A presentation

1
Internet Basics 2

• A presentation
• of the
• Elmhurst Public Library

2
Class Objective

• Building on skills and knowledge from Internet
  Basics 1, you will learn more about searching,
  Internet security and Internet privacy.

3
Overview

• Searching the Web
• Useful Web Sites
• Additional Web Features
• Web Safety and Security

4
Searching the Web

• Subject Directories Search Engines
• Librarians
• Meta Search Engines
• Subject Specific Directories
• The Invisible Web
• Ask the Expert Services
• Web Rings
• Mailing Lists and Discussion Groups

5
Subject Directories Search Engines

• Subject Directories are a lot like phone books
  for the WWW. Look up Web sites by subject or
  name.
• Most allow you to browse by subject or search
  using keywords.
• Ipl2 (http//www.ipl2.org/ )
• Yahoo! ( http//www.yahoo.com/ )
• About.com ( http//www.about.com/ )

6
Subject Directories Search Engines

• Search engines are tools that allow you to search
  an index to the text that appears on Web pages.
• The index is only to pages it has found.
• The index could be hours, days or months old.
  There is normally no way to tell.
• You type words into the search box and the
  engine returns a list of pages that contain those
  words.

7
Subject Directories Search Engines

• You could just type in words without thinking
  much and often you will get good results. But
  sometimes its good to have a little madness to
  your method.
• How to Search with a Search Engine
• Think about your question.
• Imagine a Web page that will contain your answer.
• Type words and/or phrases (in ) that most
  likely would appear on your imaginary page into
  the search box.
• Review results and modify search.

8
Subject Directories Search Engines

• Google ( http//www.google.com/ )
• Bing ( http//www.bing.com)
• Teoma ( http//www.teoma.com/ )
• Like with subject directories, every search
  engine is owned and controlled by a different
  organization and operates differently.

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Subject Directories Search Engines

• Search engines have more pages (billions vs.
  millions), but subject directories tend to have
  only important sites. This is because real people
  make decisions about what goes into a subject
  directory.

10
Search Tips

• Use unique search terms
• Use synonyms
• Put words in different order
• Put phrases in quotation marks
• Search online versions of print sources

11
Search Tips (Contd.)

• Use lower case (and alternative) spellings of
  search terms
• Limit your searches (images, video, MP3 files)
• Use different search engines
• Read the help section or Advanced Search to
  focus your search

12
Librarians The Best Search Tools

• Why use a reference librarian?
• Librarians go to graduate school to learn to do
  their jobs.
• Librarians have years of experience searching and
  helping people search for information every day.
• Youve already paid your taxes for the library,
  so why not use it?

13
Meta Search Engines

• Submits your search to multiple search engines
  and displays the results for you.
• Search engines only search their own index, but
  you may get better coverage if you search across
  more than one.
• Dogpile ( http//www.dogpile.com/ )
• Vivisimo ( http//www.vivisimo.com/ )

14
Subject Specific Directories

• This is like a subject directory except that it
  is limited to a specific subject, type of
  information, group of people, etc.
• Artcyclopedia (http//www.artcyclopedia.com/ )
• Yahoo! Get Local ( http//cityguides.local.yahoo.c
  om/ )
• FirstGov ( http//www.firstgov.gov/ )
• HealthFinder ( http//www.healthfinder.gov/ )

15
The Invisible Web

• There are many parts of the Web that for various
  reasons are not searchable by search engines.
  These parts altogether are referred to as the
  Invisible Web.
• Included in the Invisible Web are the librarys
  many subscription databases.
• http//www.elmhurstpubliclibrary.org/

16
The Invisible Web (contd)

• National Parks Guide
• ( http//www.nps.gov/findapark/ )
• Guidestar Nonprofit Database
• ( http//www.guidestar.org/search/ )
• U.S. Census
• ( http//factfinder.census.gov/ )
• U.S. Legislative Information
• ( http//thomas.loc.gov/ )

17
Ask the Expert Services

• Many Web sites have people who have subject
  expertise answer questions as a service to their
  users.
• One place to find these services is at the
  Virtual Reference Desk AskALocator
  http//www.refdesk.com/expert.html

