Someone explain LATENCY to me

I'm building my first system.... An Intel P4 3.0cGHz on an ABIT IC7-MAX3 based on doing alot of research I've done....

....now it's time for me to choose memory. I want to make educated choices.

Can someone point me to a really really good article / webpage the EXPLAINS memory latency, timings and all that junk I need to know when researching memory?!?!

FOR INSTANCE..... I don't understand when terms like latency/timings of 3-4-4-8 are listed.

Please help.... I have researched Mfgr webpages like Mushkin's and Corsair's and Kingston and none of them explain things very well.

Here, try this link

http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/BIOS_Guide/BIOS_Guide_Index.htm

This is GREAT resource that explains not only memory settings, but also all the other features of BIOS. A MUST read for starters...