Transcript presentation source

World Wide Web Basics
Informatics Training for
CDC Public Health Advisors
Points to be covered
Basic overview
 The Web as an information resource
 How to get around
 Examples of some useful pubic health sites
 Some tips

Overview - Internet
Computer networks linked through use of
common software protocols (TCP/IP)
 Applications

 e-mail,
remote computer use, transferring
files
 mail lists & news groups
 interactive information delivery services
 search tools
Overview - World Wide Web
Includes multi-media resources (sounds,
pictures, video)
 Accessed via “browser” software


Netscape Navigator vs. MS Internet Explorer
Documents linked through hypertext
 Enables point-and-click navigation
 Following links = surfing the Web

Glossary
HTML - hypertext mark up language
 URL - uniform resource locator = web
address
 hypertext = hot link = link
 (home) page - a single document/file
viewed with a browser

 may
be several pages long
 may have subsidiary & external links
How to get around

Browser window layout
 pull
down menus
 control panel buttons
 “location” box

Basic navigation
 important
buttons: back, home, go
 Open, Home buttons
 “Where am I?”
Anatomy of a URL

a URL tells you
 where



you are, and
 something about what you’re looking at
http://www.specific.general.domain/name.html
US domains: gov, edu, org, com, mil, net
examples:
http://www.doh.wa.gov
http://healthlinks.washington.edu/nwcphp/
Home pages
Can be institutional or personal
 Logical grouping of pages constitutes a
web site
 Pages may also link to other sites
 May provide original, local information
and/or compile links to other sites

Uses of a home page

For user
 on
ramp - convenient starting point
 quality filter - links have been selected
 organizer - can provide framework

For author
 publication
- dissemination
 interactive communication or service medium
 advertisement
Uncle Sam on the Web

DHHS, Public Health Service
 CDC
– http://www.cdc.gov/
– MMWR, WONDER, Prevention Guidelines, other
databases and publications
 NIH
– http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
– NLM - MEDLINE and other databases

healthfinder TM
 http://www.healthfinder.gov/
University sources

Healthlinks
 http://healthlinks.washington.edu/
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BioSites
 http://www.library.ucsf.edu/biosites/

HealthWeb
 http://www.ghsl.nwu.edu/healthweb/
MEDLINE
produced by National Library of Med.
 bibliographic database
 published, peer-reviewed research
 broad coverage of health care
 can now search free using PubMed &
Internet Grateful Med

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
 http://igm.nlm.nih.gov
Some tips
plug ins - helper applications
 saving (downloading) files - where?
 loading images - on or off?
 printing - how big is that page?
 source/page code - to learn HTML
 file/page information
