AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO THE INTERNET

As a net is made up of a series of nodes, so everything in this world is connected by a series of nodes. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken. It is called a net because it is made up of a series of interconnected meshes, and each mesh has its place and responsibility in relation to the other meshes. - Buddha -

The following handout will provide some helpful information about the Internet and specifically about how to use it to explore websites for academic discourse. It does not aim to provide a detailed account of the Internet but only to offer some basic information which will enable you to start using the Internet for academic purposes.

2. 1 What is the Internet and the Web

The Internet is the accessible collection of networked computers physically located around the world. You can think of the Internet as a network or networks. t a basic level! a computer network is a collection of computers " say in an office or a university " connected in such a way that they can communicate with each other and share information. This communication is facilitated by the common adoption of specific coding #communication protocols$. If such a structure is imposed in an inwards oriented network #say the %niversity of thens network$ it is called an intranet. If this network #or a part of it$ is linked to other external networks it becomes an extranet. The collection of networks exposed to a global access #be it free or under conditions$ is the ever expanding Internet. The availability of this networking substructure to all people around the globe became feasible due to the adoption of a standard communication protocol! the so called HTTP protocol #&yper Text Transfer 'rotocol$. It was the first to offer easy linking in between documents! figures and images and the first to facilitate the design of graphically accessible #via a software program called browser$ sites. The collection of all nodes of Internet which offer such accessibility comprises the World Wide Web #WWW or (ust Web$. The Web is usually the first thing that you see when you go online. )n the web you can read text and graphics! you can watch videos! etc.

2.2 Web pages and sites

Information on the Internet is presented on pages you see on the screen. When you bring one page to your computer screen! you discover its contents! and have the option of bringing more pages of information. You can move between web page by clic!ing on "#pertext lin! ! wandering far from the pages you originally opened. collection of web pages stemming from the same Internet node and serving a specific purpose comprises a ite.

2.* Internet addresses

+very page on the Internet is distinct from all others because it has a uni,ue Internet address. The system of addresses that has been standardi-ed and adopted by all sites existing in the Web is known as UR$ #%niform .esource /ocator$. site0s %./ #also called Web address$ differentiates it from all other sites and helps you find your way to the specific information you are interested in. s we shall see! Web addresses consist of a few standard parts1 Take the address #the %./$ of the National and Kapodistrian niversity of Athens web site! for instance " "ttp%&&www.'oa.gr The first part 2 "ttp%&& 2 refers to the protocol used to access this address! in this case &yper Text Transfer 'rotocol. It is used to send web pages across a network. The second part " www " indicates which part of the Internet we are talking about " in this case! the World Wide Web. The third part 2 .'oa " is the name of the institution #or people in other cases$ running the site #%niversity of thens$. The fourth part 2 .gr " is the identifier of the country the site is located #.gr standing for 3reece in our case$. +xamples of identifiers for countries1 .'! %nited 4ingdom .(e 3ermany .)r 5rance .*p 6apan Note: The third part may be further expanded by an extra indicator showing the nature of the owner institution of a site. 5or example! the %./ "ttp%&&www.g'ar(ian.co.'! tells us that it is the site of 3uardian! which is a company #.co in %4 or .com elsewhere$! established in %4 #.uk$. number of other identifiers that could appear in the place of .co is1 .ac indicates a university or other sort of academic establishment .e(' indicates academic establishments! used mainly in the %7 .go+ a government2run site .,il a site run by the military .org used by non2profit organi-ations .co, the non2country specific version of .co! this is used by companies that want to look like global businesses .net used mainly by internet service providers The identifiers .com! .org! and .net are considered global! so they are not always followed by the country identifier #e.g. www.microsoft.com$.

The above address takes you to the "o,e page of the National and Kapodistrian niversity of Athens. &owever! %./s can also specify a specific document and the directories in which it is stored. In such a case the electronic address ends with ."t,l

or ."t,. 5or instance1 "ttp%&&www.cc.'oa.gr&engli "&Con)erence ."t, is the %./ for the 5aculty of +nglish 7tudies conferences. Note% The recommended web pages for self2study in the third part of this leaflet take you directly to specific pages which deal with various issues of academic discourse. Ta ! T"e )ollowing web a((re e are )ro, t"e li t o) web ite prepare( )or el) t'(# in t"i co'r e. Tr# to anal# e t"e, in ter, o) t"e ele,ent (i c' e( abo+e. 1$ http188www.powa.org8docufrms.htm 2$ http188www.ashland.edu8stuserv8writing8parag8parafram.htm *$ http188www.mdx.ac.uk8www8study8.ecords.htm 9$ http188www.uefap.co.uk8writing8function8certain.htm

