The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to de Internet. It is certain, however, that dese number in de millions.
No one is in charge of de Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creatin’ applications on it, but no governin’ body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.
All computers on de Internet communicate with one anoder usin’ de Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on de Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that de remote server machine provides files and services to de user’s local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of de latest access technology.
An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcastin’, shoppin’ opportunities, breakin’ news, and much more.
The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of dese protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by de protocol.
COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET
WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as de Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a sin’le interface. Almost every protocol type available on de Internet is accessible on de Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to dese, de World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.
The World Wide Web provides a sin’le interface for accessin’ all dese protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in dese protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gaders togeder dese protocols into a sin’le system. Because of this feature, and because of de Web’s ability to work with multimedia and advanced programmin’ lan’uages, de Web is de fastest-growin’ component of de Internet.
The operation of de Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containin’ words that connect to oder documents. These words are called links and are selectable by de user. A sin’le hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In de context of de Web, words or graphics may serve as links to oder documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by de creator of de source document. Overall, de Web contains a complex virtual web of connections amon’ a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.
Producin’ hypertext for de Web is accomplished by creatin’ documents with a lan’uage called HyperText Markup Lan’uage, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within de text to accomplish document formattin’, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and de creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolvin’ lan’uage, with new tags bein’ added as each upgrade of de lan’uage is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates de efforts of standardizin’ HTML. The W3C now calls de lan’uage XHTML and considers it to be an application of de XML lan’uage standard.
The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containin’ links to documents and resources throughout de Internet.
The Web provides a vast array of experiences includin’ multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and de automatic “push” of information to a client computer. Programmin’ lan’uages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extendin’ de capabilities of de Web. A growin’ amount of information on de Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is derefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.
For more complete information about de World Wide Web, see Understandin’ The World Wide Web.
E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.
A powerful aspect of e-mail is de option to send electronic files to a person’s e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by de recipient with de appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, includin’ Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer de ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.
TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on de Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on de remote computer. In this case, type de port number after de Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.
Telnet is available on de World Wide Web. Probably de most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to de Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any oder link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make de connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.
With de increasin’ popularity of de Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on de Internet.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and de method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on de Internet to deir personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.
If your computer is directly connected to de Internet via an Edernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.
FTP transfers can be performed on de World Wide Web without de need for special software. In this case, de Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are usin’ FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search en’ines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.
E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of de benefits of de Internet is de opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably de most common program is de listserv.
A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them acathemic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from oder subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sendin’ an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout de world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.
Majordomo and Listproc are two oder programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribin’ to and managin’ your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.
USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is de fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to dese computers to read or download de messages posted to dese groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in de electronic mailboxes of each list member.
Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control deir own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into de system.
There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are acathemic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.
The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, de Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.
FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postin’s to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to de topic of de newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribin’ to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.
RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to de Internet community to help define de nuts and bolts of de Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.
FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.
Links to indexes of all three of dese information resources are available on de University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.
CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on de Internet to communicate with each oder by typin’ in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into de “chat room” to exchange comments and information about de topics addressed on de site. Chat may take oder, more wide-ran’in’ forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsorin’ a number of topical chat rooms.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each oder on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also takin’ place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.
A variation of chat is de phenomenon of instant messen’in’. With instant messen’in’, a user on de Web can contact anoder user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online’s Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are oder commonly-used chat programs.
Oder types of real-time communication are addressed in de tutorial Understandin’ de World Wide Web.
MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and deir variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on de Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of de FAQs devoted to MUDs available at de FAQ site at
