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*Internet Introduction

[v] Introduction To Netscape
[v] Bookmarks
[v] Helpful Procedures
[v] Searching The Internet

What is the Internet?

The Internet is the fastest growing communications medium--ever. It is a voluntary connection of millions of computers and computer networks worldwide whose purpose is to provide an international system for the movement of data and communication between computers. Cooperative groups work to keep it functional. There is no Internet governing board or group of managers running the network. No one owns the Internet.

World Wide Web

Some portions of the Internet are limited to text only. The World Wide Web (also "Web" or "WWW") is the multimedia portion of the Internet. Web documents use hypertext links to provide text and graphic-based modes of connections to access data on Internet-connected computers. Government institutions, businesses, schools and many other groups create entries, called Web pages, which are screens that can be viewed by users of the World Wide Web. [^]

*Introduction to Netscape

Netscape Navigator is a type of software known as an Internet browser. Browser software allows users to access text, graphics, movies, and sounds that are available on the World Wide Web.

Before You Start

If you're reading this section as part of a workshop presentation, you are probably meeting in a location with computers that are already connected to the Internet. If that's the case, continue to the next section.

When using Netscape at school or home, you will need to make several adjustments--depending on the method you use to connect to the Internet (a modem or direct connection).

Opening and Quitting Netscape

  1. Click on the Start button and select Netscape from the Programs menu. The Netscape start-up screen should appear.

  2. You probably don't want to stop using Netscape yet! However, when you're ready to stop, open the File menu, then select Quit.

    * Note: If you use a modem to connect to the Internet, you must disconnect your modem after you quit Netscape. This is important if you use a commercial Internet provider, otherwise you may pay for unused connection time. [^]

* Netscape Navigation

  1. Home Page.The first page Netscape loads.

  2. Hypertext and Links. Notice what happens when you move the mouse. As you pass over a word or phrase highlighted by a color and/or underlining (this is hypertext), or images with colored borders, the mouse turns into a hand to indicate you are pointing to a "link."

  3. Following Links. Click on a link. A page with related information will appear. Followed links turn purple; links that are not followed remain blue. The link's address is shown next to the "key" icon in a text box at the bottom of the page.

The Toolbar

  1. Below are some of Netscape's basic navigation tools for exploring the Internet.
*Netscape Shortcut. To return to the most recent pages you have visited, open the Go menu, then select the page of your choice. This is a temporary listing that will be deleted when you exit Netscape.

The Button Bar

  1. The What's New, What's Cool, Handbook, Net Search, Net Directory and Software buttons in the sample screen display all provide links to pages on Netscape's server. (Netscape 3.0 users will see What's New, What's Cool, Destinations, Net Search, People, and Software).

  2. Use the button bar to explore What's New? and What's Cool?

    * Note: Use the Back or Forward buttons or the Go menu to return to sites you have previously visited.

Universal Resource Locator

  1. URLs. Each page on the Web has a unique address referred to as a Universal Resource Locator or URL. If you want to locate and view a particular Web page, you must search for it by its URL.

    Here are some sample URLs:

    ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/

    URLs that begin with ftp (file transfer protocol) indicate the computer is continuously connected to another computer while a file is being transferred.

    gopher://ericir.syr.edu/

    Gopher indicates a system of menus (often with folders) will be used to view text documents.

    http://www.ucsc.edu/civil-war-letters/home.html

    Hyper text transfer protocol (http) URLs indicate that a computer will request and receive information on a continuous or as-needed basis from a Web server.

  2. Status Bar. When you move the mouse over a link, the URL for that link will appear at the bottom of the Netscape window. When you click on the link, the connecting information will be displayed.

    Once the connection is made and information transfer begins, the white progress bar fills with red as the transfer progresses.

Location Field

When you click on a link information is transferred to the computer and a URL will appear in the location field located below the toolbar.

Entering URLs. Many times you will learn about interesting Web sites from magazines, newspapers, or other teachers. Follow the steps below to enter any of the sample URLs.

