What you need:

This exercise sheet describes what you will seek on the net. Note the location where you find the items described. Make sure your notes are sufficient to allow you to return to the site again. You will demonstrate your findings in class.

Key terms:

Browser:

a program that establishes a connection to a web site, reads a document or other data, and displays the document or data according to predefined formatting conventions. Netscape and Internet Explorer are the best known browsers, but there are others.

URL:

Uniform Resource Locator. A standard format for describing the location of an item in the World Wide Web. A URL consists of three parts, and is best described by example:

http://www.csc.vill.edu/~cassel/html/4900/assignments.html

Access method:

(http: in the example). This specifies the protocol to use in transferring the item from the computer where it is stored to the computer where it will be displayed. Http is the hyper text transport protocol and is the most common access method for items found on the web.

Source machine:

(www.csc.vill.edu in the example). It has become common for the source machine to be specified as www followed by the name of the internet host that serves as a web server for the organization.

Path to the desired file

(~cassel/html/4900/assignments.html in the example). This part may be missing. A default file (usually index.html) will be displayed if found in the directory described in the path. If a path is given but no file is specified, index.html will be displayed if it is present. Otherwise, the browser may display the directory list.

Answer the following questions and put the resulting information into a text file called websearch in your netclass directory.

1. Find what is available at a particular site: Enter the URL in the Location box of Netscape and press enter.

       What site did you visit? _______________________________

(If you don't know a URL, try guessing one by using the common format www.Hostname. Some examples include www.vill.edu; www.ibm.com www.intel.com; www.upenn.edu; www.sony.com; etc. Try a few. Do not use one of these for the site you list.
 
2. Use one of the categorized search engines to explore the resources available on the web. www.yahoo.com, www.altavista.com are two locations where you can find categorized search support.  Search for items that meet the descriptions below. Then find something of interest to you that you will share with the class.   Initial search goals:

     Schedule of a sports team:
          What team:__________________________________
          What URL: __________________________________

     Painting in a museum:
          What painting/museum:____________________________
          What URL: _____________________________________
     
     Copy of a historical document:
          What document: _________________________________
          What URL: _____________________________________
     
     Words to a song or poem:
          Song/poem title: _________________________________
          URL:      _________________________________________

     Traffic report:
          What area traffic _________________________________
          URL: __________________________________________

     Your choice:
          What did you choose _____________________________
          URL: __________________________________________

3. Use an indexed search to find a specific item of interest. Yahoo and altavista also support indexed search (you enter key words or phrases).  There are a number of other such search tools, some of them are listed under the search button on the netscape browser.  Try these for starters; then do one of your choice.

     Snowfall records.
          How many related items did you find? ______________
          URL for a good hit ________________________________

     Rainforest burning:
          How many related items: ___________________________
          URL for a good hit ________________________________

Find at least one web site where there is a statement that you view with skepticism. I don't mean a simple difference of opinion. Find something that you suspect is not true.

     What statement: ______________________________________
     What URL ___________________________________________

Based on your experiences in this exercise and in other use of the Web, what do you find most frustrating about Web searches?  What do you think could be improved if someone put some effort into it?

What improvements have you noticed in Web searching over the years?
 
 
 
 

11 January 1996
Last revised 4 January 2000