2.9 Web browser

To access the Internet easily and circulate through the Web you only need a program called Web brow er. 7uch a browser is capable of handling text! sound! video and graphics. The two most widely used Web browsers are the Internet Explorer #by :icrosoft$ and the Net cape Na+igator #by o/$. To enter the Internet! you need to start your browser by clicking or double2clicking on its icon on your computer. When you start up your browser! it loads a home page. 5or instance! when you use the computers in our /ibrary you will see the home page of the %niversity of thens1

2.; The toolbar

<elow is the home page of the =ational and 4apodistrian %niversity of thens accessed through the Internet +xplorer. )n this page! notice the following important buttons1

To the right1 a >scroll bar? that lets you move up and down the page To the top right the three symbols1 -ini,i.e -axi,i.e Clo e % minimi-es the page and keeps it on the botton of the screen % maximi-es the page which appears on the screen % closes the page which appears on the screen

=otice the function of the following on the first upper toolbar1 A((re bar % the place where you type the %./ #and then hit Enter&Ret'rn$ % at the right end of the box! it lists the %./s you have previously entered in the ddress bar

P'll/(own menu

Go

% pressing it after typing an address takes you to the re,uested page

=otice the function of the buttons on the second upper toolbar #from left to right$1

0ac! arrow 1orwar( arrow

% %

it will take you to a page you have previously seen it will take you to the next page

2top Re)re "

% %

it stops a page from loading for sites which move slowly! click on the 2top button and then Re)re " to have another go it will take you to your home8start page #in cases you have followed a long set of links and you want to go back$ it lists all the pages you have visited in the particular session #and over the previous days$ it prints the entire web page you have opened

Ho,e

Hi tor#

Print

2.@ /inks
When you read a web page! certain words or phrases are marked as links. lin! is a connection from one page to another. You find a link by looking for one or more words highlighted with colour! underlining! or both! in the content area of a page. Images and icons with coloured borders also serve as links. When you click on these! you go to another document with a connection to the first " e.g. an essay on a related sub(ect. These "#pertext lin! connect documents so you can easily move between them! following up specific ideas. 7o a document stored in a computer could be linked to another on the same or a different computer. 7ee for example the underlined word "ere in the following%

The connection of pages through links is achieved through the use of a specific language! the HT-$ #&yper Text :arkup /anguage$. &T:/ is in fact an easy to learn and use set of text commands which define the linking of a document to other documents and determine the way a document is laid out! including line spacing! placement of images! etc. Today! graphical interfaces automate further the application of &T:/. In addition! the capability of such an automatic reformatting of a document is included in popular word processors #e.g. :icrosoft Word for Windows$. s you move the cursor over the highlighted words #links$ of a Web page! the arrow will change to a pointing finger indicating a click2able link. If you click on this! you will move to another document or web page " either on the same computer or on another one on the other side of the world. If you move the cursor over another link and click on it! you will go to another page. If you find another link there and click! another page will come up. This is what has often been called 'r)ing.

When the mouse cursor points over a link! the %./ location of the link appears in the status field. In the home page of the %niversity of thens there are two main links which allow the user to select the language of communication1

2.A The mouse

%sing the le)t ,o' e b'tton to click on a link will bring up that link #or download a file or an image$. You can also use the rig"t ,o' e b'tton to help you with your web browsing. When you right2click on something on a web page #e.g. a link! an image! etc$! a ,o' e ,en' will appear which offers you various options #such as saving the page$. s you attempt more complex operations online! you will be using the mouse menus more. To use the websites we have prepared for you! click on the A((re &$ocation bar at the top of your browser! and then delete the address that is there. Type in a web address from the list of Websites for cademic Biscourse! then hit Enter&Ret'rn or click on the Go button at the right end of the A((re &$ocation bar. lternatively1 In Internet Explorer select the 1ile menu! then Open! and then write the %./ in the text box and click O3. In Net cape Na+igator select the 1ile menu! then the Open Page! then write the %./ in the text box. Check that the line Open $ocation or 1ile has a tick next to the Na+igator box. Then click Open.

