Getting started

Chapter I

Getting Started.

Picking your First Resources.

Bookmarking your resources.

Searching the Internet.

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Getting Started

By now you have already found out a few things about the internet. But what really is the internet? The internet is a collection of computers, all connected together using various different methods, like public telephone networks, dedicated connections, even optical fibers.There are two classes of computers on the Internet, HOSTS and CLIENTS Unless you have a permanent link to the internet and your machine is always connected and online, then you are probably a client and not a host.

As a client to the internet, you should have the following abilities; (If you don't, talk to your Internet Service Provider) Send Email ,Upload/Download, Files Access the World Wide Web.

EMAIL is the ability to write a message to someone, using a mail program, and use the internet as a means of delivering that message. Email is not a free service, the cost of your email is covered in your service charge to your provider.

Contrary to popular opinion, Email is NOT instantaneous. When you send a message to someone it leaves your computer and travels first to your Service Provider, from there your email may travel through several other HOST computers until it reaches it's final destination. The time it takes to travel from one host to another varies depending upon how busy the network is at the time you sent it.

Upload/Download Files. Upload/Download are two different faces on the same coin. Basically it refers to moving a file, either from a host computer to your client computer or from your client computer to some host computer. The internet represents a vast resource of free software, shareware and demo ware, all for the taking.

Access the World Wide Web. Representing the latest in internet technology, the Web blends the best and not-so-best of the textual information with the graphical capabilities of today's desktop systems. On the Web you will find information relating to almost any conceivable topic.

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Picking your First Resources

The first step to insuring a more productive life on the Internet is picking some resources and bookmarking them. In order to locate a particular resource on the internet you will need to know it's address. An address can be considered the location of a resource, and all items, including you, have an address if they are on the internet. For example, this page has a unique address, which differs from the rest of the pages. Just as you have an email address which is different from everyone else, so too, can there be sites within sites, resources within resources.

Each type of resource has a slightly different format address and name, but the three most common addresses you will have to deal with are EMAIL, FTP and WWW addresses.

An email address goes to a specific person. ie. illi. Q. republic@mysite.com The FTP address usually addresses a system as a whole unit. ie ftp.mysite.com The WWW address is similar to an FTP address in as much as it reaches out to a system, but it also specifies exactly where on the system to go. ie. http://www.mysite.com/yourpage.html While the addresses for FTP sites and Email addresses are simply called addresses , a WWW address is called a URL or Universal Resource Locator. For a more detailed description of the term URL, see our glossary

There are numerous resources on the net which everybody needs from time to time. The big problem is knowing which resource you need. While everyone has certain specific needs, there are a few common resources which everyone should use.

The first type of resource you should pick concerns searching the internet. Basically there are two types of Search Engines, Web Crawlers and Directories.

Web Crawlers. A Web Crawler is an automated search engine, when someone submits a resource to the search engine, it sends a small, but powerful program back to the site of the submission which scans the site for more resources. If it finds additional resources, it catalogs them as well as the original resource. The advantage of this is you can find information in a site, even if the site is not dedicated to that specific type of information. For example, locating information on Airplanes in a site about NASA space activities. The main drawback to this type of search engine is the tendency to catalog too much information.

A couple of examples of Crawlers are; LYCOS & WEBCRAWLER Directories. Directories are the Yellow Pages of the Internet. They contain only that information which has been submitted to them. Here you will find vast listings of resources, but if the person submitting the information didn't include all of the description of his/her site, you may not find what you are looking for.

A couple of examples of Directories are;

YAHOO New Riders WWW Yellow Pages

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Bookmarking your resources

Nearly all of the internet web browsers available today have a feature which is like an automated address book. Some call it Book Marking. Bookmarking allows you to grab a copy of an URL, and store it so that you can easily go back to the site at a future time.Below we have provided instructions for bookmarking using an internet web browser;

Netscape's Navigator Go to the First Page of the Site. Click on the Menu Option labeled BookMarks; Move the mouse pointer down to the option labeled ;Add a Bookmark; and click on it.

Netscape's Bookmarks are added to the main menu, which has a limitation to the maximum number of elements, therefore you will ultimately have More Bookmarks entry at the bottom of the menu, which will take you to a another window where you can locate and manipulate your bookmarks.

To use a bookmark, open either the Bookmark menu, or click on the Hot list and select the site you wish to go to. Navigator users will find themselves at the new site simply by selecting the option on the menu.

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Searching the Internet

By now you should have several sites bookmarked. (hopefully, including this one) So what's the next step? Simple, now it's time to start looking for information. Searching the internet for some particular information can be a frustrating experience. It's best to start with a particular search engine, looking for what you need. Remember that there is a considerable overlap between the contents of one engine and another, so you will find similar references amoung them.

Let's say we are looking for information on a 1977 Jeep CJ-5, perhaps a supplier of parts for that automobile. Going to a search engine like Yahoo, you can search their database, but the real question becomes what keyword do you use? Yahoo allows only one keyword, or a phrase in their advanced search options.

Start by looking for CJ-5 but in all likelyhood, you won't find it. It's way too specific. You need to excerise care in picking search terms. For example, looking for items that weigh a ;ton will also return references to Washington Alexander Hamilton etc.

Having not found anything listed under CJ-5, or perhaps finding listings, but of the wrong type, widen your search by looking for ;Jeep Here you may find several dealers of Jeeps, perhaps even the parts supplier you need. You may also find someone's homepage where they tell about owning a jeep.

As you can see, the steps to finding your desired information are;

Start Specific, ie Search for CJ-5 Broaden your search if you don't find any reference. ie Search for ;Jeep; Broaden further if you still don't find anything. ie Search for ;Automotive

Now, go try a few searches, use your bookmarked search engines, and when you are done browsing, use your bookmark to come back here.

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