Instructions: For the activities create a document with the answers. 
         The document must include the questions and approriate answers. 
         The completed document should be easy to read and undertand and formatted appropriately.

What is a URL?

URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. It is standard for web addressing.

It is somewhat comparable to a phone number.
As an example, our school phone number (204) 339-6959.

• (204) Represents the Area Code. A geographical region, in this case Manitoba
• 339 is the exchange. Historically these were geographical areas within the Area Code Garden City area, but now are more general to that area.
• 6959 the specific phone or phone line.

How does this compare to a URL

http://www.7oaks.org/gcctechnology/computers_general/index.htm

http://	Hypertext Transfer Protocol - This tells the browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) that this is a web page. ftp:// is another example- this is a File Transfer Protocol for downloading files.
www.7oaks.org	The first entry after http:// is always the name of the server. It typically starts with www.
/gcctechnology/	After the first forward slash (/) in an address is either a web page or a directory(folder). This is a directory(folder) since it is followed by another forward slash.
computers_general/	Again, since the name is followed by a forward slash (/) it is a directory(folder).
index.htm	This is the web page. A name followed by .htm or .html indicates it is a web page. Note: web pages served via a database may end in .asp, pl, cgi etc.
~	Sometimes you might see a "user" reference or tilde (~) symbol in a sub directory followed by a name. This indicates that you may be on a personal Web page

 

Activity: Deconstructing a URL. Shorten the URL by one directory or page. Part A 1. Type in or follow these links: a.    http://www.7oaks.org/gcctechnology/computers_general/index.htm b.    http://www.7oaks.org/gcctechnology/computers_general c.     http://www.7oaks.org/gcctechnology d.     http://www.7oaks.org 2. What did you find as you deconstructed the URL?   Part B Deconstruct the following link as in part A above http://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/golf_kildonan.stm   Note: Besides learning about the web page and where it is located, this technique can help you locate more information on a subject or find the directory of a missing page when you get the message "page not found" or "404 Error."

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Domain Names

What is a Domain name?

A domain name is a way to identify and locate computers and resources connected to the Internet. No two organizations can have the same domain name.

Every company or organization that wants to be on the internet will register a domain name for use as their on-line identity.

Each domain name corresponds to numeric IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. An IP address takes the form of 4 numbers, each one between 0 and 255, separated by periods. The Internet uses the numeric IP address to send data.
As an example, you may be connecting to a World Wide Web server with the domain name "www.7oaks.org", but as far as the network is concerned, you are connecting to the Web server with the IP address associated with that domain name.

Commonly used Domain Name endings

Originally there were only eight domain name endings, but since the web has grown so quickly new endings are being added. See domainpeople.com, iana.org, register.com , whois.net or internic.com or similar site for a more complete list.

Most countries have their own endings, this indicates the web business/organization resides in that country.

Who owns the Domain Name?

Every web address must be registered and owned. A fee is charged this registration.

You can find out if a domain name is already registers and who has registered that name.
Note: A domain name can be registered without having a web page on the internet. Several years ago some enterprising individuals registered the domain names of some large companies before these companies did. These individuals then sold the registered domain name to the company for big dollars.

Using domaintools.com domainpeople.com, iana.org, register.com , whois.net , godaddy.com, whois.ca or internic.com are some of the sites available to determine if a domain name is registered and if it is to whom.

Specific TLD (Top Level Domain names) are now registered by specific companies in different countries. iana.org has a database of these TLD.

To find out where can register a domain name and the Pricing for different countries and TLDs

-Go to the iana.org site and choose the TLD database under Domain Name Services
-Choose a country, Eg. Australia
-Scroll down to URL for registration services: and click the link
-somewhere on the page will be a link to a "list registars" , click the link
-Pick any one of the registars, (some registar sites are easy to navigate then others)
-look for something about Domain Register and pricing

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The WayBack Machine

This is an interesting site that can be very useful when checking resources. Archive.org is an archive of internet sites. It can be useful to find old information or to see how a site has changed over time.

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The Five W's of Cyberspace

The old formula used by police, journalists and researchers for getting the "full" story can be applied in cyberspace, to help identify credible online information sources.

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Some Useful Google Tips & Tricks

The Google Search engine has a number of useful built in features such as: built-in calculator and units of measure and conversions; definition for a word or phrase; UPC, parcel, VIN and other specialized numbers searches.

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Review Questions

1. What is a URL?
2. Assume the web address http://www.7oaks.org/gcc/~pstewart/computers/start.htm
     is pstewart a webpage or a directory/folder?
3.   is start.htm a webpage or a directory/folder?
4.   what does the ~ (tilde) usually mean?
5. Give the URL of a site you can use to check who owns a domain name.
6. Describe how you can search a particular site for information. eg. manitoba government web site for employment info
7. Briefly describe each of the 5 W's of Cyberspace.
8. What type of information does the Wayback machine have?
9. Give some examples of 'special' search features availble in Google.

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Updated: January 5, 2011