http://casswww.ucsd.edu/personal/ron/CVNC/nhi_talk/ :::::::::::::: index.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Natural History on the Internet Title Statement of intent Web intro The Good The Bad The Uncertain (Cultural Impacts) Web Accessing Web Addresses General Search Strategy search engine special indexes relevant links Ron's Natural History Links (link in http:// casswww.ucsd.edu/personal/ron/CVNC/) The Ugly What the Provider Knows presented at Chula Vista Nature Center on Saturday May 17, 1997 :::::::::::::: intro.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Natural History on the Internet Purpose * to provide an introduction to the World Wide Web (WWW) * to illustrate the varietye of Natural History information available * to give you some idea how you could use the WWW o in education o in research o in presenting ideas o in networking o for personal use e.g. vacation planning :::::::::::::: www_benefits.html :::::::::::::: [Image] The World Wide Web - The Good * up to date information MAY be available o much of the information is compiled from books o the source of any information is not always clear o prior work of others public (less duplication of effort) * allows people with diverse needs/information to network o can bring experts and non-experts together o can bring widely scattered people together o can bring together groups with uncommon interests * can make limited interest information available o information may be limited, difficult to gather (obscure sources) o information presented that would never make it into print + anecdotal information and personal experience + points too small to warrant a paper * makes small/distributed markets economically viable * makes local interest information available world-wide * users can explore at leisure :::::::::::::: www_negative.html :::::::::::::: [Image] The World Wide Web - The Bad * As much as people don't like it, books still contain more. * information may be difficult to find o librarianship on the web is in its infancy * providers pick and choose the information presented o providers are people at many levels of knowledge o not necessarily the same quality (or not) you are used to o information may be incomplete / hearsay o affiliations may not be indicated o underlying motives / agenda may be present * viewpoints are biased since many groups are not represented * lots of security / privacy issues o people write like they are writing to friends o computer correlation tools are available (computer trails) o personal interest profiles created o cookie trails o how will information will be used (abuse potential) o crackers have more information potentially accessible :::::::::::::: www_cultural.html :::::::::::::: [Image] The World Wide Web - Cultural Aspects * creates an experiencial database for ordinary people o conversational, often very personal o world wide nature of database o development of "global mind" o perhaps more "homogenization" of cultures * important viewpoints missing o biased towards well funded, computer literate people o important socio-economic, cultural , etc. groups not represented * cultural change via exposure to wide range of peoples and ideas o personal ways of thinking from information, links selected o personal interests from information, links selected o exposing aspects of self to world wide scrutiny * can create interest coalitions / networks for good or bad :::::::::::::: www_access.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Accessing the World Wide Web Decide what you want to do, at least initially (it may save you $$). Connect to the Internet (via your Internet Service Provider or whatever). Start your browser. Your browser is a program stored on your computer. It will format your information requests, send them out, interpret any reply, and display it on your terminal. Tell the browser what to do You can start a search using a search engine. You can ask for a specific page using your bookmarks You can go to a page you know (location == URL or URI) Wait for the answer to come back. Decide what you want to do now, and do it (using the menus or the buttons). You can save/print the information you received. You can bookmark the page for future reference. You can use the page to jump to another page. You can go back and start all over again. Hopefully you accomplish your aims. Sometimes you run out of time. :::::::::::::: www_address.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Interpreting Web Addresses The WWW address has 5 parts, some of which may be missing http://cassfos01.ucsd.edu:8080/personal/ron/CVNC/bugs.html [Protocol] - message formatting / decoding information (If missing, default is http). [Machine Name] - address of the provider's computer [:Machine Port] - part of the address (Usually missing, default is 80.) [User Directory] - directory name on the provider's machine (If missing, page is in top directory.) [Name of Page] - hopefully the information that you want (If missing, picks up default, usually index.html) Think of this, sometimes very long address, in terms of a request for information that you might make from someone or some organization. :::::::::::::: gen_search.