Introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web

The Internet A network of networks Began in 1969 as ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency) No central authority and thus impossible to state the precise size The Internet is not free just because you may not pay for it

The World Wide Web A subset of the Internet consisting of all computers with hypertext or hypermedia documents These documents contain references (links) to other documents which may be on a different computer anywhere in the world Began in 1991 at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Switzerland

A Client/Server Model A server (Web server or Web site) is any computer that stores then downloads hypermedia documents A client is any computer that requests then displays hypermedia documents Every client must be able to display every document from every server and does so through a browser (e.g., Netscape or Internet Explorer)

Acronyms Abound HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol is used to transmit hypermedia documents HTTPS - A secure protocol for confidential transactions (e.g., credit cards) HTML - HyperText Markup Language is the language used to write hypermedia documents TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol - governs the flow of data across the Internet

URL Format You can guess at the URL using the general form of an “www.company.com” Examples: www.microsoft.com www.nba.com www.dell.com www.whitehouse.gov www.miami.edu

My Favorite Web Page

Suggestions for Searching Use the Search button on the Internet Explorer Toolbar Try multiple search engines on one query Be aware of logical operators - AND, OR, and NOT Search on a concept; e.g., “first ladies” for “Eleanor Roosevelt” Set bookmarks or favorites

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