25th Aniversary of web sites

Abstract

For scientists around the world a world without Internet and information dissemination is unthinkable, but incredibly the great network of networks is only 25 years old.

The creators of the Journal des Savants (first scientific journal) in 1665, did not think that several centuries later a publication would have immediate visibility thanks to the Internet and web pages, which first appeared on August 23, 1991. Tim Berners-Lee , an English scientist working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) based in Switzerland, had been working on this project since 1989 and was the inventor, together with his team, of the HTTP protocol, the URL web address system, and of HTML language, which today are considered the DNA of web pages.

The new system fascinated the experts, but there was a lot of work ahead. Immediately, the diffusion of an application that supported the platform to access the newly created pages prevailed. WorldWideWeb was the first of all, created by Berners-Lee himself that same year, but had the disadvantage that only worked with NeXT. Subsequently, Mosaic and NetScape Navigator emerged, which were the first for Windows and Mac. In 1995, Microsoft created Internet Explorer which quickly became the dominant Internet browser, due to its integration with the Windows system and its free nature.

It was not until 1992 that the first full-text refereed electronic journal appeared that included graphics. It was named Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials and started only as an electronic journal, and its access was and continues to be through subscription. That same year the Community Services Catalyst and the Journal of Technology Education emerged, publications that had begun in printed format since 1970 and 1989 respectively. In this way, a new era in the dissemination of scientific information began, and thanks to this Cuba has more than 46 titles of journals that periodically disclose the results of research by scientists, not only from the country, but also from other who choose our publications.

The editorial committee of the Cuban Journal of Dentistry congratulates all those who every day and often altruistically, contribute to the enrichment of those web pages linked to the branch of medical sciences, which despite being so young have changed our habits, our tastes and our way of accessing information. We do not know how far they will take us, but we can congratulate them. Congratulations, www!