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Finding
Your Way Around the World Wide Web
Internet Safety Game
The Web is basically a lot of different files all over the world that are linked to each other. Each file may be made up of many pages called Web Pages. These documents are stored on computers (known as servers) all over the world that make up the Internet.
Web Browsers such as Netscape, and Microsoft Internet Explorer…
Allow you to view these files. They provide the pretty window with all the neat little buttons.
Surfing the web…
when you click on one of the highlighted words, or hyperlinks you are whisked to another page somewhere in the world.
How do you know where you are…
The URL or Universal Resource Locator,
http://www.netscape.com, is like a telephone number. Every document on the WWW has a unique URL address and therefore every document can be viewed instantly if you know its URL.What if you don’t know the address of the page that contains the information you need…
There are two ways to search for information on the WWW, using an INDEX and using a SEARCH ENGINE.
An INDEX is put together by people who organize the information on the pages a lot like the index in the back of your textbook. YAHOO is an example of an INDEX.
A search engine is actually a computer program that sends out "spiders" that crawl through the documents creating their own indexes of information. However, let’s say you are looking for information on DOGS. These spiders may have logged this word on over a thousand pages on the web…it’s a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack…how do you find the information you need?
Keys to Successful WWW Searching
Without a search strategy, using a search engine is a lot like wandering around the stacks in the library trying to find a particular book.
Successful searching involves two key steps:
Preparing Your Search
STEP 1: State what you want to find
Write down one or two sentences that state what you are looking for on the Internet. For example:
I want to find information on Monarch butterflies and their migration.
STEP 2: Identify keywords
Underline the main concepts in the sentence
I want to find information on Monarch butterflies and their migration.
STEP 3: Are there synonyms for your keywords
Migration…relocation, journey, movement
STEP 4: Combine synonyms and keywords
Combine the synonym with the BOOLEAN or, and search.
Migration and relocation and movement
Relocation or movement
Use phrase searching…"Walt Disney World"…by using the quotations the search engine will only return pages where these words appear side by side.
STEP 5: Check your spelling!
Search engines return websites with words that match your keywords. If you misspell a keyword, your results will contain websites where the word is also misspelled or return no results at all!
A Few Navigational Tips
The arrows in the top left-hand corner of your screen, that point forwards and backwards are the "page turners " of the browers.
If you get lost out there on the WWW, you can always find your way back to where you started.
Bookmarks…
If it took you a long time to find this page and you just don’t have time to read it right now, bookmark it. Later go to the FAVORITES folder up in the navigation bar and scroll down to the title of that page and off you go.
If your search is taking too long, or you hit the enter button by mistake…just press the stop button in the navigation bar.
Have Students visit Disney's Surf Swell Island adventure for an interactive adventure on Internet Safety. Rescue Mickey's friends in the correct order and earn an Internet Safety Certificate!