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Searching for Information There are three basic tools to search the web: * Search Engines May provide you with a large number of irrelevant hits. * specialized topic indicies Fewer irrelevant hits, but indexing is generally less complete. * links listed on relevant pages Usually on topic, but you have to find the relevant page. * Ron's Natural History Links NOTE: Any link list links probably has one or more bad links. For an interesting discussion of the problems of organizing the wealth of information now available see Scientific American, :::::::::::::: search_engine.html :::::::::::::: Search Engines Search engines are programs that maintain large information databases. These databases can be searched by keyword(s) or subjects. They return a list of links to, what one hopes are, relevant pages. Yahoo - pages examined and categorized manually AltaVista - automatic keyword extraction Excite Lycos NOTE: * - In general, providers MUST request that their pages be included in these databases. Therefore no one indexes every single web page. * - Search engines use different ways of building indexes. What works for you on one engine may not work well on another. * -Getting obsolete pages deleted is difficult. Many links do not work or have other errors. :::::::::::::: special_index.html :::::::::::::: Specialized Indexes A number of individuals and groups have taken it upon themselves to set up databases of all the pages they find or are told about that deal with a specific topic. Some are general, like this one for botany. Internet Directory for Botany - all links Others are more restricted, like this one for butterflies. Electronic Resources on Lepidoptera NOTE: Some of these are searchable by keywords which may or may not result in a hit on the topic you are interested in. :::::::::::::: relevant_links.html :::::::::::::: Links on Relevant Pages Everyone who uses the web collects links eventually. Sometimes these useful links are added to the personal bookmarks (these are maintained by your browser.) Providers also collect links. Links to sites outside of the provider's control often are included to supplement/support the information being presented. Sometimes, they are included with the information. Other times they are all grouped together. NOTE: It can take a lot of time to gather valid links, and periodically check that they still work. Positive feedback via email is welcome. Their work can save you lots of time and effort. :::::::::::::: www_errors.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Acchhh, I got an error!!!!! First, DON'T PANIC. The sky is not about to fall. The dynamic nature of the WWW makes errors inevitable. Most common error - "Error 404: Page Not Found" * the page no longer exists or has been renamed * non-existant images usually print a special symbol but no error * you made a spelling mistake somewhere in the address * the provider activated the link without the page * Try requesting a directory listing (remove the name of the page) * Try to back up farther through provider's address * You could contact the webmaster, who may be able to help. :::::::::::::: www_more_errors.html :::::::::::::: [Image] Acchhh, I got another error!!!!! Other errors: * some routing machine couldn't find the machine requested o computer is down for an upgrade? o network connecting to computer down? o machine no longer exists? * permission to access the information is denied o page is protected by provider, purposefully or by mistake o machine along path restricts that page (you may have a firewall) o you have made a mistake * you get into a loop trying to go back up through your activity o You have been redirected by a page which automatically loads the page you saw. The redirect page is in your backup path and each time you reach it, it redirects you to the page you keep seeing. * your machine crashes or fails to deliver what you expected o You exceded your machine's or your browser's capabilities. o If the machine crashes, restart (it was probably not your fault). * you have run out of memory/disk space (machine starts cache cleanup) o Browsers, in an effort to be efficient, store images/pages on YOUR machine. :::::::::::::: www_server_info.html :::::::::::::: What does the Webmaster know about you? Almost all web sites maintain logs of the their activity. Here are two entries from the access log on my web server: 206.231.104.139 - - [12/May/1997:11:50:11 -0700] "GET /public/nearest.html HTTP/1.0" 200 3156 206.231.104.139 - - [12/May/1997:11:50:24 -0700] "GET /public/bright.html HTTP/1.0" 200 3827 A user, unidentified here, came in from machine at 206.231.104.139. The user asked for nearest.html and we sent it out. Then the user asked for bright.html, which was also sent. The user then left this site. Here is an entry from the error log: [Mon May 12 16:28:54 1997] access to /u8/WWW/personal/diplas/jwz/diplas1.html failed for polypc21.chem.rug.nl, reason: File does not exist Other information could have been capturrd depending on what you have set up/filled in on your browser. In addition, the provider's server interacts with your browser. It may request and you may permit the passage of cookies back and forth. These cookies are really bits of information about the sites you visit and what you look at. These are used for tracking purposes, but may carry information such as username and password for some commercial sites.