Basic Internet and searching

Internet – The internet is a worldwide network of computers holding information



WWW – The world wide web or web for short, information that is stored in files and linked by the internet.



Webpage – a page of information. A collection of Web Pages is a Website



Browser – a program required for viewing websites.
e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Yahoo, msnsearch, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, Netscape Navigator, Google Chrome, Camino (Mac)



Home page –
The front page of a website
The first page that loads when your browser is opened



ISP – Internet Service Provider – a company or organisation needed to connect your computer to the internet.



Modem – Equipment that connects the phone line to the Internet.



Search engine – A tool that enables you to search the www.


The GO button sends the browser to the Web Page address you have in the address bar.






Webpage address – Each webpage has its own unique address URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and do not contain spaces.



e.g.

http://www.frankston.vic.gov.au/library


http:// stands for hypertext transfer protocol and is the set of rules used to establish a connection between your computer and the webpage. Your browser automatically inserts this.

www stands for world wide web and starts most webpage addresses

frankston.vic.gov.au/library is the domain name

Frankston the first part of the domain name describes the company, organisation or website and is often an acronym e.g. www.bom.gov.au is the Bureau of Meteorology Australia

.vic.gov.au/library is the domain extension and can have several parts

Vic identifies it as Victorian

.gov identifies that it belongs to a government body some other examples are
.com – a commercial entity or business (the most common)
. net – a commercial entity or business
.org – a charity or non profit organisation
.edu – an educational institution
.au in this case identifies which country the website belongs to (Australia)
.fr French
.nz New Zealand
.uk United Kingdom


Entering a web page address

- Click in the address bar of your browser
- Type in the address and click GO or hit enter on the keyboard.


Useful tips

Back and forward keys move between previous pages you have viewed and back to the newer pages.

Home – returns you to your browser’s Home Page

Refresh – gets you the most up to date version of the page you are on.

Stop – Stops a Web Page loading.



Useful Web Sites


The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

www.acma.gov.au


An initiative of the Victorian Government - Public Internet Access Website

www.internet-access.vic.gov.au


Buying a computer and Internet connection - Consumer Affairs Victoria

www.consumer.vic.gov.au


Searching the Internet



When searching the Internet use a few specific words to help refine your search.

e.g. weather Melbourne forecast



Adding a Web Page to favourites



- Go to the Web page you wish to add to favourites.
- Click on favourites button in the Toolbar.
- Click Add .You can change the name if you wish.
- Click OK

Club Meeting Monday 2nd February 2009

Planner so far for 2009

March
Basic Internet and searching

April
Email

May
Internet

June
Photos - managing photos on your computer

July
Basic Ebay

August
Managing music using Windows Media Player


Sessions will not require bookings everyone is welcome.

Sessions may be changed as required so keep checking for updates.