Glossary for Learning to Use the World Wide Web
Glossary for Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web
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Glossary for Learning to Use the World Wide Web |
Glossary for Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web |
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Glossary
Acceptable Use Policy: A policy statement from a network or organization giving the acceptable uses of the network for local use and accessing the Internet.
Administrative Address: The address to use to join a Listserv or interest group , and to send requests for services.
Anonymous FTP: A means of using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in which a user starts a ftp session with a remote host, gives the login or user name "anonymous", and their e-mail address as a password.
Archie: An information service which helps to locate a file which can then retrieved by anonymous ftp .
Article: A message or file which is part of a newsgroup.
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A code for representing characters in a numeric form. An ASCII file is one which usually contains characters which can be displayed on a screen or printed without formatting or using another program.
BBS: Bulletin Board System. A computer and software which provides an electronic forum, message center, and archives of files to its members. Traditionally these have been run by hobbyists through dial-up modem lines. Recently some of these have been connected to the Internet for a variety of organizations.
Binary File: A file containing information such as a compressed archive, an image, a program, a spread sheet, or a word processor document. The items in the file usually cannot be displayed on a screen or printed without using some program.
Bookmark List: A list of links to items on the Internet. Usually created by an individual as they use Gopher , Lynx, or Netscape Navigator . A good way to keep track of favorite or important sites, these are saved and can be used at any time. Note Gopher, Lynx, and Netscape Navigator keep separate bookmark lists. Some WWW browsers, e.g. Mosaic, use the term hotlist for this list of links.
Client: A program or Internet service that sends commands to and receives information from a corresponding program (often) at a remote site called a server. Most Internet services run as client/server programs. Gopher, for example, works this way. A user starts a client program on their computer which contacts a gopher server.
Compression: An algorithm or scheme used to compress or shrink a file. A file in compressed form must first be uncompressed or transformed before it can be read, displayed, or used. Files available through anonymous ftp are often stored in compressed form, and must be treated as binary files.
CWIS: Campus Wide Information System. An information for making information available to a campus or organization.
Dial-up Access: Access to the Internet through a phone line and a modem. Typically gives the user a login name and shell account to another computer which has a full IP Internet connection. Also, the user usually has access to only text based Internet services.
Digest: A collection of messages from a Listserv or interest group , sent at regular intervals such as daily or weekly.
Discussion List: A form of group discussion and sharing information carried on by electronic mail. A discussion list focuses on a single topic.
Domain Name: The Internet name for a network or computer system. The name consists of a sequence of characters separated by periods such as s850.mwc.edu.
Download: Transfer a file from a remote computer to the computer used by an individual.
E-mail: Electronic Mail. A basic Internet service which allows users to exchange messages electronically.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA):
A 1986 US federal law protecting the privacy of electronic communications, providing civil remedies for those whose e-mail has been read, and providing exceptions to system administrators and court authorized actions.
Electronic Mail: A basic Internet service which allows users to exchange information electronically.
Encryption: A procedure to convert a file from its original form to one that can only be read by the intended recipient.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions. A list, often associated with Usenet newsgroups, of commonly asked questions and answers on a specific topic. These are usually the first place users should look to find answers to questions or to get information on a topic.
Flame: An e-mail message or article in a Usenet newsgroup that's meant to insult someone or provoke controversy. This term is also applied to messages which contain strong criticism of or disagreement with a previous message or article.
Free-Net: A community based network, allowing access to the Internet for no or a small membership fee.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol which allows computers on the Internet to exchange files. One of the three basic Internet services.
FTP Archive: A collection of files available by using anonymous FTP.
Gateway: A device or program which transfers information between different types of networks. The networks may have similar functions but, in most cases, use different technologies for handling information.
Gopher: A menu oriented system that gives access to documents, files, and other Internet services, regardless of where they are on the Internet. The software for Gopher was created and developed at the University of Minnesota to allow users to browse and retrieve documents in a campus environment.
GUI: Graphical User Interface. Uses icons and images in addition to text to represent information, input and output.
Header: A portion of an e-mail message containing information pertinent to the transmission of the message such as the address of the sender, the address of the recipient, and when the message was sent.
History List: A list of Internet sites, services, and resources which have been accessed through a WWW browser to arrive at the current item.
Home Page: The first screen or page of a site accessible through a WWW browser.
Host: A computer on the Internet that allows users to communicate with other computers.
