Unit 1: Online Environment

Popular culture exists on the Visible Web much like the world it lives in. Interest in Tim Berners-Lee,  the founding father of the web,  gave way  to Bill Gates III, today's microcomputer super hero or the man everyone loves to hate. Information quality varies on the the web as much as the nature of its founders.  Today's Visible Web  is made up of quality information resources like the U. of Wisconsin's Scout Report to  direct researchers, educators, and everyone else to  quality, reliable new or newly discovered web resources to less regarded aspects of the web such as  the Drudge Report  created by Matt Drudge who   rushes to beat other journalists to breaking stories often at the expense of  source verification or accurate reporting. On a lighter note, the Observation Service for the Internet, has established St. Isidore of Seville, a 6th century philosopher  to be the patron saint of computers, programmers, and the Internet based on his  voluminous writings and attempts to categorize knowledge as if it were a database.

Characteristics of Visible Web information

• no authority
• very little control
• constant change
• infinite number of choices
• internet with graphics

What search tools can find

• pictures
• FAQ - frequently asked questions
• government information (laws, statistics, historic documents)
• searchable files
• online courses
• reference - quick reference sites
• usenets and listservs
• newsgroups

What search tools usually can not find

• reference books
• books governed by copyright
• articles in  scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers
• sites requiring log-in
• CGI  output - data request forms
• intranets

History
A Brief History of the Internet
History of the WWW
Combined history of the Internet and WWW

Glossary
  Web and Internet Glossary