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The World Wide Web is part of the internet. It is the global information intersection. All of the information on the web is linked. All of the paths of information are allowed to cross or intersect, looking like a spider web. Most web sites are done in HTML or HyperText Markup Language. Hyperlinks aren't just attached to text. They can also be sound files and graphics. Hyperlinks are highlighted words in the text that you can click on to get to some other part of the web document or are links to other related documents.
Most web sites begin with a homepage. A homepage is like the table of contents. The homepage will normally show the hyperlinks. You can use a bookmark to mark cool sites that you want to go back to. The icons on the top bar are useful for navigating. The back bar will return you back 1 page. Forward will advance you 1 page forward. The go menu will show you places that you have been. The home icon will take you back to the home page. URL's or internet addresses must be typed exactly.
The internet browser helps you navigate the web and the internet. You can use ftp or file transfer protocol to find and download files from other sources. Gopher is a file fetching tool. Invented in 1991, it was the first tool used to find information and navigate on the web. ERIC was a gopher site used by educators. This site has been absorbed into the web. Sometimes it takes a long time for stuff to download, especially if it included a lot of graphics. You can click on stop to stop something from downloading. You can also download and look at it later. Under preferences you can select an option to not download the images. This helps stuff download faster. Tim Mclain gave some insights into understanding and using Netscape. I am somewhat familiar with Netscape as it is what the two schools I worked at last year used. Most of the work on Netscape is done by the html. Netscape is a browser. It is easy to use. The icons are actually pretty self explanatory. The directory buttons help us to search and navigate on the web. There is a progress bar at the bottom of the page that tells the status of your search. Followed links - are kept track of by the browser. They keep track of where you have been so you can retrace your steps. Preferences determines how Netscape is configured. Netscape can send email, but it cannot receive it. That means if you find something cool on the web, you can send it on to someone else.
Bookmarks are a really cool feature. Bookmarks allow access to favorite web pages. You can add favorite sites to your bookmark list so you don't have to remember the address. This will allow you to visit again with out typing in the address. You just look it up in the bookmark list and click. You can organize your bookmark list if it gets long. You can organize it into sub-directories. The video showed how to use sub-directories to organize a long list of bookmarks. When you click on view bookmarks, you can see your sub-directories.
Graphics are best saved on the mouse pop up window. You would click on "Save image as _____." You then save the image where you choose. You can copy an image, which you can then cut and paste. It is held on an imaginary clipboard for cutting and pasting. There is a mail documents option, for opening email. You can send email with attachment, via choosing the attachments option on the email. Discovering the World Wide Web should be an adventure. I am sure that I can navigate easy. Just surfing is the best way to learn. Off I go!
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