Hot List: A list of favorite or important links to sites, resources, and services compiled during WWW sessions using a browser such as Mosaic. . The hotlist can be saved for future use. Similar to a Bookmark List used with Gopher, Lynx, or Netscape Navigator .
HTML: HyperText Markup Language. The format used for writing documents to be viewed with a WWW browser . Items in the document can be text, images, sounds, and links to other HTML documents or sites, services, and resources on the Internet.
Hypermedia: An extension to hypertext to include graphics and audio.
Hypertext: A way of viewing or working with a document in text format which allows cross-references to be followed and then return. This presents a non-linear means of dealing with text, and is accomplished through a computer interface to text.
Hytelnet: A guide and a tool for working with resources accessible by telnet. It presents a hypertext interface to an organized list of telnet sites. The sites are arranged in categories by the type of service such as a library catalog, database, bulletin board, electronic book, network information, and includes a glossary.
Interest Group: Group discussion and sharing information carried on by electronic mail. An interest group focuses on a single topic. An individual subscribes or joins an interest group electronically and all messages sent to the group are distributed by e-mail to the members.
Internet Protocol (IP): The basic protocol used for the Internet. Information is put into a single packet, the packet contains the address of the sender and the recipient and then sent out. The receiving system removes the information from the packet.
InterNIC: Internet Network Information Center. A National Science Foundation (NSF), a US government agency, funded organization to provide information, registration, and database services to NSFNET (a major portion of the Internet in the US).
IP Address: An Internet address in numeric form. Consists of four numerals, each in the range of 2 through 255 separated by periods. An example is 192.65.245.76.
IP Connection: A connection to the Internet which provides access to all services, resources, and tools. A computer system with an IP connection has an IP address.
Jughead: A tool (software) used to search for items listed in Gopher menus (usually) at a specific site. Veronica is used to search for Gopher menus throughout the Internet.
Kermit: A protocol or program used to exchange (upload and download) files between computer systems. Often used to exchange files between a personal computer and another system via a modem.
List Address: The address to use to send e-mail to be distributed to each member of a discussion list, interest group , Listserv list, or mailing list.
Listproc: One of the several types of software used to manage and administer a discussion list, interest group , or mailing list.
Listserv: The type of software used to manage a Listserv list, a form of a discussion list, interest group , or mailing list.
Lurking: Reading the e-mail or articles in a discussion group or newsgroup, without contributing or posting messages.
Lynx: A text-based World Wide Web browser (software) used for accessing information in a hyper text manner on the Internet.
Mail User Agent: The software used to access and manage a user's electronic mail. Some examples are Pine and Mailx.
Mailbase: One of the several types of software used to manage and administer a discussion list, interest group , or mailing list.
Mailing List: Group discussion and sharing information carried on by electronic mail. A mailing list focuses on a single topic. An individual subscribes or joins a mailing list electronically and all messages sent to the group are distributed by e-mail to the members.
Mailserve: One of the several types of software used to manage and administer a discussion list, interest group , or mailing list.
Mailx: An electronic mail program or user mail agent. Its used by individuals to read, send, and process their e-mail. Common on computers using the Unix operating system.
Majordomo: One of the several types of software used to manage and administer a discussion list, interest group , or mailing list.
Message Body: The text portion of an e-mail message.
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. Extensions to standard e-mail programs making it easy to send, receive, and include non-text files.
Moderator: A person who manages or administers a discussion list, interest group , Listserv list, mailing list, or Usenet newsgroup. In most cases the moderator is a volunteer. Messages sent to the group are first read by the moderator who then passes appropriate messages to the group.
Mosaic: A World Wide Web browser (software) used for accessing information in a hyper-text or hyper-media manner on the Internet. It gives the user a graphical interface (GUI) to Internet services and resources.
National Public Telecommunications Network (NPTN):
A confederation of Free-Net's, community based networks. Its purpose is to help establish community networks, to link those systems into a common network, and to supplement their services with network-wide services and resources.
Netetiquette: A collection of rules for behavior on the Internet and/or Usenet.
NetFind: An Internet service used to find e-mail address(es) based on information, such as a person's name, location, or domain name, provided by the user.
Netnews: An alternative term for Usenet News; usually used to refer to Usenet News carried on the Internet.
Netscape Navigator: A World Wide Web browser (software) used for accessing information in a hyper-text or hyper-media manner on the Internet. It gives the user a graphical interface (GUI) to Internet services and resources.
Newsreader: Software used by an individual to read, reply to, and mange Usenet News.
