Use of Internet Resources and Services in Gulbarga City:An Exploratory Study

Reports the results of an exploratory study on the use of Internet resources and services in Gulbarga City based on the data collected from one hundred and twenty-three users of Internet in private and public sectors covering forty-seven from cyber cafes and seventy six users from university and college environment. All have computer knowledge; majority use computers at work place nearly all using Pentium systems and familiar with Windows 98 and MS Office. Majority of them are using Internet since last six months and half of them have an average ability; use twice a week; 1-3 hrs. per week and large majority use for communication purpose and followed by visit to websites. Most frequently used resources and tools of Internet are e-mail. web browser and search engines. Document file format is the most used. The subject areas of web sites visited are diverse. www.yahoo.com, www.rediff.com, www.usa..com and www.hotmail.com are most used websites. Most frequently used search engines are Yahoo, Rediff, MSN and Lycos. Majority prefers to read instantly on the monitor and search the net on their own. Seventy percent have not received any instructions in the use of Internet and felt the need for training. The charge for the use of Internet at cyber cafes is found to be costly: A large majority is not satisfied with the facilities available for surfing Internet in Gulbarga City. They are also confronted with difficulty of slow accessing. getting connection and lack of training in the use of Internet.