Having a hard time understanding

[percent20]

Ok, I know almost nothing about sound so I am in a real bind atm. I want to google terms, but the problem is I really don't understand some of what I read.

Is there a site that explains what different audio encoding is, or what the channels are or something like that. Sorry if this is asked weird it would just go to show even more of how much I don't understand, but the good thing is I want to learn.

If anyone has any links that can help me get started I would appreciate it.

Thanks

[John and Wendy]

Encoding is the technical term that describes compression of media formats into files that can be delivered via the web. With the advent of streaming media technology, files no longer had to be completely downloaded before they began playing in the client's media player. This allows for quick, on-demand delivery of large multimedia formats such as audio and video.

Here is a good glossary: http://www.puredigitalaudio.org/glossary/index.shtml