Amer Neely
Web Mechanic

NOTE: This article first appeared in 'Content London', which is no longer published.

January 1997 Vol. 1 #3

Last month we discussed the ways you can use e-mail for your organization. While this may still be the largest usage activity, most peoples' first experience of the Internet is the World Wide Web, so that will be our topic of discussion this month.

History

Some people put the beginnings of the Web in the hands of Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). While I cannot argue he is initially responsible for making the Web possible, I would go back even farther, to an article written in the July 1945 issue of The Atlantic Monthly by Vannevar Bush, entitled "As We May Think". In it he describes something called a "memex" thus:

Now if that doesn't describe a web surfer's den, I don't know what does! The full article can be viewed and/or downloaded at: As We May Think

The Web Model

First, we'll talk about the concept of the Web in familiar (I hope) terms. Let's say you're browsing through a book or magazine and find a reference to a particular type of bird. You've never heard of this bird before and want to know more about it. What do you do? Well, first choice might be an encyclopedia. That would most likely give you a fairly good description of the bird and even a photograph.

So, equipped with a better understanding of the bird, you go back to the article you were reading, and continue where you left off. You read about its very unique morning song. Of course the article has no way of providing you with an example, but you would like to know what it sounds like. The encyclopedia is out for the same reason, so you might go to a library and see if there's a tape or video of birds. Or you could try a CD-ROM if you have a computer.

Let's say you're successful in finding out what the bird sounds like, so you can again continue reading the article. At the end of the article you find a list of other reading material and references. This bird has really piqued your interest, so you follow up on all the references and readings. This may lead you to other books and articles, which might reside in libraries across the ocean. But you are determined to gather all the data, and you have finally completed the task.

Now, let's take a step back and examine what just happened. We started out at a "resource" which was the original article. From there, we placed a marker in the article, and made a detour to another "resource" which was the encyclopedia. Next, we went back to the article and continued until we again needed to detour to another "resource" - say the audio tape or video. Finally, we made all kinds of side-trips and excursions to other "resources" in our following up the reading list and references.

This manner of gathering information in the real world is how the Web works. We start out somewhere - it doesn't matter where. There is no top, bottom, or centre of the Web. To find other resources, or pieces of information, we follow predetermined paths or links to the sources of that information. We can backtrack to see all the places we've been on this trek, and we can also view the whole path.

This is what the Web is. A network of "resources" linked together by a computer network (the Internet) with other resources. The linking of resources together this way is called hypertext. In the past few years a similar term, hypermedia, has gained popularity, since we are not limited to text, but can access true multimedia.

A resource may be a number of things. It could be an article, photograph, audio or video file, dictionary, database, or any number of types of computer files. Anything that can be put on a computer is fair game. And nowadays, that's just about anything.

Tim Berners-Lee is the physicist who proposed a hypertext system to his colleagues in the High Energy Physics community in 1989. His purpose was to assist in the sharing of information among researchers spread all over the world.

He developed the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is simply a way of coding documents so that embedded in the document are links to other resources. Since the Internet was available, it was chosen as the "vehicle", or means of getting to other links.

This brings up an important point: the Web is not the Internet, and the Internet is not the Web. The Web is just one way of accessing some of the resources available on the Internet.

Nuts and Bolts - A Glossary of some Terms

• Browser
  A computer program (client) that allows you to view, or access, documents coded in HTML. Popular ones are Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, Opera, Internet Explorer.
• Home Page
  A designated entry-point for access to a local web. It may also refer to a page that a person designates as their own "main page", often presenting personal or professional information.
• Hypertext
  A term originally coined by Ted Nelson denoting the linking of text across a potentially unlimited number of information sources.
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
  The coding mechanism used to produce web pages. Web browsers (programs) display, or render, HTML pages according to their coded format. A link takes the user to another document, which may contain links to other documents, and so on. It is the foundation of the World Wide Web.
• Protocol
  This refers to the type of connection your browser makes to another resource on the Web. The most popular is http. In this case, you will likely find a document coded in HTML, and if there are other links in the document, they will be available to you. Others include ftp, gopher, file, telnet, news, nntp, mailto, wais, mid, cid, prospero, rlogin, tn3270. See URL for more information.
• Link
  A reference, or pointer, to another resource on the Web from within a document. It may point to a section in the same document, or an entirely different document on a separate computer.
• URL (pronounced as you-are-ell)
  

  Uniform Resource Locator. The addressing system for web documents. It is like the call number of a book in a large library, which defines its exact location within the system. The URL for my web homepage is http://www.softouch.on.ca/

  A URL is made up of usually three distinct parts and may possibly contain a fourth. The first part, before the "://", is the protocol or scheme used. This should be in lower case. For web access, this is "http".

