an internet guide for self study work

8/13/2019 An Internet Guide for Self Study Work

1/10

AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO THE INTERNET

As a netis made up of a series of nodes, so everything in this world is connected by a

series of nodes. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated

thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series ofinterconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to

the other meshes.

- Buddha -

The following handout will provide some helpful information about the Internet and

specifically about how to use it to explore websites for academic discourse. It does

not aim to provide a detailed account of the Internet but only to offer some basic

information which will enable you to start using the Internet for academic purposes.

2. 1 What is the Internet and the Web

The Internet is the accessible collection of networked computers physically located

around the world. You can think of the Internet as a network or networks.

t a basic level! a computer network is a collection of computers " say in an

office or a university " connected in such a way that they can communicate with each

other and share information. This communication is facilitated by the common

adoption of specific coding #communication protocols$. If such a structure is imposed

in an inwards oriented network #say the %niversity of thens network$ it is called an

intranet. If this network #or a part of it$ is linked to other external networks it

becomes an extranet. The collection of networks exposed to a global access #be itfree or under conditions$ is the ever expanding Internet.

The availability of this networking substructure to all people around the globe

became feasible due to the adoption of a standard communication protocol! the so

called HTTPprotocol#&yper Text Transfer 'rotocol$. It was the first to offer easy

linking in between documents! figures and images and the first to facilitate the design

of graphically accessible #via a software program called browser$ sites. The collection

of all nodes of Internet which offer such accessibility comprises the World Wide Web

#WWWor (ust Web$. The Web is usually the first thing that you see when you go

online. )n the web you can read text and graphics! you can watch videos! etc.

2.2 Web pages and sites

Information on the Internet is presented on pages you see on the screen. When you

bring one page to your computer screen! you discover its contents! and have the

option of bringing more pages of information. You can move between web pageby

clic!ingon "#pertext lin!! wandering far from the pages you originally opened.

collection of web pages stemming from the same Internet node and serving a specific

purpose comprises a ite.

2.* Internet addresses


2/10

+very page on the Internet is distinct from all others because it has a uni,ue Internet

address. The system of addresses that has been standardi-ed and adopted by all sites

existing in the Web is known as UR$ #%niform esource /ocator$. site0s %/

#also called Web address$ differentiates it from all other sites and helps you find your

way to the specific information you are interested in. s we shall see! Web addresses

consist of a few standard parts

Take the address #the %/$ of theNational and Kapodistrianniversity of Athens

web site! for instance " "ttp%&&www.'oa.gr

The first part "ttp%&& refers to the protocol used to access this address! in this case

&yper Text Transfer 'rotocol. It is used to send web pages across a network.

The second part " www" indicates which part of the Internet we are talking about "

in this case! the World Wide Web.

The third part .'oa" is the name of the institution #or people in other cases$ running

the site #%niversity of thens$.

The fourth part .gr" is the identifier of the country the site is located #.gr standing

for 3reece in our case$. +xamples of identifiers for countries

.'! %nited 4ingdom

.(e 3ermany

.)r 5rance

.*p 6apan

Note:

The third part may be further expanded by an extra indicator showing the nature of

the owner institution of a site. 5or example! the %/ "ttp%&&www.g'ar(ian.co.'!

tells us that it is the site of 3uardian! which is a company #.co in %4 or .com

elsewhere$! established in %4 #.uk$.

number of other identifiers that could appear in the place of .co is

.ac indicates a university or other sort of academic establishment

.e(' indicates academic establishments! used mainly in the %7

.go+ a governmentrun site

.,il a site run by the military

.org used by nonprofit organi-ations

.co, the noncountry specific version of .co! this is used by companies that want tolook like global businesses

.net used mainly by internet service providers

The identifiers .com! .org! and .net are considered global! so they are not always

followed by the country identifier #e.g. www.microsoft.com$.

The above address takes you to the "o,e page of theNational and Kapodistrian

niversity of Athens. &owever! %/s can also specify a specific document and the

directories in which it is stored. In such a case the electronic address ends with ."t,l


3/10

or ."t,. 5or instance "ttp%&&www.cc.'oa.gr&engli"&Con)erence."t, is the %/

for the 5aculty of +nglish 7tudies conferences.

Note% The recommended web pages for selfstudy in the third part of this leaflet take

you directly to specific pages which deal with various issues of academic discourse.

Ta!

T"e )ollowing web a((ree are )ro, t"e lit o) webite prepare( )or el) t'(#

in t"i co're. Tr# to anal#e t"e, in ter, o) t"e ele,ent (ic'e( abo+e.

1$ http88www.powa.org8docufrms.htm

2$ http88www.ashland.edu8stuserv8writing8parag8parafram.htm

*$ http88www.mdx.ac.uk8www8study8ecords.htm

9$ http88www.uefap.co.uk8writing8function8certain.htm

2.9 Web browser

To access the Internet easily and circulate through the Web you only need a program

called Web brower. 7uch a browser is capable of handling text! sound! video and

graphics. The two most widely used Web browsers are the Internet Explorer #by

:icrosoft$ and the Netcape Na+igator #by o/$.

