by Kenji Kitao & S. Kathleen Kitao

The World Wide Web (sometimes called the web or WWW) is a massive computer database. It is a very useful source of information, and most of the information on it is free. You should try searching for information you are interested in through WWW, and you will probably be surprised at how much information you can find.

WWW is the most user-friendly interface on the Internet, and it has become very popular in recent years. More and more information is added every day, and more and more people are using it.

There are thousands of WWW sites (computer-based information stores) all over the world, holding masses of information of personal, academic, general and commercial interest. There are a diverse range of sites, including educational institutions, libraries, companies, government agencies, etc. Many professional organizations have WWW sites. Even individual people have their own web pages now.

YoYou choose your route through the information with "stepping stones" from place to place (text links), sensitive maps ("point and click"), direct addressing, and keyword searches. Each web page is linked to other web pages. Certain words in the text will be underlined and in a contrasting color, and if you click on those words, you will be linked to another page about that topic. You can visit sites all over the world, and visit related sites through them. You will find more and more information about the topic you are interested in.

The material includes text, pictures, sound, computer programmes, video, anything you can think of that can be displayed on a computer screen or broadcast through its speakers. Thus, if your computer has the capability, you can read letters, see pictures or videos, or listen to sounds.

You can copy, collect, or order just about everything available on the WWW. You can copy a document and edit it for use. You can even copy photos.

Note that just because you can get a large document or picture does not mean that your troubles are over. Documents are often in the American page format, that is, a different size paper to that used in the UK, so you do may have to do some re-formatting before you print out a document. Pictures can be very large in terms of the disk space they need, and they can present a number of printing problems.

What Do You Need in Order to Use WWW?

You need a computer connected to the Internet and installed with a browser program such as Mosaic or Netscape.  Netscape seems to be taking over as the most commonly used browser at this moment. It provides you with the screen and set of menus that are very similar to most Windows applications.

How Can We Use WWW?

In order to visit the sites, all you have to do is to type in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

 The URL looks like this:

 http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/staff/visitors/kenji/onlin.htm

            server address                        directory             filename

Most WWW pages are linked to other parts of the document, pages or sites. You can click on words, phrases, or lines which are underlined or in a different color to jump to other parts of the document, pages or sites. Believe it or not, you can jump to anywhere throughout the world. You do not type in long URL addresses each time. In this way, you can continue to search for information related to your area of interest.

Efficient Ways to Use WWW

URL addresses are very long and it is easy to make a mistake when you type them. If you mistype one letter or even a period, you will not be connected to that site. If you get addresses on line or save them in word processor files, we suggest to copy and paste them using the EDIT function, so you will avoid mistyping them.

If you visit the same site frequently, you can use the bookmark function, so that you can visit that site without typing in the long URL address.

You do not need to be afraid that you will get lost. You can click on the button at the upper left corner ("Back") to go back to the previous site. If you have backed up and want to go forward, you click on the "Forward" button. To the right of the "Forward" button, you find the button marked "Home," and you click on it to go back to the home page, the first page in the series of pages.

One problem you may encounter is that you may not connect to the site, particularly if the site is very far away. The lines are not always very stable. Do not give up or think that something is wrong with that link. All you have to do is just to try it again later. Probably you will be connected.

There are many search engines for WWW. When you use a search engine, all you have to do is to type in keywords and the computer will find sites with those words. As you use different search engines, you will learn which one is suitable for you and how to refine your searches etc.

Using WWW is easy and fun. In fact, it is easy to spend too much time playing with it. When you use it, it is a good idea to take notes, if possible, with a word processor about what you found at various sites. If you do not keep records, you may not find the sites again when you want to.