Before you got access to the World Wide Web, all of your friends and colleagues probably told you that "surfing the Web is as easy as typing in a few words and clicking on the search button." Well, I hate to tell you this - but they lied.
Who developed the World Wide Web?
The WWW was developed at CERN, a European Laboratory for Particle Physics. The folks at CERN decided that they did not want to be limited to choosing from a menu. They wanted to be able to view an entire document and to be able to link to another site on the Internet from any part of that document. This concept of linking from any part of a text to another site is known as hypertext. The WWW is a collection of all the computer space on the Internet that accepts these hyperlink requests. And, it's based on hypertext transfer protocol (http). The documents which are viewed using http are written in a code called hypertext mark-up language or more simply, HTML. Once you begin surfing, you will see a lot of little http's. And, if you ever decide to actually create your very own Web Page, you will become quite intimate with HTML.
Surfing is easy, right?
Surfing (or searching) for information on the Web is more challenging than searching for information in a well equipped, well organized library. It can be frustrating, time consuming, annoying and what you get is often not even close to what you were looking for. Don't worry. If you want to surf effectively on the Web, all you need is a little bit of patience and a more structured approach to your surfing activities.
Getting Connected
Before you go surfing on the WWW, you have to get connected. Which means selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISP's are the folks that get you "connected" via a modem to the WWW. Some of the more popular ISP's include Earthlink, America Online (AOL), CompuServ, etc. Most Internet Service Providers charge about $19.95 a month for unlimited access and provide you with a local telephone number to get connected.
What is a Web Browser?
The software which actually accesses all this computer space via your ISP is called a Web Browser. Web Browsers are one of the tools you need to surf. Think of your Web Browser as your surf board - as you can't surf the Web without one. There are many different Web Browsers to choose from. One early browser, called Lynx, is a text only browser. Meaning, you can only display text -- no pretty graphics or cool pictures. Then the folks at the National Center for Super-Computer Applications (NCSCA) got tired of looking at all this text and developed Mosaic which took advantage of the http protocol developed by CERN and incorporated graphics and pictures. Then those really smart folks who developed Mosaic went on to become millionaires because they developed Netscape - one of the most popular Web Browsers.
Using a Search Engine
Once you get yourself set up with a Web Browser and an ISP, you need to use a Search Engine. Yahoo, Infoseek, Excite, AltaVista, Webcrawler, Hotbot, Lycos, are all Search Engines available through your Web Browser. Just picture a billion little green people all sitting inside your computer running around furiously looking for the information you requested and basically you got the concept behind what a Search Engine does. Search Engines actually find the information you are seeking. Of course, in order for your search to be a success, you must provide the Search Engine with the correct information in the correct format. Whatever Search Engine you choose to use, the first thing to do is to read the Engine's Help screens. These screens will provide you with valuable information on the Engine's search settings - like whether it is case sensitive, if it uses connective terms, if you need to use quotation marks, commas, plus signs, minus signs, etc.
What are Search Engine settings?
Once you have read the Engine's Help screens and understand the settings, you should be ready to begin surfing. If you want to identify words which appear together - like "three little pigs" then in many Search Engines, you would use quotation marks (" "). However, keep in mind that all Search Engines are different and even though some may require you to use quotation marks for searching phrases, others may require you to use the plus (+) sign. If you want to indicate proper nouns - like Mickey Mouse - you should use capital letters. The pipe symbol on your keyboard (|), usually located next to the backspace key, is used to narrow your search from a broad topic (i.e. Cars) to a more specific topic (i.e. Cars|Volkswagon|Beetle). The plus (+) sign is used for required terms. (i.e. Donald+Duck). If you want to identify undesired terms use the minus (-) sign. For example: +"Stones" - "rock band." This should give you information on stones but not on the rock band, the Rolling Stones. Some Search Engines offer Boolean searching which allows terms to be put into logical groups by the use of connective terms - like the words AND and OR). For example, if you type in mice AND cheese, your search will be narrowed. If you type in mice OR cheese, your search will be broadened. If you type, mice NOT cheese, your search will be narrowed. There are many other idiosyncrasies within Search Engines so before you begin surfing, please read the Help screens. By doing this you will eliminate a lot of frustration and aggravation and probably even find what you are looking for.
How are Search Engines different?
Although all Search Engines "search" for information. Some Search Engines search larger areas and all have different rules and regulations. For example: AltaVista searches in 100 million web pages. Excite searches in 50 million web pages. HotBot searches in 54 million web pages. However. AltaVista is case sensitive. Excite is not. The default operator for AltaVista and Excite is OR. The default operator for HotBot is AND. So, as you can see - it is vital that you learn about your Search Engine before you begin surfing.
What if I get too little or too many results?
If your search query comes up with too little results, try using multiple words or synonyms and variations of the word. make sure your spelling is correct and make sure you are using the proper syntax. If your search query comes up with too many results, try identifying phrases (i.e. "stolen bases" records.) Or, you can add a discriminating word (i.e. "touchdown" football). And, use capitalization when it is appropriate. For example: do not type humphrey bogart. Type Humphrey Bogart.
The World Wide Web is a vast collection of universal, interconnected documents offering you more information than you will ever be able to digest in your lifetime. However, before you start your surfing expedition remember this: Columbus didn't just sail - he sailed West.