To enter the Internet! you need to start your browser by clicking or doubleclicking on

its icon on your computer. When you start up your browser! it loads a home page. 5or

instance! when you use the computers in our /ibrary you will see the home page of

the %niversity of thens

2.; The toolbar


4/10

To the right a >scroll bar? that lets you move up and down the page

To the top right the three symbols

-ini,ie %minimi-es the page and keeps it on the botton of the screen-axi,ie % maximi-es the page which appears on the screen

Cloe % closes the page which appears on the screen

=otice the function of the following on the first upper toolbar

A((re bar % the place where you type the %/ #and then

hit Enter&Ret'rn$

P'll/(ownmenu % at the right end of the box! it lists the %/s you havepreviously entered in the ddress bar

Go % pressing it after typing an address takes you to the re,uested page

=otice the function of the buttons on the second upper toolbar #from left to right$

0ac! arrow % it will take you to a page you have previously seen

1orwar( arrow % it will take you to the next page


5/10

2top % it stops a page from loading

Re)re" % for sites which move slowly! click on the 2topbutton

and then Re)re"to have another go

Ho,e % it will take you to your home8start page #in cases you

have followed a long set of links and you want to go

back$

Hitor# % it lists all the pages you have visited in the particular

session #and over the previous days$

Print % it prints the entire web page you have opened

2.@ /inks

When you read a web page! certain words or phrases are marked as links. lin!is a

connection from one page to another. You find a link by looking for one or more

words highlighted with colour! underlining! or both! in the content area of a page.

Images and icons with coloured borders also serve as links. When you click on these!

you go to another document with a connection to the first " e.g. an essay on a relatedsub(ect. These "#pertext lin!connect documents so you can easily move between

them! following up specific ideas. 7o a document stored in a computer could be linked

to another on the same or a different computer. 7ee for example the underlined word

"ere in the following%

The connection of pages through links is achieved through the use of a specific

language! the HT-$#&yper Text :arkup /anguage$. &T:/ is in fact an easy to

learn and use set of text commands which define the linking of a document to otherdocuments and determine the way a document is laid out! including line spacing!

placement of images! etc. Today! graphical interfaces automate further the application

of &T:/. In addition! the capability of such an automatic reformatting of a document

is included in popular word processors #e.g. :icrosoft Word for Windows$.

s you move the cursor over the highlighted words #links$ of a Web page! the arrow

will change to a pointing finger indicating a clickable link. If you click on this! you

will move to another document or web page " either on the same computer or on

another one on the other side of the world. If you move the cursor over another link

and click on it! you will go to another page. If you find another link there and click!

another page will come up. This is what has often been called 'r)ing.


6/10

When the mouse cursor points over a link! the %/ location of the link appears in the

status field. In the home page of the %niversity of thens there are two main links

which allow the user to select the language of

communication

2.A The mouse

%sing the le)t ,o'e b'ttonto click on a link will bring up that link #or download a

file or an image$. You can also use the rig"t ,o'e b'ttonto help you with your

web browsing. When you rightclick on something on a web page #e.g. a link! an

image! etc$! a ,o'e ,en'will appear which offers you various options #such assaving the page$. s you attempt more complex operations online! you will be using

the mouse menus more.

To use the websites we have prepared for you! click on the A((re&$ocation barat

the top of your browser! and then delete the address that is there. Type in a web

address from the list of Websites for cademic Biscourse! then hit Enter&Ret'rnor

click on the Gobutton at the right end of the A((re&$ocation bar.

lternatively

In Internet Explorer select the 1ilemenu! then Open! and then write the %/ in thetext box and click O3.

In Netcape Na+igatorselect the 1ilemenu! then the Open Page! then write the %/

in the text box. Check that the line Open $ocation or 1ile has a tick next to the

Na+igatorbox. Then click Open.

2.D 7ave a web page

To take the information you find with you! you may do the following

&ave a word processor #e.g. :icrosoft Word$ blank page open and

Cop#&Pateinformation you find on it. Then save the word processor document in

your diskette #if the computer you are working on is not yours! and you cannot save it

in the hard disk$.

lternatively! go to the Doc',ent menu on the topmost toolbar of your

browser! and click on 2a+e A. Then specify A%&&on the 2a+e inblank box! give it a

name on the lower screen box that says 1ilena,e! and press the 2a+ebutton next to

it! or Enter. This will save the entire Web page #with images$ on your diskette!looking exactly like it does on the Web. If you want to save text only #without the


7/10

images or irrelevant stuff$! highlight the entire text by dragging the mouse pointer

over it and then follow the same 2a+eprocedure described above.

2.E %seful tips

2.E.1 Bifficulties accessing a web page

7ometimes you may not be able to get to a particular web page. Your browser will

usually tell you what the problem is and flash some kind of error message.


8/10

may not have specific electronic addresses but need to search on your own.


9/10

5or more hints on how to search efficiently! (ust click the hyperlink 89:;?

@BFF?. The following page opens! guiding you to specific functions of the

search engine


10/10

an internet guide for self study work

Documents