  1. Click the Open button.

  2. Enter the URL exactly as it appears (URLs are case sensitive).

    *Netscape Shortcut. Many URLs begin with the prefix http://. This prefix does not have to be entered in Netscape.

  3. Click Open (or strike return or enter on the keyboard).

    * Note: If you get an error message, click the Open button and verify that you entered the correct URL. If not, edit the URL and click Open (or strike return or enter on the keyboard).

    If nothing happens, click the Stop button and then click the Reload button.

    AskERIC
    http://ericir.syr.edu

    First Aid Online
    http://www.prairienet.org/~cicely/firstaid/

    CIA World Factbook
    http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/pubs.html

    Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
    http://www.enc.org/

    The Electronic Universe
    http://zebu.uoregon.edu

    The Field Museum
    http://www.bvis.uic.edu/museum

    Games Domain
    http://www.gamesdomain.com/

    Minneapolis Inst. of Art
    http://www.artsMIA.org/

    Movie Database
    http://us.imdb.com/blurb.html

    The Salmon Page
    http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/salmon.htm

    World Wide Web of Sports
    http://www.tns.lcs.mit.edu/cgi-bin/sports/

Oregon US West/NEA Teacher Network URL

Participants in the Oregon US West/NEA Teacher Network will visit the project's Web site on a regular basis. Enter the URL below and explore the resources available at this site.

http://otn.uoregon.edu [^]

*Bookmarks

A bookmark is a record of an address (URL) for a Web page you want to use repeatedly. Below is an example of a Netscape folder with several bookmarks.

Creating and Using Bookmarks

  1. Open the Bookmark menu, then select Add Bookmark. The name and address of the Web page shown on screen will be added to the bookmark list.

  2. Try adding several bookmarks to the list.

  3. To select a bookmark open the Bookmark menu, then click on a bookmark title. Your screen should display the Web page associated with the selected bookmark.

    *Netscape Shortcut. Later in this guide you will learn to use a "Search Engine" to locate information. It is helpful to create bookmarks to access search engines used on a regular basis. Locate the OpenText search engine, then add it as a bookmark for later use. The URL is:

    http://index.opentext.net/main/powersearch.html

Bookmark Folders

Folders can be used to organize bookmarks with related content.

  1. Open the Window menu, then select Bookmarks.

  2. Open the Item menu, then select Insert Folder.

  3. Enter a name for the folder. For example, you might label the folder "Search Tools."

  4. Click OK.

Bookmark Separators

A separator line can be used to organize a list of bookmarks.

  1. To create a new separator, select Insert Separator from the Item menu. It will appear below the bookmark or folder that is currently highlighted.

  2. Click and drag the separator to the desired location.

Moving Bookmarks

  1. To move a bookmark, folder or separator to a new location in a list, click on it, then drag it to the desired location.

  2. A horizontal line will appear to indicate where the item will be placed when the mouse button is released.

  3. To place the item in a folder, release the mouse when the folder is highlighted.

Deleting Items

  1. To delete a bookmark, folder or separator, click on it, then select Delete from the Edit menu. [^]

*Helpful Procedures

Printing

  1. To print information that appears in Netscape, select Print from the File menu.

* Note: If your Internet connection is by telephone using a modem, it is recommended that you save information and print it after you have disconnected.

Copying Text

  1. To copy text that appears on screen you must first highlight the text area you wish to copy. To highlight text, click and drag the mouse over a section of text.

  2. Select Copy from the Edit menu.

  3. Open a word-processing document to receive the copied text.

  4. Position the cursor, then choose Paste from the Edit menu to complete the transfer of text from Netscape to the word-processing document.

Saving a Web Page

A Web page can be saved as a text file that can be opened by any word processor and edited for personal use.

  1. Select Save As from the File menu.

  2. Select Save as type: as Plain Text.

  3. Enter the name of the file.

    * Note: If you are using a word processor that was designed for Windows 3.1, the name of the file should be in the format name.txt where name is eight letters or less (do not use spaces).

