Using Web Documents in Teaching

Some Tips for Accessing URL's If you are having trouble . . .

• Click on the link a second time.
• Doublecheck your typing.
• Try the address with and without the final "/".
• Beginning at the far right, remove successive portions of the adress, from a "/" to the end.
• Try again later.

Web Sites Mentioned in the Presentation

Copyright Guidelines for Web Documents:
• http://w3.scale.uiuc.edu/scale/library/FairUse.html


Central location for search engines:

• http://www.search.com/


International database for higher education on the WWW:

• http://arnold.snybuf.edu


Example of class discussion carried on using the Web:

• http://www.gasou.edu/psychweb/discuss/index.htm


Basic Learning Skills:

• http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infocs/Study/studyindex.html


Master listing of college teaching faculty support centers:

• http://www.unl.edu/teaching


Large collection of college course pages:

• http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture


Excellent directions for building your own WKU web document:

• http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/Tech/Publish/welcome/welcome.htm


Application for a Web Document on WKU's server:

• http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/Tech/Publish/procedur/procedur.htm


Entire Art 100 course w/evaluation of the experience. (Portions password protected for copyright reasons.):

• http://www.suu.edu/WebPages/MuseumGaller/Art101/index.htm


My own Web Page:

• http://www.wku.edu/~kuhlenschmidt/sally.htm

Sociology Web Sites

American Sociological Association:
• http://www.asanet.org/


Society for Applied Sociology:

• http://www.indiana.edu/~appsoc/


Southern Sociology Society:

• http://www.MsState.Edu/Org/SSS/sss.html


Electronic Journal of Sociology:

• http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca:8010/


The Canadian Journal of Sociology:

• http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca/~cjscopy/cjs.html  

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  Terms to Know
• World Wide Web  --  A portion of the Internet which allows for presentation of graphics and other information besides text. (See Internet, browser).
• Web Document  --  A set of files containing text in HTML format and pictures (and even sound or moving pictures...but not yet smells).
• HTML format  --  A system of simple codes inserted into a text document that tells the browser (See Browser) software how to format the text for readability. These are publishing codes concerned with centering text or putting in abullet, or starting a new paragraph.  They look like this: <p> </p>.  The first one turns on a paragraph, the second ends it.
• Web Page  --  Often used as equivalent to "Web document" but officially is just one text (html) file with accompanying image files.  Web pages are just computer files that your computer copies from another computer.
• Home Page  --  The introductory Web page (or file) in a Web document, often named "index.htm". It is possible to access a Web document at a file other than the Home Page. You would need to know the name of the file.  The last part of a URL is the name of the file you are accessing. (With the exception that index.htm doesn't necessarily appear in the URL.
• Link --   The interconnection of computers all over the world using phone lines, satellites and other          communications media. It is a myth that the software that manages the Internet was originally designed to protect military communications.  Actually it was designed to support scholarly communication (of scientists who may have worked for the military.)  The software was designed a) to allow divergent systems to communicate and b)  to seek out alternate pathways of sending information if one path was blocked.
• On-line or online  --  Refers to having a web document available for viewing or to surfing the Internet.
• Browser  --   Software that enables you to view a web document that someone else has created. An example of a browser is Netscape Navigator. Other browsers include Mosaic, or Microsoft Explorer.
• Server  --  A computer that "is" the Internet (it has special software and connections that are affordable to a heavy duty hobbyist but the average joe or jane wouldn't want to buy). It stores Web documents for viewing by others.
• Files  --  A list of instructions that a computer can read and (more or less) obey. (Sometimes the computer will need other software with which to read the file, for example, to interpret an image file).
• URL  --  My lawnmowing guy. Just kidding, his name is actually Jim. An URL stands for Universal Resource Locator [like you care. You don't really say it "Earl" anyway. Everyone I know says U-R-L.] It is literally an address. It is an address to a specific server (see Server). And to a specific file on that server. The URL is typed in the Location line in Netscape or other browser(See Browser). You must be very, very careful to type it in exactly or the machine will explode. Just kidding. Actually, people mis-type all the time. Just try again. And "bookmark" (See Bookmark) it when you get it right. Actually, it may not be your typing.
• Bookmark  --  Most browsers (See Browser ["well, duh" you say]) have some means for keeping a list of your favorite URLs (not the lawn guy, just addresses). Play with your browser (in the privacy of your own home, please) until you find out how to do it so you can get back to some cool web site.
• Cool web site  --  Like most human things (possibly excepting California) a culture has developed around the Internet and the Web. Slang terms abound with the primary purpose of buttressing the egos of those in the know. Magazines are forever printing "cool web sites," never "stimulating," "intellectually challenging,"or even "a tad presumptious with a hint of zestiness." I suspect the actual function of these lists is to justify staff members spending working hours poking around on the net having fun. But what do I know?
• Download  --  It is often possible to get an electronic or digital copy of the files you are viewing. The process of doing so is called "downloading" (from the server to your machine). Different browsers have different means of doing so. Images can be downloaded by clicking the "other" mouse button and selecting the correct command from the box that appears. You have to have your cursor on the image.
• Upload  --  Guess what?! This is sending a file from your machine to another one. A beginner is probably not going to be doing that so don't worry about it yet. Bonus survival computing tip: Learn it when you need to know.
• Search Engine  --  A web site that maintains a list of other web sites, like a card catalog in a library. Only instead of thumbing through cards, you put in a keyword and the search engine searches for you-- and returns 100,000 hits. (See librarian at this point).