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Internet Tutorial

USING INTERNET EXPLORER | USING NETSCAPE | NAVIGATING THE INTERNET
WWW EVALUATION CRITERIA | BIBLIOGRAPHY


WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

The Internet is a global computer network made up of smaller computer networks; it has been called a "Network of Networks."

These smaller networks include: Increasingly, commercial networks like Prodigy, America Online, and CompuServe are linked with the Internet, though they often limit access.

Many of the costs of the Internet are underwritten by research and educational institutions. Much of its initial development was supported by governmental research and network development (beginning with the military's ARPANET in 1969). In 1993, the National Science Foundation's "backbone," NSFNet, was contracted out to commercial service providers: Regionally, most service is still provided by the regional service providers that were active under the NSFNet, though now they act as independent, commercial contractors. Locally, Independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer Internet access to their clients, at costs ranging from $5 per month to hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the types of service they offer.

WHAT ARE THE USES OF THE INTERNET?

There are three fundamental uses of the Internet: Communication Information Retrieval

The Internet allows access to public domain information, bibliographic databases, libraries, and entertainment services, as well as to proprietary information services like Dialog.
Presentation of Information

Any organization connected to the Internet can provide access to its own in-house information (library catalogs, faculty information, etc.) to millions of people world-wide. Individuals can also develop and provide their own information packages via their own home pages.

INTERNET ADDRESSES

Every computer, file of information, and person on the Internet is identified by a unique "address." Computer Addresses

Computer addresses are made up of three parts (or, in some cases, two parts), separated by "dots," like this:
computer-name.institution.domain

The computer name is a name given locally to identify a particular computer; it is, in some cases, omitted from the address. The institution name is the name (or an abbreviation) of the name of the school, company, or other institution housing the computer. The domain name specifies either the type or the geographic location of the computer.

Domain Names

There are several possible "domain" names, including some that identify the type of institution, and some that identify a geographical location. They include:

edu educational institution
com commercial and for profit organizations
org non-profit organizations
net Internet infrastructure and service providers
gov federal governmental agency
mil military agency
us United States
za South Africa
to Tonga
ca Canada
jp Japan

Personal Addresses

A person's address (or their email address) places the user's "username" (or "login") and the symbol "@" before the computer address. For example, a user whose username is "jsmith", which is accessing email from the "wyla" server, would have the following address:

jsmith@wyla.org



Uniform Resource Locators (URL)

Sources of information that are on the World Wide Web are identified by an extended address called a "Uniform Resource Locator" (URL). Here is a typical URL:

http://www.wyla.org/workshops/internet.shtml

The first part of the URL ("http://") identifies the type of information (in this case, it is a hypertext document, available from a HyperText Transport Protocol (http) server on the World Wide Web). The middle part ("www.wyla.org") is the basic address, as described above. The final part ("/workshops/internet.shtml") identifies the directories within which the document resides ("workshops"), as well as the exact name of the document ("internet.shtml").

INTERNET SERVICES

These applications serve more sophisticated and multi-purpose purposes, and increasingly make the Internet a truly useful information resource.

Group Communications Applications

These applications all support the formation of electronic "special interest groups," making the Internet a medium for group discussions:
Mail Lists
These use email to support discussion groups on a wide range of specific subjects.
For more information, try Cata-List at http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html or Liszt at http://www.liszt.com/


FTP
FTP was the original Internet mechanism for the storage and retrieval of information. There are still many FTP Sites around the Internet, although many of them have been melded into the World Wide Web.


Gopher
Gopher was developed at the University of Minnesota, primarily to support its own Campus Wide Information Server (CWIS). It provides access to information available either locally or elsewhere on the Internet by means of a simple series of uniformly designed menus.


The World Wide Web (WWW)
The newest information application on the Internet, the WWW provides standardized access to Gopher, FTP, Telnet and more by means of home pages designed either by institutions or by individuals. By means of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), it allows users to "point" at highlighted terms, following "links" to whatever information interests them. It is a multimedia environment, allowing Internet users access to audio and video materials. There are a number of client software packages (or browsers), including Lynx (a text-only browser), Netscape, and Microsoft's Internet Explorer, (which are multimedia browsers).


CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET

There are currently five basic options for providing user connectivity to the Internet:
  1. Terminal Dialup/Modem
    • most common option
    • user requirements limited to modem and communications software
    • text-only access

  2. SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
    • computer is treated as though it were directly connected for the period it is online
    • utilizes telephone lines
    • user must have modem, TCP software, SLIP software, & software for Internet applications
    • multimedia access

  3. PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)
    • computer is treated as though it were directly connected for the period it is online
    • utilizes telephone lines
    • user must have modem, TCP software, PPP software, & software for Internet applications
    • multimedia access

  4. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
    • most often used to connect remote telecommuters to office LANs
    • requires ISDN phone line access
    • faster than analog terminal dialup/modem service
    • user must have ISDN phone line, ISDN card, communications software, TCP software & SLIP or PPP software multimedia connectivity

  5. Direct Connection
    • most often used to connect sites within a specific organization, such as a university or business requires owning or leasing of cable (from 64 kbps to T-3) users typically connected via ethernet LANs multimedia connectivity at its fastest.


A BRIEF INTERNET TIME LINE

1945 Vannevar Bush proposes MEMEX, a system to store vast amounts of information, with the ability for users to create their own paths and links.

