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Exploring the Internet

Session 1 Introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web

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Internet Definitions - p. 1

Network - set of hardware and software components that supports several people working together and allows sharing of hardware, software, and information

Internet - a network of networks that allows you to communicate with people anywhere in the world as well as access information that you desire any time of the day or night

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Internet Definitions (cont.)

Started in the 1960s as a joint project between education, and government (ARPANET) for defense purposes.

World Wide Web (WWW) - easy method of sending text, graphics, and sound has resulted in explosive growth

Web browser - piece of software needed for accessing WWW

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Internet

Today, mostly used for commercial purposes. Includes many different types of resources.

The one that is most prevalent today is the World Wide Web (WWW).

Allows millions of people from around the world to communicate with one another. Responsible for the fall of the iron curtain Role in Gulf War Totalitarian governments despise it

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Internet Connection Necessities

Modem or network connectionInternet accountInternet Service Provider (ISP) -

university, AOL, Dave’s World, and so forth

Software UtilitiesBrowser software

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Internet Addresses

Account - individual that you are communicating with

Domain Lower domain - the name of the

organization where the account can be found

Top domain - the type of organization

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Internet Addresses

To communicate with someone, you have to know their Internet address (everything after “@” is the domain):

astudent@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.eduastudent@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu

This User This User (account)(account)

At the computer At the computer named rs6000.cmpnamed rs6000.cmp

At Illinois State UniversityAt Illinois State University

An An educational educational institutioninstitution

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Top Domains - p. 5

.com commercial or business site.edueducational site.govU.S. government site.mil U.S. military site.net network site.org private or non-profit site

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Proposed Top Domains

.firm Businesses or firms.shop Bus. offering goods for purchase.web Web-based Entities .arts Cultural or entertainment activities.rec Recreational or entertainment entity.info Information services entities.nomIndividual or personal sites

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Starting an Internet Session

Obtain communication with your ISP Login procedure - identifies you to the

host computer Password - series of characters that

verifies to the computer that you are a valid userAsterisks may appear as you enter itNever give your password to anyone

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Internet Services

Electronic MailUsenet/NewsgroupsListservFile Transfer Protocol (FTP)TelnetGopher and VeronicaInternet Relay ChatWorld Wide Web

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E-mail - p. 6

E-mail - ability to send and receive messages using the computer.

Uses special software designed specifically for this task Pine, Elm (UNIX) Eudora Exchange

Single or many recipients possibleFlaming

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E-mail Etiquette - p. 7

Keep message brief and concise Don’t send confidential or embarrassing info. Remember, the message belongs to the org. Don’t copy unnecessary people Don’t use all upper case letters Include a salutation and signature line You may want to use shorthand (abbreviations) -

Table 1.2 Emoticons help to show how you feel - Table 1.3 Avoid all gossip or impropriety using E-mail

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Usenet/Newsgroups - p. 9

Interactive discussions that can occur on a wide variety o f subjects

Postings are E-mail messages to the newsgroup

Information is arranged by topic or by areas of interest

100s of group names/topics are available

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Usenet/Newsgroups

Selected group names or categories comp computers misc don’t fit a category rec recreational activities or hobbies sci scientific areas soc social, cultural, and political talk discussion forums for politics or

other areas with controversy

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Listserv

Listserv - consists of all e-mail messages related to a single topic

A document containing these e-mail messages is sent to all subscribers

All that is required to access is e-mail software

Many times listservs are used for conducting classes

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Agent - Newsgroup browser

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Newsgroup Guidelines

Review the frequently asked questions (FAQ) document for that group.

Review the last two or three weeks of the articles or postings to get a flavor for the group.

Spend some time “lurking” examining the group without posting.

Be careful with your first postings. If participants feel you don’t understand elementary items, you will probably get flamed.

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File Transfer Protocol - p. 13

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - method of transferring files across the Internet

Can be done with UNIX statementsCan be done with special FTP softwareMay be built in browser, such as

Netscape or Intrnet ExplorerMany times referred to as anonymous

FTP because most users use anonymous as their name when requesting files.

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FTP Client Software Utility

Your System Your System (where you (where you

want to receive want to receive the files)the files)

Where the files Where the files currently residecurrently reside

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Telnet - p. 14

Allows you to communicate directly with another computer

Unlike FTP, it does not allow you to download files

Many times used to gain access to other libraries, get weather forecasts, and so forth

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Gopher and Veronica - p. 14

Gopher - text-based, menu driven program that allows you to access, view, and download files (developed at U. of Minn.)

Precursor to WWW—not used much anymore

Veronica is the search engine for finding files from multiple gopher sites; analogous to Yahoo, Excite, … in the WWW.

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Internet Relay Chat

Permits you to communicate “live” with other Internet users

Needs special software that can be downloaded from a number of locations

Requires you to log in to a chat roomStatements that you type are visible

to other participants

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World Wide Web (WWW or Web)

Designed in 1989 by Tim Berners-LeeCombines text, graphics, sound as a

“packet” of informationPhenomenally rapid growthRequires the use of a software

browser to interpret the data needed for a site and then download it to the user and display/play properly

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World Wide Web Terminology

Web Browser - A piece of software that can understand and display Web documents (Netscape and Explorer are two commonly used browsers)

Home page - The initial Web page Netscape loads when you start the program

Uniform Resource Locator - The location of a page on the World Wide Web

Web Document - A specially designed file for use on the Web than can contain text, graphics, sound, and links to other Web pages.

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URL Components

Protocol http: (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

Host (Server address) www.cis.usouthal.edu

Resource (file name or full path to file) Internet.html

http://www.microsoft.com/ie

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More Web Terminology

Hyperlinks - “Jumps” to a different location in the document, a different document on the computer, or a different computer

http - Hypertext transfer protocol - the first four letters in each URL - indicates that the browser can expect text, graphic, or sound files

HTML - HyperText Markup Language - the ASCII based language used to describe a Web page so that it can be interpreted by the browser software for loading text, images, or sound files.

Surfing - Navigating links of Web pages

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Web Browsers

A number of different kinds of browsers Netscape Internet Explorer Mosaic

Netscape the browser selected by ISU

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Internet Explorer Screen

Menu barToolbarsAddress text boxDocument windowStatus barScroll barsStatus indicator

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Web Surfing

Enter an address in the Location boxClick on a link

Pointer turns into a hand with the upraised index finger to indicate a link

Click the link and that page is loadedRole of the Forward and Back

buttonsFavorites

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More Surfing

Printing a Web pageSaving pagesAccessing saved pagesUsing the Context menu

Saving images Images are typically GIF and JPG files

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Other Web Browser Uses

Accessing Search Engines Search Engine

Types - Pip handoutSearch Spiders

Research using the WebE-MailNewsgroups

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Research Using the Computer

Searching for information on the Web Start with a search engine Success depends on how the search

engine determines sites Lots of “garbage” on the Web

Searching a library using Telnet or Browser