TCSF Basic Internet Workshop Outline

Basic Internet Training Agenda

• Introduction to the Internet
• Email
• Browsers
• Searches and Search Engines

What is the Internet?

• The Internet is a global system of networked computers that allows user-to-user communication and transfer of data files from one machine to any other on the network.

The Concept of the World Wide Web

• The "Web" is a concept, not a program, not a system, and not even a specific protocol.
• The World Wide Web provides the technology needed to offer a navigable, attractive interface for the Internet’s vast sea of resources
• The goal is to hide complexity behind usable interfaces
• In much the same way that the toolbar on a word processor screen obscures the intimidating codes that the program actually consists of.

History of the Internet

• Ancestor of the Internet was the ARPANET, a project started by the Dept. of Defense in 1969.
• Around 1980, networks began popping up (timesharing machines which served simultaneous users, thus client-server networks)
• WWW dates back to March of 1989.

WWW - W3 Consortium

• The three important components of the proposed system were the following:
• A consistent user interface.
• The ability to incorporate a wide range of technologies and document types.
• Its "universal readership"; that is, anyone sitting anywhere on the network, on a wide variety of different computers, could read the same document as anyone else.
• http://www.w3.org/ - Find the organizations official statements.

What You Need to Be "On the Internet"

• Computer
• Modem and Phone Line
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Software

Internet Protocols

• All computer communications which use TCP/IP protocols are considered "on the Internet."
• IP is "Internet Protocol" and is the set of conventions used to transmit data.
• TCP is "Transmission Control Protocol" and is the set of conventions which emulates a dedicated circuit (to make sure data goes where it is supposed to).

How the Web Works: HTTP

• The transaction takes place in four basic phases:
  • Connection
  • Request
  • Response
  • Close
• The client connects with the server, the client sends a request to the server (the request specifies which protocol is being used, the server executes the response (ie. transferring), and finally the connection is closed.

How the Web Works: HTML

• HTML operates through a series of codes placed within a text document. These codes are translated by a client/browser into specific kinds of formats to be displayed on the screen.
• These items include links, lists, headings, titles, images, forms, and maps.

Different Services

• Electronic Mail (e-mail)
• Information retrieval
• Bulletin Boards (Usenet, BBS)
• On-line conversation
• Gossip (Internet Relay Chat)
• Games

Different Kinds of Files

• Text Files
• Executable Files
• Archives and Compressed Files
• PKZIP
• Compress
• Zip, gzip
• Stuffit (Mac’s)
• Data Files

Different Kinds of Graphic Files

• GIF
• JPEG (photos)
• MPEG (digitized movies)
• Others include PCX, TIFF, TARGA, PICT

Uses of the Web

• Graphical Design of Information
• Dissemination of Research
• Browsing and Ordering of Products (Shopping)
• Client and Customer Support
• Display of Creative Arts

Future Uses of the Web

• Full-scale Publishing
• Voting
• Live Interactive Entertainment
• News
• Distance Education
• Distance Presentations
• …and much more!

Internet Addresses

• URL - "Universal Resource Locator" is the address to specific information on the Internet.
• For example: Where on the Internet Host Computer File and Directory
• http://www / ceres.ca.gov / tcsf/index.html

Domain Name Extensions

• The three letter extension at the end of the domain indentifies the type of network used:
  • .com commercial
  • .edu educational institution
  • .gov government institutions
  • .mil military sites
  • .net networking organizations
  • .org other organizations

Email

• A message transmitted electronically to one or more persons.
• Every address has two parts, separated by @.
• Local @ Domain
• your user id @ computer holding your messages
• ie. heatherb @ sierra.net

Domain Name Extensions

• The three letter extension at the end of the domain identifies the type of network used:
  • .com commercial
  • .edu educational institution
  • .gov government institutions
  • .mil military sites
  • .net networking organizations
  • .org other organizations

Browsers

• Software which makes it possible to view information on the World Wide Web
• A software program that enables access to the World Wide Web and displays the files found there.
• Most browsers are graphically based and allow point-click access. Include features such as bookmarks or hotlists, navigational tools, transfer tools, etc.

Popular Browsers Include:

• Netscape
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Mosaic
• IBM WebExplorer
• And many others...

Browser Attributes

• Tool Bar
• Home
• Back
• Forward
• Scroll Bars
• Title Bar
• URL or address information
• Downloading
• Bookmarks or Favorites

Search Engines

• Software which makes it possible to search for and view information on the World Wide Web.
• Software program that follows links in homepages, searching for key words specified.
• Displays a list of homepages which contained the key words and allows point-click access to them.
• Specify key words that are descriptive, but not too limiting. Check spelling!

Popular Search Engines Include:

• Yahoo
• InfoSeek
• Alta Vista
• Lycos
• Magellan
• WebCrawler and many more...

Homepages

• A homepage is a WWW document that acts like a graphical table of contents. It gives an individual or a group a presence on the Web.
• Homepages can contain text and graphics and should provide simple introductory information, in addition to links to more detailed information.

HTML

• HTML is the acronym for "hypertext mark-up language." It is the language used to create the documents for the World Wide Web.
• HTML is the encoding system which allows browser programs to display text and other features in the graphical format you see on the Internet.
• HTML can include formatting, graphics and links to other documents.

File Transfer Protocol

• Protocol used to retrieve files from a host computer and copy them to another computer.
• FTP transfers in either binary or text format.
• FTP can transfer very large files (including application programs), whereas email programs usually limit file size.
• FTP requires that a user have the host site’s password to access available files.
• Anonymous FTP sites allow open access to designated files. These are the sites which contain "freeware" or "shareware" for downloading.

Internet Resource Guide

• Available through TCSF and SEDD
• Available On-Line at: http://www.ceres.ca.gov/tcsf/IRG/