18
Ask the Expert Services

• Mad Scientist Network
• http//www.madsci.org/
• Ask Dr. Math
• http//mathforum.org/dr.math/
• Go Ask Alice
• http//www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/

19
Web Rings

• Some Web sites choose to associate with each
  other by linking to one another. An organized
  fashion of doing this is by joining a Web ring.
• A directory of Web rings is at
• http//dir.webring.com/
• Amateur Photography Ring
• http//hub.webring.org/hub/amateurphoto
• Crafts Connection Ring
• http//a.webring.com/hub?ringcraftsites

20
Mailing Lists Discussion Groups

• Mailing lists, often called LISTSERVs, can be
  either newsletters or open discussion forums that
  occur through e-mail. In order to use a mailing
  list, you have to register with it. They are
  available for all sorts of subjects.
• To find a mailing list on a subject of interest
  to you, check out
• http//www.lsoft.com/catalist.html

21
Mailing Lists Discussion Groups

• Discussion groups work much like mailing lists,
  except that they are not used through e-mail.
  Discussion groups are accessed through the Web or
  via special programs for viewing the messages.
• To find out more about discussion groups and find
  ones of interest to you see
• http//groups.google.com/

22
Organizing Your Web Experience

• Save Favorites
• Use Favorites feature on browser to create and
  organize a list of regularly used websites.
• Saves on current computer
• www.delicious.com Saves in the Cloud and is
  available on any Internet-accessible computer
• Cloud Computing
• Allows access to files and data from any
  Internet-accessible computer.
• Examples www.dropbox.com and
  www.shutterfly.com

23
Useful Sites to Know

• Consumer Information
• E-mail Providers
• Government Sites Services
• Getting Local
• Health Information
• News Current Events
• Money Finance
• Travel

24
Consumer Information

• Consumer Reports
• http//www.consumerreports.org/
• Epinions
• http//www.epinions.com/
• Federal Trade Commission
• http//www.ftc.gov/
• Federal Citizen Information Center
• http//www.pueblo.gsa.gov/
• Federal Citizen Information Center
• http//www.pueblo.gsa.gov/
• USA.gov Consumer Guides and Protection
• http//www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Consumer-Safety
  .shtml
•  

25
E-mail Providers

• Accessing electronic mail is one of the most
  popular uses of the Internet. Many users have
  free accounts from providers like the ones in the
  list below.
• Yahoo! Mail ( http//mail.yahoo.com/ )
• Hotmail (http//www.hotmail.com/ )
• Lycos Mail ( http//mail.lycos.com/ )
• Google Gmail (http//mail.google.com)
• The library offers classes about E-mail.

26
Government Sites Services

• Internal Revenue Service
• http//www.irs.gov/
• Illinois Department of Revenue
• http//www.revenue.state.il.us/
• State of Illinois
• http//www.illinois.gov/
• DuPage County
• http//www.co.dupage.il.us/
• City of Elmhurst
• http//www.elmhurst.org/

27
Getting Local

• School District 205
• http//www.elmhurst205.org/
• Park District
• http//www.epd.org/
• City Centre
• http//www.elmhurstcitycentre.com/
• Chamber of Commerce
• http//www.elmhurstchamber.org/
• Model Railroad Club
• http//www.emrrc.org/
• Art Museum
• http//www.elmhurstartmuseum.org/
• Chicago Reader
• http//www.chireader.com/
• Metromix
• http//chicago.metromix.com/

28
Health Information

• American Cancer Society
• http//www.cancer.org/
• American Heart Association
• http//www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
• Medline Plus
• http//www.medlineplus.gov/
• Cancer Wellness Center
• http//www.cancerwellness.org/
• Mayo Clinic
• http//www.mayoclinic.com/

29
News Current Events

• BBC
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/
• Dziennik Polski
• http//www.dziennik.krakow.pl/
• CNN
• http//www.cnn.com/
• Fox News
• http//www.foxnews.com/
• Chicago Tribune
• http//www.chicagotribune.com/
• ABC 7 Chicago
• http//www.abclocal.go.com/wls/
• Elmhurst Press
• http//www.mysuburbanlife.com/elmhurst
• Slashdot
• http//www.slashdot.org/

