Internet Basics for Lilburn Elementary

Lisa Campbell,

Media Specialist

What is the “Internet”?

The Internet is a global network of computer networks, linking computers so they can "communicate."

The Internet is the ….

Plumbing that connects all the computers so they can “talk”!

Electronic mail (email)

Discussion groups

Information retrieved via the World Wide Web.

This “talk” can take several forms:

What is the “World Wide Web”?

This is the information on those computers.

When you search for information, you are really searching other computers.

All the information on all the computers all over the world is the World Wide Web!

(All connected by the plumbing, or the “internet”.)

How do you get information from the World Wide Web?

You have a choice of two tools:

Search Engine

Directory

What’s the Difference?

Search Engine

A search engine, like Google, is a robot that finds web sites containing the exact words you were looking for.

No humans are involved.

Drawbacks of Search Engines

Search Engine (robot): Keyword: “Penguins” What you might get:

Penguin Babyfood Corporation

Penguin Cement CompanyPenguin Tires, Inc.Penguin Skateboards

Using a Search Engine to access the World Wide Web

Information Overload!!

The world wide web doubles every three months.

A fire hose of information – you can’t take a sip from a fire hose!

By very specific!

Narrow your keywords then check your hits

The first site might be just what you wanted, or you might want to continue narrowing your search.

Usually the first page or two will have what you need. If not, you must change your “key words” to help the robot find the right thing.

Check and refine your results

It’s no longer a fire hose of information, but a manageable, digestible amount of information.

Directory

A directory like “Yahoo” is not a true search engine.

Humans have categorized sites into groups like “animals” or “automobiles” and decided which sites go where. A little like the Yellow Pages.

You can see the categories listed on the Yahoo page.

This directory was built by a group of people at Yahoo.

Directory and Database

Looking for penguins in a directory is easier, it is already organized under “Animals”.

Even better than a directory, is a “Database”. Gwinnett County has many fabulous Databases which are expert-built sites filled with information. Our Britannica Encyclopedia is a database.

Safe and True

You can be sure that the information inside our databases is up-to-date and correct.

Our databases are the perfect stop for doing your research. You will not be confused by too many sites put out on the web by anyone!

The next page is one you might get from a search engine:

All about Pengins

Pengins are happy and black and wite. Thay sometims slide on there stomak.

Thay are little when thay are born. Thay way about 10 pownds. I like them. No body etes them.

By: Jeremy Rychlik, aged 9 Apple Vally Day School. 12/3/1988.

Evaluating websites Authority - whose site is it? Is the author or sponsoring

organization easily identified and/or contacted?

Content - can the information on this site be corroborated in another source? Does it 'ring true?' Does the author give references to other sources?

Timeliness - is the information up-to-date, is the site maintained?

General appearance - is the site free from spelling and/or grammatical errors? Is it well-designed, do graphics enhance or detract from the site's purpose?

Are there annoying pop-up ads or links to commercial entities?

What is a URL?

A url is the site address on the world wide web. It stands for “Uniform Resource Locator”

Let’s dissect a URL

http (HyperText Transfer Protocol) indicates a Web document or directory. Most of the URLs you will use start with http, which is the method by which data is transferred over the Web. (Web pages are written in HTML -- Hypertext Markup Language).

www – world wide web

http://home.comcast.net/~campbellfamily5

My web site – look for clues: http: = hypertext transfer protocol home.comcast.net = built at home, hosted by

Comcast and it is part of a network. This is the server name.

~campbellfamily5 – second level domain

Top Level Domain Names

.com = commercial .net = network .org – non profit .edu = educational institution .mil = military .gov = government

New Domain Names

.aero = air transport industry  .biz = businesses .coop = cooperatives .info = unrestricted use .name = individuals .museum = museums .pro = accountants, lawyers, physicians, and

other professionals

Country Codes:Just a few that you might see:

.au - Australia.br - Brazil.ca - Canada.fr - France .hk - Hong Kong .il - Israel .in - India .it - Italy .mx - Mexico .tw - Taiwan .uk - United Kingdom

Get used to glancing at the URL

Email from Ebay: URL from Romania! It was right in the URL. cgi.ebay.in/romania_WQ44vmds8767204 Many fell for it!