Internet Addresses

 

  • URL stands for Universal Resource Locator.
    It means address.
    URLs are made up of several parts.
  • The first part of the URL tells the type of Internet resource.
    For example, http:// stands for hypertext transfer protocol.
  • The www. in the URL
    tells that the address is on the World Wide Web.
    It is the beginning of the domain name.
  • A very important part of an URL is the domain.
    The domain identifies the source of the Internet site and can be an indicator of the probable reliability of information.
    .com, .net, .gov and .ed are domain names (Looking for Reliable Information on the Internet.)

Domain names explained:

  • .com stands for commercial
    Commercial sites can have an agenda that may or may not influence the quality of information on sites.
    Sometimes the information is excellent.  Think carefully before using information from .com sites.
  • .net stands for Internet source
    Like .com,  .net sites may be excellent resources, but they may be very unreliable.
    Look for clues as to the reliability of .com or .net sites.
    (See: Looking for Reliable Information on the Internet .)
  • .ac stands for university or college
    Could be the work of either a college student or professor.
    Search to find who is responsible for the information and
    what qualifies them to create the site.
  • .edu stands for school or university
    Is the work of a student, teacher, or professor.
    Look to see who wrote the site and what qualifications and/or research is involved
    creating the site.
  • .k12 stands for schools
    May be the work of students or teachers.
    Check to see who is responsible for the information.
  • .gov stands for the United States government
    Usually very reliable, published to the Web by the government.
    Sometimes incomplete.
  • .mil stands for United States military
    Sponsored by a section of the government.  Should be reliable.      Sometimes incomplete.
  • .org stands for nonprofit organization
    Find out as much as possible about the organization responsible for the site.
    Some organizations are excellent resources and others are biased.
Other parts of the URL also can be sources of information.
  • Location codes tell the country of origin.
    For example:
        us. is USA
        uk. is United Kingdom
        gb. is Great Britain
        au. is Australia
        ca. is Canada
        mx. is Mexico
        es. is Spain
        fr. is France
        ie. is Ireland
        etc.
  • Sound, graphic and movie files can also be identified by their names.
    There are many types of sound files." .wav" and ".au" are examples of a few types of sound files.
    A few common graphic files are: .bmp, .gif, .jpg & .tif.
    "mpg" is an example of a audio or video file.
  • Another indicator of a page source is a tilde ~.
    A ~ with a name (i.e. ~logan) indicates that a site is a personal site.
    Some personal sites are very accurate and fair while others are extremely inaccurate or biased.
    (See: Trying to Find Reliable Information .)
  • A slash,/, after the domain information with writing after it
    (i.e. ~logan/why) indicates that the address is for a folder or page that is just part of a Web site.
    When a word is between two slashes, it is a pathname. It tells the computer where to find the particular Web page.
    Hint: If you get a "File not found." message when searching for a Web site, deleting folder names can sometimes help you find the main Web page. The main page may help you find the information you need!
  • A number sign, #, followed by writing at the end of a URL
    (i.e. .html#dog) means that the address is for a particular portion of a Web page.
  • .htm or .html at the end of the address
    stands for hypertext mark-up or hypertext mark-up language.
    That is one of the languages/codes used to create Web pages.

Putting it all together:

     http://www.deblogan.com/create/design2.html#color

  • http:// protocol or type of Internet resource
  • www.deblogan.comfull domain name
  • /create/ pathname
  • /design2 file or folder name
  • .html language used to create Web page
  • #colorspecific location within a Web page