Chapter 6 - Exploring the Internet via Netscape
The Internet is a collection of computer networks that links hundreds of thousands of computers. Many of those computers have valuable or interesting files of information that can be consulted from the other computers on the Internet.
Netscape is an Internet cruiser, a software program that makes it easy to connect your computer with the others. use Netscape from the computers in Computer A, which is Room 1 on the Lower Level of the Stiern.
6.2 From most MacIntosh computers on campus:
Open the Server Disk icon.
Open the Applications icon.
Open the Communications/Network icon.
Open the Netscape folder
Open Netscape
6.3 From most IBM and IBM Clones on campus:
On the main menu choose 1, Windows
In Windows, open the Communications icon
Open Netscape
Clicking on a word or phrase that is in color (underlined on black and white monitors) takes you immediately to another file. The new file may be on the same computer to which yours is connected, or it may be on a computer in another part of the world.
The Back button lets you move back one level.
The Go menu allows you to return to any previous level of the search.
The Net Search button takes you to a selection of search engines, like Lycos and WWW. These are databases made by computers which search the Internet for sources and bring back records of everything they find. They can be used to find resources on the Internet somewhat as the computers near the reference desk can be used to find articles in the library. The search methods are crude, sometimes you cannot connect, and none of the engines has a complete record of internet resources. But they will often lead you to useful sources. To view the sources which the search engines suggest, you need only click on a highlighted term.
The Net Directory button takes you to several collections of man-made guides to Internet resources such as Yahoo and the Whole Internet Catalog.
Using these guides is like using bibliographies to find material on a subject, but these are interactive bibliographies. If you find something interesting in one of them, just click, and you can view that source.
The Open button lets you go directly to any source whose URL (Uniform Resource Locator, the Internet address) you enter. It should work (but doesnt always) for most internet addresses, including telnet, gopher, www, ftp, http, or news addresses. The addresses may need to be converted to URL formats like these:
gopher://gopher.enews.com:70/11/magazines
ftp://photo1.si.edu/images/gif89a/
The first word describes the protocol, like gopher or http. These are the languages which Netscape uses to talk wit host computers. The first word is always followed by a colon and two slashes. For gopher addresses, sometimes gopher has to appear twice, as in the example. Sometimes it has to appear once only, before the colon.
The Bookmark menu lets you save the URL address whenever you find a good source on the Internet. It is most conveniently used on your own computer, but by taking your own disk to the computer lab, it is possible to make and use your own list of Internet Addresses. Add addresses by opening the Bookmark menu and clicking on Add Bookmark. That saves the URL for whatever document you are viewing. To build and save your own collection, bring your own disk to every Netscape session. When you are in Netscape, open the Bookmark menu, and select View Bookmarks. On that screen, use Export and Import to make and use your own list of useful Internet sources.