1.2 Understanding the Internet
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a computer network, in fact a network of computer
networks, upon which anyone who has access to a host computer can
publish their own documents. One of these networks is the World Wide Web
(or just the Web) which allows Internet publishers to link to other
documents on the network. The Internet allows transmission of a variety
of file types, including non-written multimedia.
Who puts info on the Internet?
There are many kinds of Internet sites that you might find during
the course of a search, sites created by different people or
organizations with different objectives. The animation to the right
under Exercise
illustrates some of the types of sites on the Web, using an example
search for information about MP3 players.
URL
Every Web page has its own address called a Uniform Resource
Locator (URL). Much like the address on an envelope with a name,
street address, city, state, and zip code, each part of a URL
provides information about the Web page.
Domain Names
The domain name tells you the type of organization sponsoring a
page. It is a three-letter code that is part of the URL and preceded
by a "dot." Here are the most common domains.
|
Domain |
Description |
|
.edu
|
educational institution
Even though a page comes from an educational institution, it does
not mean the institution endorses the views published by students or
faculty members. |
|
.com |
commercial entity
Companies advertise, sell products, and publish annual reports and
other company information on the Web. Many online newspapers or
journals also have .com names. |
|
.gov |
government
Federal and state government agencies use the Web to publish
legislation, census information, weather data, tax forms and many
other documents. |
|
.org |
non-profit organization
Nonprofit organizations use the Web to promote their causes. These
pages are good sources to use when comparing different sides of an
issue. |
|
.net |
internet service providers |
|
.mil |
U.S. military |
In addition, more top level domain names were added in 2001.
|
Domain |
Description |
|
.aero |
for the air transportation industry |
|
.biz |
general use by businesses |
|
.coop |
restricted use by cooperatives |
|
.info |
for both commercial and non-commercial sites |
|
.museum |
for museums |
|
.name |
for use by individuals |
|
.pro |
restricted to professionals and professional entities |
|
Print
Module 1
link, click on it to begin the exercise.