Introduction to the
Internet
What
is the Internet?
The
Internet consists of thousands of connected networks around the world. A network is a collection of computers
that are connected to share information.
There
were 103 million active Internet users in the United States as of April 2001.
What
does the Internet Offer?
á
Information
- The Internet gives access to information on any subject imaginable (including
text, pictures, music and video clips).
á
Electronic
Mail - (e-mail)
á
Programs
- Thousands of programs are available on the Internet including word
processors, spreadsheets, games, and much more.
á
Entertainment
- (games, review of current movies, interactive conversations with celebrities,
can read movie scripts, etc.)
á
Online Shopping
- order goods and services on the Internet
á
Discussion
Groups - meet people around the world and share ideas
History
of Internet
á
1980s -
Internet used mostly by scientists and researchers
á
1990s -
companies began to offer Internet service to home users
á
1993 -
first publicly accessible Web site was created
World
Wide Web
á
The
World Wide Web is part of the Internet.
The Web consists of a huge collection of documents stored on computers
around the world.
Future of Internet
á
The Internet is growing and changing at
an extraordinary rate. In the
future there will be new ways to access the Internet and different types of
information available.
What
is a browser?
A
browser is a program that allows you to ÒbrowseÓ and explore information on the
World Wide Web.
×
Netscape
Communicator
×
Internet
Explorer
Netscape Communicator
Basics
HyperLink
A
word (or words) or pictures that help you maneuver from one web page to
another. When the pointer is moved
over a link, the arrow symbol will
change to a pointing hand.
Title
Bar
Located
at the very top of the browser window.
It contains the name of the current Web page.
Tool
Bar
Row
of buttons located below the title bar.
×
Back--takes
you to the last page visited
×
Forward--takes
you forward through the page(s) you have already visited
×
Home--takes
you to your designated home page
×
Reload--opens
a fresh copy of the web page you are on.
If something goes wrong during the transfer process, click Reload to try
to get the information to load again.
×
Print--sends
a copy of the current page to the printer.
×
Stop--halts
the download process. If you click
Stop you may see a message that says Transfer Interrupted! Just click the Reload button to try
again.
Netscape
Logo
The
Netscape logo serves as a status indicator. When you go to a new webpage, shooting stars fall through
the sky. This means that Netscape
is downloading information to your computer. When the shooting stars stop, the download process is
complete.
Location
Field
Indicates
the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or address of a web page
Each
URL (web address) is unique. You
can tell the type of organization or the location you are connecting to by
looking at the URL.
.com Commercial (business) .mil Military
.edu Education .net Network
.gov Government .org Nonprofit
Organization
.int International
Or
they can be countries instead:
.au Australia .ca Canada
.nz New Zealand .us United
States
Bookmarks
When
you find a web page that you would like to ÒmarkÓ so you can go back to
it in the future, you can create a bookmark.
A bookmark will only appear on the computer it is created on.
To create a bookmark:
×
Go to the
web page you wish to bookmark
×
Select Bookmarks
from the menu, click Add Bookmark
To
delete a bookmark:
×
Select
Bookmarks from the menu, select edit bookmark
×
Select
the bookmark to be deleted and press delete on the keyboard
To
use a bookmark:
×
Select
Bookmarks from the menu
×
Click on
the bookmark for the web page to open
Learn
to be a Powerful Searcher
-see
attached handout
Additional
Search Tips
á
be
specific (use keywords instead of long phrases)
á
use
quotation marks around the keywords to narrow the search
á
most
online search engines come with instructions or a help area..check it out
á
try
different approaches using keywords
á
use
different search engines..you will usually get different results
á
watch
your spelling
Copy & Paste
Information from Web Pages
×
Select
the desired text (click, hold and drag mouse over text)
×
From the
Edit, menu select copy
×
Open a
document in AppleWorks (or other application) and switch to that application
×
From the
Edit menu, select paste