Internet Tutorial Page

The Internet and the World Wide Web

Having trouble finding the information you're looking for when you search the Internet? That can be very frustrating! The following tutorial is designed to help you understand how the Internet works, and to teach you more accurate ways of searching for the specific information you need.

What is the Internet? Getting Started Navigating the Web Using a Search Engine

What is the Internet?

The Internet is a giant computer network that connects computers around the world together. You can use the Internet to find local, national and international information on all sorts of topics. You can also use the Internet to send and receive email, transfer files, or participate in newsgroups.

We will concentrate on the part of the Internet known as the World Wide Web. The Web is made up of thousands of Web pages, each containing information about a particular topic. But anyone with access to the Internet can create a Web page, so you will need to be careful because the information on some Web pages might not be accurate. (We will talk more about this later.)

How are all these Web pages connected together? They're connected to one another by hyperlinks. A hyperlink could be a line of text, an icon, or a picture that you can click on with your computer mouse to go from one place on the Web to another.

Hyperlinks are easy to recognize. Words or lines of text that are hyperlinks will usually appear in blue, although sometimes they are another color. Pictures are also frequently used as hyperlinks. The easiest way to tell if a line of text or a picture is a hyperlink is to move your computer mouse over it. By carefully watching the screen you will see your mouse pointer turn into a small hand. If you see the small hand appear, you'll know you found a hyperlink.

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Getting Started

Let's make our starting point on the Internet the Baltimore County Public Library's web site. All pages on the Library's web site have the following global navigation, which will help you find the information you want quickly and easily.

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 Navigating the Web

The very top of your computer screen should look similar to one of the images shown above. You can use this area to access additional Internet navigation options.

• Going Back
  At some point while searching the Web, you may want to go back to a Web page that you have already visited. To do this you can click the Back button at the top of your screen. This will take you back to the Web page you last visited. You can use the Back button multiple times to retrace your steps. (Note: on older web browsers, you can click the word Go at the top of your screen and then choose Back from the menu list).
  
  
• Going Forward
  If you have used the Back button to retrace your steps you can use the Forward button at the top of your screen to move ahead again. (Note: on older web browsers, you can click the word Go at the top of the screen and choose Forward from the menu list).
  
  
• Returning to your designated Home Page
  You can always return to your designated starting point, in our case that's the Baltimore County Public Library Web site, by clicking on the Home button at the top of your screen. It looks like a little house. (Note: on older browsers, click on the word Go at the top of your screen and choose Start Page from the menu list).
  
  
• Printing
  If you want to print the information you have found, click the word File at the top of the screen and choose Print from the menu list. You can also click on the Print button at the top of the screen. (Note: if you only want to print specific pages, you should use the File, Print option instead of the Print button).
  
  
• Going to a Specific Address
  Every site on the Web has its own address. If you already know the address of a site you want to visit you can quickly access it by using the Address or Location bar near the top of your screen. The Address or Location bar is the white area that displays the address of the Web page you are currently viewing.
  
  To go to a specific address you can click in the Address or Location bar with your mouse and erase the address that is currently there. Next, type in the address of the Web site you wish to visit. Finally, hit the Enter button on your keyboard. It may take several seconds for the new Web page to appear. In order for this to work, the address must be exactly correct. 
  
  (Note: If the address you are typing in the Address or Location bar contains an @ symbol, it is an E-mail address and cannot be accessed from the World Wide Web).

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 Using a Search Engine

If you want to find information about a specific topic you will need to use an Internet Search Engine, a Web site where you can search for information using keywords. To access a search engine, from any page on the Baltimore County Public Library's web site, select the pull-down menu called Web Resources. Then select Internet. This will take you to the Internet InfoCenter.

On the Internet InfoCenter, you will find a link to Search Engines. This will take you to an annotated list of some of the most popular search engines available. You can choose any of these to begin your search.

The image to the left shows Google, a typical Internet search engine. Every search engine is somewhat
different, but they all have the same basic features:

• A blank space where you type keywords

• A button you click on to begin your search

• Some sort of advanced search feature

To begin your search you should click with your mouse in the blank search box. A small flashing black line should appear. Type in words describing what you are looking for. Be as specific as possible. Click the Search button to begin searching the Internet. (Depending on which search engine you use, the Search button may either be next to or below the search box.)

Search Engines index hundreds of thousands of Web sites, so the chances are good that you will get a list of thousands of Web sites that match your keywords. The matching sites will be listed in order of relevance so you are most likely to find what you need by visiting the sites listed in the top 1-10.

There are many different ways you can improve the effectiveness of your Internet searches, find fewer unrelated "matches", and locate more accurate information. For example, if you wanted information about the Civil War that took place in the United States during the 1800's, and you just typed Civil War into the search box, you would get a list of web sites relating to the word civil and web sites relating to the word war. One way to improve your search is to either put the words in quotation marks, or put a plus sign in front of each of the words. For example, in the search box you would type "Civil War" or +Civil +War.

Some search engines, such as Ask.com, support natural language searching. This means that you can type in a question about the topic you are interested in. For example, you could type What is the state bird of Maryland? or Where is Iceland located?, and you will get back a list of web sites relating to your question.

Most search engines have either Search Tips, a Help file, or an Advanced Search button that you can click on to get additional help with your search.

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