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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?
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
![[ Image of Top of Browser ]](tutor_addressbar.gif)
![[ Image of Top of Newer Version of Browser ]](tutor_navtutor.gif)
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.
![[ Image of home page of Google search engine ]](tutor_google.gif)
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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