Searching the Web--Part 1 The Internet Defined Authored by Pamela Eyerdam and Ken Burhanna The text only versions provide a linear presentation of the Hands-On flash modules.  The Hands-On modules often incorporate images and interactive presentations to help demonstrate and support the text.  These images and interactive features are lost in the text only format.  Users can supplement their reading of the text versions by going onto the World Wide Web and visiting the web sites and doing the searches that the text indicates.  This is most easily done by printing the text version and using it as a guide. After completing this module you will know: 1. What the Internet Is 2. What the World Wide Web Is 3. What Internet Browsers Are 4. The Meanings of URL and HTML Introduction This module introduces you to the basic components of the Internet and World Wide Web.  The Internet is a complex network of computers, software, protocols, and standards.  Key to becoming a good Internet user is a solid understanding of what the Internet is and what it is not. 1. The Internet Defined The Internet can be thought of as the network of all networks. The Internet Society defines it as "...a global network of networks enabling computers of all kinds to directly and transparently communicate and share services throughout much of the world.  Because the Internet is an enormously valuable, enabling capability for so many people and organizations, it also constitutes a shared global resource of information, knowledge, and means of collaboration, and cooperation among countless diverse communities." This definition is probably not all that different from how you might have thought of the Internet.  You know it as a great source of information, news, games, and a means of communicating with others.  But this definition lacks details important to a student's and researcher's understanding of the Internet. Which of the following statements do you think is more accurate?   "I found a news report on the Internet." "I used the Internet to find a news report on a computer linked to the Internet." The answer is: "I used the Internet to find a news report on a computer linked to the Internet." The point is that the Internet is not a repository of information.  The Internet is a medium, like radio or television, across which information can be accessed and shared. This is an important distinction for researchers to be aware of.   When you're searching the Internet, you are not searching a vast database of world wide information, rather you are searching a specific database or collection of information made available via the Internet through the use of computers. We'll discuss this further in other lessons in this section, but the critical question to consider when searching the Internet is:  what are you really searching? 2. What is the World Wide Web? The World Wide Web is where the familiar WWW comes from.  Most people think of the World Wide Web and the Internet as one in the same.  When you look at a web page on the Internet, you're really viewing a document on the World Wide Web. Actually the World Wide Web is one of five services that comprise the Internet.  Others are e-mail, remote Telnet, file transfer protocol, and gopher.   That being said, the World Wide Web is the most dynamic and powerful of these services. 3. Internet Browsers A browser or web browser is a software program on your computer that allows you to view pages on the World Wide Web.  You are using a browser right now to view this module. You cannot access the World Wide Web without a browser. Two leading browsers are: Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Computers in the University Library have both of these programs installed and available. Does it matter which browser I use? Not usually. Web browsers, especially Explorer and Firefox, have many of the same features and work in a similar fashion.  Each browser uses slightly different terminology and has some minor differences in functionality.  You should probably use the browser you feel most comfortable with, but be prepared to switch to another browser if you run into difficulties with the one you are using. What is a plug-in? A plug-in is a computer program that works with your web browser to allow the execution and display of specialized files.   For example, this Hands-On Instruction module, for which you are looking at a text version, is built on Flash technology and requires a Flash Player 4.0 or higher plug-in.   In most cases, web browsers come enabled with the most popular plug-ins these days.  If not, plug-ins are easily installed from the World Wide Web. 4. URLs and HTML What is the following:   www.ulib.csuohio.edu/help/hands-on/../internet.html A. A web address B. An URL C. The location of the "Searching the Internet" section of      the Hands-On Library Instruction site D. All of the above D. All of the above is the best answer.   A web address and URL (uniform resource locator) are the same thing.  Every object (file, video, document, etc.) that you can access on the web has a unique URL that identifies where the object resides (on what computer, in which directory, under which file name). When you click on a link on a web page, you are directing your browser to a URL contained in the link. These links with URLs embedded in them are created by using a programming language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML is the programming foundation of the World Wide Web.  The ability to build links into web pages then is called Hypertext linking.   This concludes The Internet Defined