  4. Select the location where the file will be saved.

  5. Click Save.

  6. Start your word processor, then select Open from the File menu.

  7. Choose Show All Files in the Files of Type box.

  8. Choose Word Processing as the Document Type.

  9. Select the saved Web page, then click Open. [^]

*Searching the Internet

Searching for information on the Internet requires careful planning and problem-solving skills. To help locate information on the Web, different search "engines" or tools have been developed. This section is an introduction to searching the Internet. Later, you will learn more about search engines and information-gathering strategies.

How search engines work and the kind of information they gather varies. For example, InterLinks is used to search for e-mail lists, while Who Where? is used to search for individuals. Two fairly common search engines are OpenText and InfoSeek which can be used to search for words or phrases.

OpenText Search Engine

  1. Use the URL below to locate the OpenText search engine.

    http://index.opentext.net/main/powersearch.html

    If you already have created a bookmark for this site, open it now.

  2. Enter a word or phrase in the "Search for" box, then select where you want to search. To search for a combination of words or phrases, enter the second word or phrase in the next "Search for" box, then click Search.

InfoSeek Search Engine

  1. Use the URL below to locate the Infoseek search engine.

    http://www.infoseek.com

  2. To search for information about a topic, click in the search box, then enter one or more key words (separated by a single space). Since there is so much information on the Internet, it is helpful to narrow the search parameters by using very specific keywords.

  3. Click the Search Now button to begin the search. You will receive a list of potential matches to examine further.

Infoseek Searching Tips


Infoseek and most other Web search engines provide online help and tips for searching. The following tips are from Infoseek's online help. If you follow this link, you can click the Back button on the Netscape toolbar to return to this page.

  1. FINDING PROPER NAMES. Capitalize proper names, such as "December" and "California." If you capitalize adjacent names, Infoseek Guide treats the words as a single name.

    - For example, to find information on news anchor Dan Rather, enter: Dan Rather

    Not capitalizing proper names causes them to be treated like any other word. Typing "dan rather" will find sites that use the letters d-a-n, such as dance or endanger, as well as sites that use the word rather.

  2. SEARCHING FOR MULTIPLE NAMES. Use commas to separate different names.

    - For example, to search for Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox, enter: Babe Ruth, Boston Red Sox

    Omitting the comma between proper names causes them to be treated as one single long name. A search for "Babe Ruth Boston Red Sox" yields no results.

  3. FINDING A PHRASE. Use double quotation marks (") around words that must appear next to each other.

    - For example, to find information on stop watches, enter: "stop watch"

    Without double quotation marks, Infoseek Guide would find sites that include the word "stop" and sites that include the word "watch." The search results would include information about Neighborhood Watch programs rather than timepieces.

    Use hyphens (-) between words that must appear within one word of each other.

    - For example, to search for children's movies, enter: children's-movies

    Without the hyphen, Infoseek Guide would find sites that include the word "children" and the word "movie." The search results could include information about movies like "The City of Lost Children" that are not necessarily suitable for young children, but happen to have children in them. With the hyphen, Infoseek Guide will find references to movies that were specifically made for children to enjoy.

  4. FINDING WORDS THAT APPEAR TOGETHER. Use square brackets to find words that appear within 100 words of each other, such as words you would expect to see in the same sentence or paragraph.

    - For example, to find safety tips for using elevators, enter: [elevator safety]

    Without the square brackets, Infoseek Guide would find sites containing safety information for different universities in the United States. With the brackets, it will find the home page for the National Association of Elevator Safety Associates.

  5. SPECIFYING WORDS THAT MUST APPEAR IN THE RESULTS. Put a plus sign (+) in front of words that must be in documents found by the search.

    - For example, to find city guides about San Francisco, enter: city guide +San Francisco

    Do not put a space between the plus sign (+) and the word. [^]

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