2.D 7ave a web page

To take the information you find with you! you may do the following1 &ave a word processor #e.g. :icrosoft Word$ blank page open and Cop#&Pa te information you find on it. Then save the word processor document in your diskette #if the computer you are working on is not yours! and you cannot save it in the hard disk$. lternatively! go to the Doc',ent menu on the topmost toolbar of your browser! and click on 2a+e A . Then specify A%&& on the 2a+e in blank box! give it a name on the lower screen box that says 1ilena,e! and press the 2a+e button next to it! or Enter. This will save the entire Web page #with images$ on your diskette! looking exactly like it does on the Web. If you want to save text only #without the

images or irrelevant stuff$! highlight the entire text by dragging the mouse pointer over it and then follow the same 2a+e procedure described above.

2.E %seful tips 2.E.1 Bifficulties accessing a web page

7ometimes you may not be able to get to a particular web page. Your browser will usually tell you what the problem is and flash some kind of error message. <elow is an indicative list of the problems you may face1 Yo'r brow er a# it i 'nable to locate t"e er+er Check that you have entered the %./ correctly. Check for spelling and try again. If you still cannot get through and get the same error message! it may be that the server #1 the computer which gives the re,uested information to the Internet$ at the site is down! or that the site has closed down. A ,e age co,e 'p a#ing 4Connection wa Re)' e( b# Ho t5 The site you are trying to access is probably very busy. Try again! if you get the same message! leave it until the site is likely to be less busy. Yo' ee, to get t"ro'g" to t"e ite b't a page co,e 'p a#ing 41ile Not 1o'n(5 It may be that the site has been reorgani-ed and that the page you are looking for has been moved. You can usually find your way to the document by working back through the site %./. 5or example! if you cannot get anywhere with the %./1 "ttp%&&www.'e)ap.co.'!&writing& t#le& t#l)ra,."t,6 it may be that the document t#l)ra,."t, is now in a different directory. Click on the ddress bar! delete & t#le& t#l)ra,."t, from the web address! leave "ttp%&&www.'e)ap.co.'!&writing intact and hit Enter&Ret'rn !e#. This will take you to the home page. 5rom there look for links that might take you to the page you are looking for.

Yo' get into t"e ite #o' want b't t"ing ,o+e +er# lowl# an( t"e page ee, to ei.e 'p. This is a problem caused by excess traffic on a site. 7ometimes all you can do is wait " and keep track of progress by checking the 2tat' bar in the bottom left of the browser! which will tell you roughly how much of the page has loaded. lternatively! hit the 2top button of the second upper toolbar! then the Re)re " button. Your browser will try to get the page again and this time you might be able to get through.

2.E.2 7earching information on the Web

5or the self2study purposes of this course we provide you with specific sites to visit. )ften! however! you may need to use the Internet to locate some information and you

may not have specific electronic addresses but need to search on your own. <elow is some useful information of the Web and ways to search through search engines. It is important to remember that not all Internet in)or,ation i rele+ant . In fact! Internet searching has three ma(or disadvantages1 There are too many links on a sub(ect! some of them irrelevant8useless to you. It is important to develop effective searching strategies1 for instance! it is advisable that you be as specific as possible in your search! and that you use several search engines. Web pages are not officially edited! censored or reviewed. This means information may be biased! wrong! outdated! preposterous! or partial. Web pages are not permanentF altered! tomorrow. site you found today may not be there! or may be

2.1G 7earch +ngines on the Web

)ne of the hardest things when you use the Internet is to find your way to the information you are interested in. You can do that by using a search engine. 7earch engines search in the Internet collecting details about different pages " the %./! the title! the keywords! etc. They store this information about web documents in a database under several categories. When you search for specific information! the search engine searches in its database and comes up with a list of relevant sites. 7ome of the mostly used search engines are1 Google http://www.google.com Excite http188www.excite.com Ya"oo http://www.yahoo.com Hotbot http188www.hotbot.com $#co http://www.lycos.com Alta 7i ta http188www.altavista.com To use one these search engines! enter your sub(ect in the text box! click the button and you will be on the way to a set of relevant sites. If you are searching for a particular phrase or group of words! put ,uotation marks around the phrase. 5urther information on how to search efficiently is provided in the specific site of each search engine. n example of search with 3oogle1

5or more hints on how to search efficiently! (ust click the hyperlink 89:;<9=>? @ABCDEFGF?. The following page opens! guiding you to specific functions of the search engine1