The World Wide Web

Check out this glossary of terms as you read the following:

The Internet is a large network of computers around the world. Phone lines, satellite dishes and other special high-speed cables connect these computers. To get connected to the Internet you must have 1) a computer 2) a service provider 3) *a modem that allows a computer to use the phone line and 4) software that tells the computer how to connect by using phone lines.

The World Wide Web (WWW) or the Web is the newest part of the Internet. A Web page is a document on the Web that may consist of text, pictures, sound or video. A Web site is a collection of pages that is maintained by an organization. Each page has a specific address or Uniform Resource Locator (URL). In order to display Web pages on your computer you must have special software called a browser. By entering the URL in the address area provided by your browser (and then pressing enter), a connection is made via phone lines to another computer somewhere in the world that stores this page. The process of getting the page to appear on your screen is called downloading.

You will find hyperlinks on Web pages. If you click on a hyperlink, you will go to another Web page with a different URL. These hyperlinks can be text (usually blue and underlined) or a picture. When you point to a hyperlink, your mouse pointer will change to a hand.

As you link from page to page, your browser is recording a history of where you have been. You can see your history by clicking on the button provided in your toolbar. This is helpful to go back to a previously seen page. A browser also allows you to save the URLs of Web pages. These are called favorites or bookmarks. To see a list of favorites, simply click the favorite button on your toolbar. This is a helpful way to keep a list of URLs you wish to visit frequently.

As you travel from page to page, you have other options: the Stop button is used to interrupt locating a site or downloading a page; the Back and Forward buttons flip back and forth between pages you’ve just seen, the Home button takes you to your Home page (beginning page of your browser), or the Refresh button downloads the same page again. (Perhaps it didn’t fully download or you seek the latest info on a site that changes frequently).

A special type of Web site is called a search engine. This is a site that allows you to look for pages that exist on the Web on a particular topic. If you need to write a report about sharks, but don’t know the URL of a page about sharks, a search engine can help you find one. A common example of a search engine is www.yahoo.com or www.yahooligans.com for kids.

Most Web pages provide the reader with certain information such as the author, title, and date of posting. These items are needed when creating a bibliography or works cited page for a report. It is wise to remember that not all information on the Web is correct or up-to-date. Therefore, it is important to evaluate whether the information you find is worth using. The URL can tell us some basic information by checking the domain type:

com		- commercial	edu	- education	gov		government
org	- organization		net	- network		mil	military

J. Callahan

Berkeley Preparatory School

Updated August 2000