Transcript URL Notes - Fort Bend ISD

Understanding URL’s
Why must you validate Internet
Information?
 Anyone can publish anything on the
Internet.
 Internet resources can come in many
different formats and designs and can
change at any moment.
 Any part of the Internet can become
unavailable at any moment.
Tips for evaluating web sources
 look for clues
 ask questions
 consider the motives of people
publishing on the Internet
 trust nobody - until you have found
good cause to do so!
Be clear about your purpose!
 The Internet may not always be the
best source for the information you
are seeking.
 If you don’t know what you are
looking for, you will waste a lot of
time in cyberspace.
Get Clues from URLs
The URL can provide a lot of
information about a resource and
your location within it before you
spend time looking at the actual site
itself.
Dissecting URLs
The basic structure of a URL is:
transfer protocol://servername.domain ext/directory/subdirectory/filename.filetype
http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/url.html
The first part – Transfer Protocol
Indicates what type of information is being transferred and,
usually, what port (or "door") to the server is being
accessed. Here are the most common types:
 http:// Hypertext (the standard format for the World Wide
Web)
 gopher:// Gopher format (text only precursor of the Web:
still good for text-based information)
 ftp:// File Transfer Protocol (Whoa! A computer file is about
to be sent to your computer. Proceed with caution if this is
new to you.)
 news: Newsgroup format (something like a special interest
bulletin board)
http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/url.html
The Second Part-Server name
The address of the server itself: your
message has to go somewhere.
 actual name of the server
 also called domain name
http://www.library.jhu.edu/elp/useit/evaluate/url.html
Domain or Domain Extension
This is an important consideration when you are trying to
evaluate an electronic document.
ac, edu
academic or educational servers
co, com
commercial servers
gov
government servers
mil
military servers
org
non-governmental, non-profit organizations
net
service providers
The Last Part – Directories,
subdirectories and filenames
After the machine name, between the next
set of slashes (/) you will see the names
of directories containing the file you are
accessing.
filename
http://www.bps.org.uk/publicat/Periodicals/Psych/PSY9_97.HTM
Directories/subdirectories
a complex site is not necessarily a high quality site
File Type
The last part of the URL specifies the individual
document you are looking at. The file extension tells
you what type of file you are looking at. Some
standard file types include:
 .html or .htm:
 .gif, .jpg, .bmp:
 .zip, .tar:
hypertext (the standard for the Web)
image types
compressed files (proceed with caution:
these are specially compressed files that
will be downloaded onto your hard drive;
you need to know if your computer can
interpret them)
Finding the Home Page
By deleting part of the right end of an
address you will move up the
directory tree
URLs ending in:
/welcome.html
/index.html
/default.html
are often home pages
The Tilde ~ Sign
 Use the tilde as a clue! Most Web servers use
the ~ symbol to represent the personal
directories of individuals.
 If the URL contains a tilde then be aware
that you are probably (although not
definitely) looking at a personal page with
personal opinions rather than an official site
giving the official line.
 This does not mean that the information is
necessarily of poor quality.
Protocol
Server or
domain name
Domain
extensions
Location within resource
Summary
Use your critical thinking skills to
determine if a web resource is the
right one for your needs.