Who developed the World Wide Web?
The WWW was developed at CERN, a European Laboratory for Particle Physics. The folks at CERN decided that they did not want to be limited to choosing from a menu. They wanted to be able to view an entire document and to be able to link to another site on the Internet from any part of that document. This concept of linking from any part of a text to another site is known as hypertext. The WWW is a collection of all the computer space on the Internet that accepts these hyperlink requests. And, it's based on hypertext transfer protocol (http). The documents which are viewed using http are written in a code called hypertext mark-up language or more simply, HTML. Once you begin surfing, you will see a lot of little http's. And, if you ever decide to actually create your very own Web Page, you will become quite intimate with HTML.
Surfing is easy, right?
Surfing (or searching) for information on the Web is more challenging than searching for information in a well equipped, well organized library. It can be frustrating, time consuming, annoying and what you get is often not even close to what you were looking for. Don't worry. If you want to surf effectively on the Web, all you need is a little bit of patience and a more structured approach to your surfing activities.
Getting Connected
Before you go surfing on the WWW, you have to get connected. Which means selecting an Internet Service Provider (ISP). ISP's are the folks that get you "connected" via a modem to the WWW. Some of the more popular ISP's include Earthlink, America Online (AOL), CompuServ, etc. Most Internet Service Providers charge about $19.95 a month for unlimited access and provide you with a local telephone number to get connected.
What is a Web Browser?
The software which actually accesses all this computer space via your ISP is called a Web Browser. Web Browsers are one of the tools you need to surf. Think of your Web Browser as your surf board - as you can't surf the Web without one. There are many different Web Browsers to choose from. One early browser, called Lynx, is a text only browser. Meaning, you can only display text -- no pretty graphics or cool pictures. Then the folks at the National Center for Super-Computer Applications (NCSCA) got tired of looking at all this text and developed Mosaic which took advantage of the http protocol developed by CERN and incorporated graphics and pictures. Then those really smart folks who developed Mosaic went on to become millionaires because they developed Netscape - one of the most popular Web Browsers.
Using a Search Engine
Once you get yourself set up with a Web Browser and an ISP, you need to use a Search Engine. Yahoo, Infoseek, Excite, AltaVista, Webcrawler, Hotbot, Lycos, are all Search Engines available through your Web Browser. Just picture a billion little green people all sitting inside your computer running around furiously looking for the information you requested and basically you got the concept behind what a Search Engine does. Search Engines actually find the information you are seeking. Of course, in order for your search to be a success, you must provide the Search Engine with the correct information in the correct format. Whatever Search Engine you choose to use, the first thing to do is to read the Engine's Help screens. These screens will provide you with valuable information on the Engine's search settings - like whether it is case sensitive, if it uses connective terms, if you need to use quotation marks, commas, plus signs, minus signs, etc.
What are Search Engine settings?
Once you have read the Engine's Help screens and understand the settings, you should be ready to begin surfing. If you want to identify words which appear together - like "three little pigs" then in many Search Engines, you would use quotation marks (" "). However, keep in mind that all Search Engines are different and even though some may require you to use quotation marks for searching phrases, others may require you to use the plus (+) sign. If you want to indicate proper nouns - like Mickey Mouse - you should use capital letters. The pipe symbol on your keyboard (|), usually located next to the backspace key, is used to narrow your search from a broad topic (i.e. Cars) to a more specific topic (i.e. Cars|Volkswagon|Beetle). The plus (+) sign is used for required terms. (i.e. Donald+Duck). If you want to identify undesired terms use the minus (-) sign. For example: +"Stones" - "rock band." This should give you information on stones but not on the rock band, the Rolling Stones. Some Search Engines offer Boolean searching which allows terms to be put into logical groups by the use of connective terms - like the words AND and OR). For example, if you type in mice AND cheese, your search will be narrowed. If you type in mice OR cheese, your search will be broadened. If you type, mice NOT cheese, your search will be narrowed. There are many other idiosyncrasies within Search Engines so before you begin surfing, please read the Help screens. By doing this you will eliminate a lot of frustration and aggravation and probably even find what you are looking for.
How are Search Engines different?
Although all Search Engines "search" for information. Some Search Engines search larger areas and all have different rules and regulations. For example: AltaVista searches in 100 million web pages. Excite searches in 50 million web pages. HotBot searches in 54 million web pages. However. AltaVista is case sensitive. Excite is not. The default operator for AltaVista and Excite is OR. The default operator for HotBot is AND. So, as you can see - it is vital that you learn about your Search Engine before you begin surfing.
What if I get too little or too many results?
If your search query comes up with too little results, try using multiple words or synonyms and variations of the word. make sure your spelling is correct and make sure you are using the proper syntax. If your search query comes up with too many results, try identifying phrases (i.e. "stolen bases" records.) Or, you can add a discriminating word (i.e. "touchdown" football). And, use capitalization when it is appropriate. For example: do not type humphrey bogart. Type Humphrey Bogart.
The World Wide Web is a vast collection of universal, interconnected documents offering you more information than you will ever be able to digest in your lifetime. However, before you start your surfing expedition remember this: Columbus didn't just sail - he sailed West.
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