  Next is the host name of the computer where the site is located. That's the "www.softouch.on.ca". This part can be in lower or upper case, but is typically left in lower case. Very rarely, you may find a port number after the host name, such as ":8080". Finally is the path to the resource (file) you wish to access, which may consist of just a directory name, or a directory and filename. For example, my Research Central site is located at http://www.softouch.on.ca/rc

  If you see a reference to a web site, and it consists of any directories and/or filenames, you must use the same case as the reference. In the above example for Research Central, the directory name is "/rc". If however, you were to enter "/RC" or "/rC" or "/Rc" you would not reach that web site.

  If you try to get to a location and fail, check your spelling, and the case of anything after the end of the domain name to make sure it is the same as your reference. Also check that the protocol type is in lower case.

• Web Page
  A document (file) that is coded in HTML, and is available to others on the World Wide Web. The term "page" is misleading, since a web page, when printed, may actually be a lot more than one physical page.
• WWW, W3, The Web
  Refers to the World Wide Web.

What can I do with it?

Whew! Finally, we can get to the nitty-gritty. Now that you have a better (I hope) understanding of the Web, let's discuss what's out there for you, and how to use it. Bear in mind that the Web is a double-edged sword, allowing users to access resources at your site, and also allowing you to access other resources yourself.

As a non-profit organization, you may be primarily interested in providing information to the public about your services. Even a cursory tour of the Web will reveal a huge number of non-profit organizations with a Web presence. It allows them to provide all manner of information to anyone in the world 24 hours a day. For example, a typical site may consist of your Mandate or Mission Statement, services offered, a directory of the Board of Directors, geographic area served, and other pertinent information.

It is quite common to see a site concerned with one topic to have links to other related sites in other parts of the world. In fact, I would encourage you to pursue this option, since it gives people a sense that you are involved and connected, and not merely an island. This is a technique you can use to get the word out about your site. By building links to other organizations, and asking them to provide links from their site to yours, you multiply your chances of someone finding your site, either through a search engine, or merely surfing.

So far we've talked about what others can derive from visiting your site. Let's talk about what you, the owner of the site, can do.

You might wish to include a "guest book" for people to sign and leave comments. This is good source of names if you find yourself in a fund-raising situation.

There are databases online which you can access via the Web. Here's some examples of the types of information available:

• medical information
• demographic information
• statistical data
• corporate data (annual reports)
• government information
• legislation
• legal proceedings
• encyclopedias
• dictionaries
• phone directories

Almost anything you can imagine, chances are it is available on the Web. The best part is, it's free! Unless you find yourself at a site that very clearly asks for your credit card number before access is allowed, you can assume the information is free for the taking. This doesn't mean it isn't copyrighted. It just means that it is being made available at no cost. Please abide by any copyright or other conditions you find, and give credit where credit is due.

How will people find my site?

Basically there only three ways someone will end up at your site. Either they've landed there by following links from another site (surfing); they have performed a search, and discovered it that way; or they have found a reference to it (article, book, friend) and directed their browser right to it.

Which brings us to the question, "How do I let people know I'm here?". Just putting up a Web site is only the first step in creating a Web presence. The important thing is to make sure your URL gets indexed in as many search engines as possible. Search engines are services available on the Web that try to find things for you. Most of them have a means of submitting your URL to their database. Do this with all of the engines you can find.

What else?

Always be on the lookout for new information which you can add to your site. This is perhaps the most tedious of the tasks relegated to a webmaster, but it is essential. New links to related sites are a must. Also, check existing links every once in a while to make sure they are still "live".

Hopefully this has given you an idea as to what the Web is and how you can utilize it. Until next time, take care and bcnu ...