Packet: The basic unit of information sent across the Internet. Packets contain information (data), the address of the sender, and the address of the recipient.
Pico: Pine Composer. The full-screen text editor commonly used with the Pine e-mail program.
Pine: Program for Internet News and E-mail. A mail user agent for reading, sending, and managing electronic messages. On-line help is always available and it includes MIME and an address book.
Port Number: Some Internet services have a unique number assigned to them which refers to a logical channel in a communications system. Using a port number with a telnet session, such as telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000, allows for a connection without providing a login name.
Posting: An article or message sent to a Usenet newsgroup.
Protocols: A set of rules or procedures for exchanging information between networks or computer systems.
Rn: A newsreader (software) used with Usenet News. Newsgroups and articles are presented one at a time in sequential order. A user selects a newsgroup and then works with the articles in that group.
Router: A device (hardware) which transfer information between networks.
Server: A computer that shares resources with other computers on the Internet. In the context of Internet services a server is a computer system or program which provides information to other programs called clients. When a user starts a gopher session they start a client gopher program which contacts a gopher server program.
Signature: An optional portion of an e-mail message consisting of information about the sender such as their full name, mailing address, phone number, etc. The signature is usually in a file named .signature, signature, or .sig and its automatically included with each message.
Signoff: A term used in a command to leave, quit, or unsubscribe from a discussion list, interest group , Listserv list , or mailing list.
SLIP: Serial Line Internet Protocol. Software allowing the use of the Internet Protocol (IP), over a serial line or through a serial port. Commonly used with a modem connection to a service providing Internet services.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The Internet standard protocol used to transfer electronic mail form one computer system to another.
Subscribe: A term used in a command to join or become part of a discussion list, interest group , Listserv list , or mailing list. This term is also used when choosing to make a Usenet newsgroup one of those listed when you use a newsreader.
System Administrator: An individual with the responsibility to manage and maintain a computer system.
TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A collection of protocols which the Internet uses to provide for services such as E-mail, FTP, and Telnet.
Telnet: Allows for remote login capabilities on the Internet. One of the three basic Internet services, a user on one computer on the Internet can access and login to another computer.
Text File: A file which contains characters in a plain human-readable format. There are no formatting commands such as underlining or displaying characters in bold face or different fonts. Also called an ASCII file.
Thread: A collection of articles all dealing with a single posting or e-mail message.
Tin: A newsreader (software) used with Usenet News. Newsgroups and articles are presented in a full-screen menu format. Articles within a newsgroup are threaded; articles on the same topic are grouped together.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): A protocol used as the basis of most Internet services. It is used in conjunction (actually on top of) the Internet Protocol. It allows for reliable communication oriented to process-to-process communication. Use to create virtual terminal sessions; packets are passed so it appears a dedicated, constant connection exists between computer systems.
Unsubscribe: A term used in a command to leave, signoff, or quit from a discussion list, interest group , Listserv list, or mailing list. The term is also used to remove a Usenet newsgroup from the list of those you would regularly read.
Upload: Transfer a file from one the computer system being used to a remote system.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator. Its a way of describing the location of an item (document, service, resource) on the Internet and also specifying the means by which to access that item.
Usenet: A system for exchanging messages called articles arranged according to specific categories called newsgroups. The articles (messages) are passed from one system to another, not as e-mail between individuals.
Uudecode: A program to recreate binary files from the ASCII or text form to which they were converted by uuencode. Used by someone who has received a file or e-mail in uuencode form.
Uuencode: A program to convert binary data into ASCII form. Necessary to use to send binary files with some e-mail systems. Used to send binary files on e-mail systems without MIME.
Veronica: A tool (software) for searching for items on Gopher menus throughout the Internet.
Vt100: A specific type of terminal, most commonly used with Internet services and programs such as Hytelnet , Lynx , and Pine. Many programs work in full-screen mode and need to know the type of terminal they'll be using.
WAIS: Wide Area Information Server. A system for searching and retrieving items from databases, where the databases can be anywhere on the Internet
Web Browser: A program (software) used to access the Internet services and resources available through the World Wide Web.
World Wide Web (WWW): The World Wide Web is a way of thinking about and working with the Internet as a collection of different services, resources, and protocols which can be accessed in a uniform manner.
Zmodem: A protocol used to transfer files, usually by modem, between computer systems. This allows for relatively high-speed transfers in a reliable and convenient manner.
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