1957 The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) is formed to ensure US technological leadership.

1965 The term "hypertext" is coined.

1969 The first node of ARPANET is established at UCLA, followed by nodes at Stanford, UCSB, and the University of Utah.

1972 The first distributed email system is invented.

1973 The first international connections are established to the ARPANET.

1982 The TCP/IP Protocols established. "Internet" is first defined as a connected set of networks using TCP/IP.

1983 The first name server developed at the University of Wisconsin.

1984 The DNS (Domain Name Server) introduced. More than 1000 hosts on the Internet.

1986 Guide, the first hypermedia document browser, is introduced. NSFNET backbone created.

1987 More than 10,000 Internet hosts.

1989 The World Wide Web project proposed. More than 100,000 Internet hosts.

1990 ARPANET ends.

1991 Gopher is released by the University of Minnesota, and WAIS is invented by Brewster Kahle. NREN established by the US High Performance Computing Act.

1992 World Wide Web released by CERN. More than 1,000,000 Internet hosts.

1993 International workshop on Hypermedia and Hypertext Standards held in Amsterdam. NCSA Mosaic released. First International Web Developers' Conference held in Cambridge, MA. The White House, United Nations, and World Bank come online. Annual growth rate of WWW hits 341,634%.

1994 WWW traffic surpasses Gopher traffic. First commercial business uses of the WWW.

1995 WWW becomes the most popular Internet service. Netscape goes public.

USING INTERNET EXPLORER

WHAT IS INTERNET EXPLORER

Internet Explorer is client software, known as a browser, designed to allow users to gain access to documents and other information available on the World Wide Web. It downloads text pages coded with HTML (HyperText Markup Language), interprets the HTML codes, and displays those pages. If the pages include codes pointing to graphic files, Netscape also displays those files.

Although Internet Explorer is a commercial product, it is available for free downloading to anyone who does not desire product support. It is also available with Windows 95 as well as Windows 98. USING INTERNET EXPLORER AS A BROWSER

Internet Explorer's primary function is as a World Wide Web browser. It includes all of the standard capabilities of a browser, including: Most of these functions are performed by using the mouse to point and click either text (or images) on a web page, or to point and click the buttons that IE provides, which can be found above the window in which the page can be seen.

Because IE is a multimedia browser, it also allows users to view graphics. With the help of Helper Applications, it allows users to view online movies, to listen to sound files, and more.


BASIC INTERNET EXPLORER OPTIONS Pulldown Menus

Most of IE's functions can be activated through the pulldown menus that can be found at the top of the screen. Some of the most important features of these menus include:

USING NETSCAPE

WHAT IS NETSCAPE

Netscape is client software, known as a browser, designed to allow users to gain access to documents and other information available on the World Wide Web. It downloads text pages coded with HTML (HyperText Markup Language), interprets the HTML codes, and displays those pages. If the pages include codes pointing to graphic files, Netscape also displays those files.

Although Netscape is a commercial product, it is available for free downloading to anyone who does not desire product support.

USING NETSCAPE AS A BROWSER

Netscape's primary function is as a World Wide Web browser. It includes all of the standard capabilities of a browser, including:
Most of these functions are performed by using the mouse to point and click either text (or images) on a web page, or to point and click the buttons that Netscape provides, which can be found above the window in which the page can be seen.

Because Netscape is a multimedia browser, it also allows users to view graphics. With the help of Helper Applications, it allows users to view online movies, to listen to sound files, and more.

BASIC NETSCAPE OPTIONS

Pulldown Menus

Most of Netscape's functions can be activated through the pulldown menus that can be found at the top of the screen. Some of the most important features of these menus include:

NAVIGATING THE INTERNET

What is a Search Engine?

A search engine is a powerful online program that enables a searcher to access thousands of links. It is a program that searches through some dataset. In the context of the Web, the word "search engine" is most often used for search forms that search through databases of HTML documents gathered by a robot.

Types of Search Engines
Directories
are set up like subject catalogs, and are organized by topic/subtopic
Search Engines (Indexes)
are keyword and concept based
MetaEngines
search collections of directories and indexes
Virtual Libraries
organized similar to a library collection, and includes only specific sources
Directories

Directories often do not have global coverage, but use selected sites. The sites are reviewed for content, and then organized by topic. They are often organized like subject catalogs. They should be used when looking for broad, general information. Some examples are:
Search Engines

Search engines are like indexes, in that they search by specific words and phrases. They should be used for a narrow, focused, and specific search. Examples of search engines include:
MetaEngines

Unlike Directories and Search Engines MetaEngines (or MegaEngines) do not create their own databases. They work by searching those created by other search engines. Examples include:

Virtual Libraries


WWW EVALUATION CRITERIA

Authority: Content: Objectivity: Audience: Accessibility: Structure:

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES

Burnett, G. Introduction to HTML. [On-line] Updated 24 April 1998. Accessed 12 June 1998. http://slis-two.lis.fsu.edu/is_web/lrc/helpsheets/html.html

Burnett, G. Introduction to the Internet. [On-line] Updated 24 April 1998. Accessed 12 June 1998.
http://slis-two.lis.fsu.edu/is_web/lrc/helpsheets/internetintro.html

>Burnett, G. Using Netscape. [On-line] Updated 24 April 1998. Accessed 12 June 1998. http://slis-two.lis.fsu.edu/is_web/lrc/helpsheets/netscape.html

Gralla, P. How the Internet Works. Emeryville, Calif.: Ziff-Davis Press, 1997. (INT TK 5105.875 .I57 .G73 1997)

Honeycutt, J. Using the Internet. 3rd ed. Indianapolis, Ind.: Que, 1997. (INT TK 5105.875 .I57 .H659 1997)

Tapley, R. How to Use Netscape Communicator 4.0. Emeryville, Calif.: Ziff-Davis Press, 1997. (TK 5105.883 .N49 .T364 1997)

Whatis.Com. Definitions of computer related terms [Online] Accessed 5 July 1998 http://www.whatis.com/
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