30
Money Finance

• CNN Money
• http//money.cnn.com/
• MSN Money
• http//moneycentral.msn.com/
• Yahoo! Finance
• http//finance.yahoo.com/
• Community Bank of Elmhurst
• http//www.communityelmhurst.com/
• Big Charts
• http//www.bigcharts.com/

31
Travel

• Orbitz
• http//www.orbitz.com/
• Travelocity
• http//www.travelocity.com/
• Lonely Planet
• http//www.lonelyplanet.com/
• Illinois Bureau of Tourism
• http//www.enjoyillinois.com/
• Southwest Airlines
• http//www.southwest.com/
• Travel Library
• http//www.travel-library.com/
• Bed Breakfast Inns of North America
• http//www.inntravels.com/

32
Additional Web Features

• The Web on a basic level is simply hypertext, but
  the modern Web has been enhanced with many
  features.
• Animation, Video, Sound Plug-ins
• Frames
• Forms
• Pop-up Windows
• Fake Messages

33
Animations, Video, Sound Plug-ins

• Browsers are designed to display Web pages.
  Anything beyond displaying Web pages will require
  that the browser work with another program. In
  some cases the browser itself is enhanced by a
  program, called a plug-in. In other cases, the
  browser simply uses a program that already exists
  on the computer.
• A few examples of plug-ins are
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Macromedia Flash Player

34
Frames

• Some pages are actually more than one page
  combined together. These pages are called frames.

35
Forms

• When you want to send information to the author
  of a Web site, you use forms. The Librarys
  E-mail Contact Us form is one example of a form.
  Search engines are another example of forms.

36
Pop-up Windows

• Having new windows pop up over your browser is a
  very common occurrence when surfing the Web.
  Sometimes the pop-up windows are important
  information and other times they are
  advertisements.
• The solution to them is pop-up blocking software,
  but that sometimes blocks good pop-ups.

37
Fake Messages

• Another common occurrence with pop-ups is a when
  you get a message that appears to be an important
  system message from your computer.
• Note the title bar of the message.

38
Web Safety Security

• dd

• Personal Privacy
• Computer Security
• Personal Safety

39
Personal Privacy

• dd

• Cookies
• Adware Spyware
• Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

40
Cookies

• dd

Cookies are a way for a Web site to remember that
youve visited before. The site leaves a piece
of data on your computer that only they can read
and then when they see that data again they know
it is from the same computer.
41
Cookies (contd)

• dd

• Used to your advantage
• Would you be interested in a book about fish?
• Welcome back, Mrs. Smith!
• However, cookies can also be used to track your
  behavior online.

42
Cookies (contd)

• dd

You can delete or limit your cookies.
43
Adware and Spyware

• dd

• Software installed on your computer than monitors
  what you do (programs you run, keys you type and
  sites you visit).
• Can be as benign as monitoring your behavior and
  focusing ads at you based on it.
• Can be as dangerous as collecting your personal
  information and sending it to others.

44
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

• dd

Encrypts data you send over the web to protect
your privacy. When you are using SSL the Web
address should start with https instead of
http. Also, the browser will display a lock (
) on the bottom right corner. This is
initiated by the Web site.
45
Computer Security

• dd

• Viruses, Worms Trojan Horses
• Adware Spyware
• Antivirus programs
• Firewalls

46
Viruses, Worms Trojan Horses

• dd

Viruses attached to a program or file and
replicate themselves. Worms Programs that run
independent of other programs and damage your
computer. Trojan Horses Once they get into
your computer they let outsiders in.
47
Adware Spyware

• dd

Hostile versions of adware and spyware, often
called malware, are generally considered to be
viruses. Many spyware programs dont do much
more damage than slow your computer down.
48
Antivirus Programs

• dd

You can buy programs that will run on your
computer and protect it from known viruses. This
software must be regularly updated with new
viruses.
49
Firewalls

• dd

Blocks people and programs from entering your
computer through networks or the Internet without
your permission. Can be software running on your
computer or a piece of hardware, called a router.
50
Personal Safety

• dd

• Chatting
• Filters and Nannyware
• Use common sense

51
Conclusion

• dd

Play
Play
Play!!
Evaluations can be turned in at any time at any
service desk. Good luck!