Overview
The terms World Wide Web and Internet are often used interchangeably. In fact, the World Wide Web is software technology used on the Internet.  One of the main features of Web technology is hypertext, which enables users to navigate by clicking on text or graphics which are linked to other areas of a Web site or to other Web sites.

With the advent of the WWW, new terms and concepts were, and continue to be, conceived. In addition,  new ways to research information, communicate with others, and educate oneself by visiting sites around the world are evolving.

Because the volume of information available on the WWW can be, and often is, overwhelming for computer users, search engines are available to assist in locating specific topics of information.  Just as information from print sources can be incorrect, biased, or misleading, information from the Web should be critically evaluated before it is accepted.

Lecture Notes
Welcome to the Web
The Hypertext Concept
A new language has evolved with the development of the World Wide Web. The concept of hypertext is actually older than the Web itself, and originated in the article "As We May Think," by Vannevar Bush, published in The Atlantic in 1945. Hypertext documents are documents that contain information and references or links to other documents that contain information related to the present document. These links are called hyperlinks. Hyperlinks are graphical elements or special text used to link any Web page to another.

Web Browsers and Web Servers
The software that enables you to go from one resource to another by following these hyperlinks is known as a Web browser.  When using the Internet, you are reading documents displayed in a Web browser. The overall structure of Web technology is client-server architecture, which involves two computers: the server where the information that the user accesses is actually stored and the client computer running software that allows you to access the information. The client gets information from the server by means of a transaction. The documents sent by the server to the client are written in HTML, HyperText Markup Language.

Some sites may have a message stating that the site is best viewed with a particular browser.  This message does not mean that other browsers can't access the site, but it may mean that certain HMTL features or software commands have been used at the site which only one browser can correctly process.  Many people have copies of both major browsers (Microsoft and Netscape) for this reason, although they make one of the two their "default" browser to access the Web automatically, unless the other is specifically wanted.

Web Addresses (URLs)
URL, Uniform Resource Locator, is a code developed to identify resources on the Internet. A URL is similar to the library catalog call number of a book. The URL has three components-the tool used to access the resource (Telnet, FTP, etc.), the address of the computer on which the resource is located, and the optional path name of the resource itself.

Web Protocols
HyperText Transfer Protocol, HTTP, is the protocol (standards for exchanging information) of the WWW. A document you create that can be accessed by a Web browser is called a Web page or Web site. HTML, HyperText Markup Language, is used to transmit documents that can contain different media formats in the same document.

Web Page Design Tools
Module 8B contains specific information on how to design a Web page with HTML.

Sidebar:  The Birth of an Industry
Netscape is another of the companies (such as Oracle, the database firm discussed in an earlier module) that are part of entirely new industries that have grown up around the computer.  The growth of these industries is part of the reason for the shift in employment patterns in the United States towards more jobs which require workers with technical skills and training.

Today, Microsoft's Explorer browser software is providing strong competition to Netscape. Like Netscape, Microsoft Explorer is given away free, but because Microsoft is able to place a free copy of Explorer on the desktop of each new PC which comes equipped with Windows, Netscape has charged that Microsoft has an unfair trade advantage.  This dispute has become a legal issue whose outcome remains undecided at the time this book is being written.

Browsing the Web
The best way to learn to use the Web is to jump in and start, but many students who are already users may not be familiar with all of the tools available.  For example, many users do not know how to organize their bookmarks.

Finding Information on the Web
To find information on the World Wide Web, you may need to use a search tool.  Search tools can be categorized as subject directories or Web databases. Subject directories are manually compiled by staff of the directory and by users who submit entries. Web databases are compiled by software "robots" or intelligent agents that roam the Web and collect information for the databases.

There are several popular subject directories that allow you to search or browse for a variety of subjects.  These include Yahoo, the World Wide Web Virtual Library, Alta Vista, and Infoseek.  Yahoo means Yet Another Hierarchy and also refers to the database's authors who claim to be yahoos. With Yahoo, you can select a category and view a list of related Web sites, search the entire database, or select other lists.

The World Wide Web virtual library is the oldest Internet subject directory. An advantage of this tool is the expertise of the individuals who maintain a specific subject directory. A disadvantage of the World Wide Web virtual library is that the organization of subjects does not let you search the entire WWW virtual library; moving from one subject to another can be awkward.

Alta Vista is one of the newer Web databases. Alta Vista has the ability to index over 16 million Web pages. Alta Vista provides both simple and advanced options, including Boolean operators.  Infoseek Guide is a search tool that uses both database and subject directories.

Search Techniques
Basic knowledge about using search engines is essential to the success of using the WWW. In addition to searching for specific terms, Boolean logic can be used to combine search terms in different ways. AND, OR, or NOT operators assist users in describing the logical relationship between two or more search terms.

Words that describe a search topic are known as search items. Hits are returned items that match your search terms.  Results ranking is an attempt to put the resources returned by the search in an order based on each resource's relevance to a query.

Evaluating the Information You've Found
Information located on the Web must be evaluated critically, just as you would evaluate information from any other source.  In fact, information published on the Web may be  somewhat less likely to be trustworthy than information from books, magazines, or major media outlets such as television networks.  As stated in the text, this is because information from traditional media usually must meet standards set by law or by the corporations which typically own media outlets.

In contrast, publishing information over the Web is relatively easy and inexpensive, so individuals who would not have access to major media can set up a Web page and make statements or claims that may be read by a huge audience, all without any outside check on the accuracy of the statements or claims being made.