An IRC "Channel" or "Room" is an area on an IRC network where many people can join and chat publically. Everything said in a public channel is relayed from server to server for all to see. Channels can be registered or "owned" just like a nickname and you can decide your own rules for your channel and run it how you want.
On IRC a channel doesn't exist when there is no one in it, hence why bots are usually used to keep someone in the room at all times and keep it open and in existance. Once upon a time before we had services, the only way to keep a room open and keep control of it was fill the room with many bots and give them "Ops" or "Operator Status" and whoever controlled the bots controlled the room. Nowdays we have services to do this for us so bots have become more of a fun or functional tool.
We mentioned "Operator Status", this is a special control that allows someone with "Ops" to do various functions like change channel topics, kick (remove) people from the room and even ban them. In essence they are like a moderator and are usually denoted as a "Channel Operator" by having a "@" symbol next to their name ie @John
When you first join an empty, unregistered room you will be given "channel operator" status and the @ symbol. This means you are the "channel operator" you can give others operator status too, however be warned, only give this status to people you trust or they could steal the room from you and take over. This is why we register rooms with services so that you will always be the "channel founder" or owner of the channel and with a password always be able to make changes to your room settings and decide who you make "channel operators" etc.
There are many things you do in a channel as a channel operator, we wont go into them here but we recommend that you read "The IRC Primer" especially the "Channel And User Modes" section for more information on general channel commands.
Once you have joined a room and you are the "Channel Operator" you can register the room with "ChanServ" just like you can with your nickname and NickServ.
To register a room you are in called #MyChannel use the following command:
/chanserv register #MyChannel mypassword Any description you want here
Of course subsitute "mypassword" with a password and at the end you can enter a short description for the room so others know what it is about.
Identifying to ChanServ...
Just like NickServ to make changes to your channel you need to identify to ChanServ as the channel founder before you can add other channel operators and other certain functions restricted to the founder only. To identify as the channel founder type the following command:
/chanserv identify #MyChannel mypassword
Once you have identified to ChanServ you can then access all the founder options. For more help on ChanServ check out the help pages on Services.