Educational institutions benefit from the Internet in various ways. One mayor benefit is using the Web as a resource for current research and existing human knowledge. Problems arise while using the Web for retrieving such information in spite the fact that various retrieving methods have been produced. Skills that educational and research staff possess are usually sufficient to overcome the limitations of currently available information portals on the Web. Unfortunately, such skills are hard to transfer onto students. The Department of power systems on the Faculty of electrical engineering and computing in Zagreb (FER) has always forced students to utilize the Internet. To support computer related activities, the Department dedicated a computer laboratory directly connected to the Internet almost exclusively for students working on their diploma theses. Unlike other departments closely related to information technologies, the Department of power systems has no particular motive in devising extravagant IT projects which is a common situation for a wide range of educational institutions. After several generations of students and nearly five years since the computer laboratory opened, a fair amount of experience has been acquired concerning activities necessary to provide students with skills and means to access information on the Internet. In this presentation, some problems and their solutions are shown in order to share our experience with others, primarily with members of the Croatian Academic Research Network (CARNet).