
89 Internet Resources --> See COMPUTER NETWORK RESOURCES . 1
90 Internet Searching .................................... 2
91 Internet Searching Juvenile Literature ................ 1
92 Internet Searching United States ...................... 1
93 Internet Service Providers United States History ...... 1
94 Internet Service Providers United States Statistics ... 1
95 Internet Software Industry United States .............. 1
96 Internet Software Industry United States History...... 2

And while we're at it, here's the WWW:

You searched for the SUBJECT: world wide web W&L CATALOG
14 SUBJECTS found, with 79 ; SUBJECTS 1-8 are:
1 World Wide Web ........................................ 2
2 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System ........... 58
3 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Censorship 1
4 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Directories 3
5 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Economic As 1
6 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System History ... 3
7 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System History Juv 1
8 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Psychologic 1
9 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Security Me 3
10 World Wide Web Information Retrieval System Social Aspe 2
11 World Wide Web Pages --> See WEB SITES ................ 1
12 World Wide Web Publishing --> See WEB PUBLISHING ...... 1
13 World Wide Web Searching --> See INTERNET SEARCHING ... 1
14 World Wide Web Sites --> See WEB SITES ................ 1

What can these lists tell us? We'd like to know something about the dates of the books... none of them were published before 1990, and the first one dates from 1991, five more in 1992, nine more in 1993, and 17 more in 1994. Those 30-odd are now historical documents. 168 are 1999 and 2000 publication dates. Here are the few so far with a 2000 date:

AUTHOR       Peck, Robert S.
TITLE        Libraries, the First Amendment, and cyberspace : what you need to
               know / Robert S. Peck.
IMPRINT      Chicago : American Library Association, 2000.

AUTHOR Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris, 1958- TITLE Free expression in the age of the Internet : social and legal boundaries / Jeremy Harris Lipschultz. IMPRINT Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, 2000.

CALL NO. Y 4.J 89/1:105/132. AUTHOR United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property. TITLE Privacy in electronic communications : hearing before the Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, second session, March 26, 1998. IMPRINT Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, 2000.

CALL NO. HM851 .M37 2000. AUTHOR Margolis, Michael. TITLE Politics as usual : the cyberspace "revolution" / Michael Margolis, David Resnick. IMPRINT Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, c2000. CONTENTS The normalization of cyberspace -- Democracy in cyberspace : a brief history

CALL NO. HM851 .E94 2000. AUTHOR Everard, Jerry, 1956- TITLE Virtual states : the Internet and the boundaries of the nation-state / Jerry Everard. IMPRINT New York : Routledge, c2000.

CALL NO. HM851 .L375 2000. AUTHOR Lessard, Bill. TITLE Netslaves : true tales of working the Web / Bill Lessard, Steve Baldwin. IMPRINT New York : McGraw-Hill, c2000.

CALL NO. Y 4.SCI 2:106-38. AUTHOR United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science. Subcommittee on Basic Research. TITLE H.R. 749, the Home Page Tax Repeal Act : hearing before the Subcommittee on Basic Research of the Committee on Science, House of Representatives, One Hundred Sixth Congress, first session, March 24, 1999. IMPRINT Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, 1999 [i.e. 2000]

AUTHOR Halvorson, T. R. TITLE Law of the super searchers : the online secrets of top legal researchers / T.R. Halvorson ; edited by Reva Basch. IMPRINT Medford, N.J. : CyberAge Books, c2000.

There will be lots more.