| Using the Internet
Exploring the Web
Maneuvering Through Web Sites
There are several different ways to get
to specific Web sites and navigate through the World Wide
Web. The first way to get to a Web site is to type its address
in the appropriate box in your browser. This address is called
a URL, or Uniform Resource Locator. It usually starts
with http:// followed by an address like www.yahoo.com or
www.ed.gov. An entire URL, then, would look like http://www.yahoo.com
or http://www.ed.gov. When you type in a URL and press Return
or Enter, your Web browser will display the specified Web
site.
Another way to move around through sites
on the Internet is to use hot links. Hot links are
electronic cross-references; they are specially designated
words or images that, when selected, will take your Web browser
to a new Web site or to a different page of the current site.
Links appear in almost every Web site. By using them, you
can quickly and easily move to new relevant destinations on
the Internet. They often appear as highlighted or underlined
words or phrases.
As you travel through the Internet and
follow links to various new sites, you can retrace your steps
if you want to return to a site. Use the "Back"
and "Forward" buttons on your Web browser's toolbar
to page through the sites you've visited.
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Using Search Engines
If you don't know the address of a certain
Web site, or want to find a list of sites relevant to a certain
topic, you can use a search engine. A search engine
is like a card catalog for all the Web sites on the Internet.
Different companies have developed different search engines,
such as Alta Vista, Excite, Yahoo, Infoseek, and HotBot. Each
search engine offers different features, but they all basically
work the same way.
To use a search engine, you must get to
its Web site. Type the address of the search engine into your
Web browser. (All the search engine's addresses are similar
and easy to remember; they are all in the same format: http://www.hotbot.com,
http://www.altavista.com, etc.) At the search engine's Web
site, type in a specific topic (like American History) and
click the "Search" or "Find" button on
the screen. A list of links will then appear in order of their
relevancy. Click on a link to be transported to its Web site.
If you don't find what you are looking for using one search
engine, you may be able to find it with one of the others.
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Keeping Track of Where You've Been
Sometimes you'll find it impossible to
keep track of where you've been or what your favorite sites
are. As already described, you can use your browser's "Back"
and "Forward" buttons to page through the sites
you've visited. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer also
have a tool called the Go menu, which lists the recent
sites you've been to. Pull down the menu (which will be in
the toolbar or under a triangle to the right of the "Back"
button) and highlight the address you want to revisit. With
the Go menu, you do not have to page through every visited
site consecutively.
If you need to recall a site you have visited
in a previous session, or if you want to verify a student's
work, you can open the History folder. This displays
a broad history of Web site searches.
Finally, if you find a site that you know
you will want to revisit, you can bookmark it. When
you are at your selected Web site, highlight "Make Bookmark"
in one of the toolbar menus. (The name of the menu this command
is in varies depending on which Web browser you're using;
it may be "Bookmarks," or "Favorites"
or something similar.) This will save the site's address and
title in a list of your favorite sites. You can also change
the title by which the site is saved on your computer. In
the future, you can move directly to a bookmarked site by
selecting it from your list of bookmarks.
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Plug-ins
As you explore various Web sites, you may
be asked to download certain plug-ins. Plug-ins, also
known as "helper applications," are software programs
that permit access to certain Web sites or allow you to download
and use specific types of files. Often, these are multimedia
files, which, for example, play sounds (such as files whose
names end with .wav or .ra) or show movies (such as files
ending with .avi, .mov, or .mpeg). Plug-ins are usually free.
Check with your network administrator or Internet Service
Provider about plug-ins that may already exist on your computer's
hard drive.
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