Electronic Communication The Internet The Internet consists of millions of computers all around the world, that are linked to each other sharing information. Elaine Munn

By connecting to the Internet you can: Communicate with people using email Join news or chat groups Play games Shop Download music Use the World Wide Web to look up all sorts of information Elaine Munn

Web Browser In order to look at web pages you need to have special software call a Web Browser. The most popular browser is currently: Microsoft Internet Explorer Elaine Munn

The Browser The browser enables you to connect to the Internet and navigate the WWW allowing you to move around the web pages and the web sites. Elaine Munn

Internet Explorer Window Browser’s toolbar Title bar showing name of current web page Address of current web page - URL To go to a new web page you can enter the address here Web page Internet Explorer Window

Internet Explorer Toolbar                                                                                                                                              Internet Explorer Toolbar Back & Forward Buttons – use to retrace your steps Favourites Centre button – displays list of web sites you have stored Add to Favourites – allows you to store web addresses for easy access Home – the page that is displayed when you open up Internet Explorer   . Terri Howard

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Hyperlinks The pages on the WWW are linked so that you can move around and between them. These links are called hyperlinks or hot spots and are found by moving the cursor across the page. When the cursor turns into a hand you have found the link. Elaine Munn

Hyperlinks another place within the current web site                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Hyperlinks Hyperlinks can be text (usually a different colour and underlined) or image links (the cursor changes to a hand over a picture). If you click on a hyperlink you will go to: another place within the current web site to another web site entirely. Elaine Munn

Finding Information The Internet is a fantastic source of information but, because of its sheer size (over 1 billion web pages), finding something in particular can be a problem. Using search engines can make it much easier to find the information (and the web pages) that you need. Elaine Munn

Finding Information There are many search engines available. Here are a few you might like to try: Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com Ask Jeeves http://www.ask.com HotBot http://www.hotbot.com Google http://www.google.com Lycos http://www.lycos.com MSN http://www.msn.com Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com Super search Engine – searches more than one search engine at a time http://www.dogpile.com/ Elaine Munn

Search Hints Once you select a search engine, enter the information you want to find. It is important to be as specific as possible, to limit the range of information that is returned. Different search engines have different coverage so it is worth getting to know a few. Elaine Munn

Internet Search Hints Spell correctly! Quotation marks can be used to group words (e.g. “northern ireland”) Use multiple search criteria (advanced search) Place the + sign directly in front of the word that must be included. Make sure you leave a space before the + sign. A – sign directly before a word will exclude it. ‘OR’ to search for either of two items Some search engines use ‘and’, ‘not’ instead of the signs ‘+’ , ‘-’ Elaine Munn

Favourites List Sites that you use often can be added to your Favourites list. Also referred to as Bookmark. This means that you do not have to remember the addresses of sites you plan to visit again. It also means that you don’t have to keep typing the same addresses over and over again. Elaine Munn

Adding to Favourites Terri Howard When you are in a web site that you want to visit again click on the Favorites button on the toolbar at the top of the screen.Favorites button Clicking on the Favourites Button displays the list of Favourite sites. Click on the Add button and a box will appear, specifying the address to be added. Terri Howard

Changing the Home Page Click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options Elaine Munn

Printing a Web Page Clicking on the Print button on the toolbar will print the page that is currently displayed. Page Setup from the File menu will allow you to add a header or footer to the page. This is helpful if you want to add your name to the printed page. Terri Howard

Saving Web Pages and Graphics To save a web page select Save as… from the File menu. When the dialog box opens drop down the Save as type box and select Web archive (*mht) option. Elaine Munn

Web Graphics Right-click over the required graphic and select Save Picture As from the menu that appears. Elaine Munn