Internet Navigator - MODULE 1 - Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

MODULE 1

UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATORS

Uniform Resource Locators

Locating a person or a web site requires you to enter valid address information. By understanding the basics of how web addresses, or Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are constructed, you will be better able to locate the resources you need:

Uniform Resource Locators, or URLs, are the standard addressing system of the World Wide Web. URLs allow Web clients to locate any information on the Internet. A complete URL provides the browser with all the information it needs to contact a server and make a request for information.

URLs are divided into three basic parts.

Sample Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
http://library.med.utah.edu/navigator/module1/url.htm
http://	The information appearing before the colon in any URL indicates the type of information server, or protocol. In this example, http:// indicates that the server to be contacted is a World Wide Web server.
library.med.utah.edu	The second piece of information is the address of the server. In this example, library.med.utah.edu is the name of the machine at the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library where the Web server resides.
navigator/module1/url.htm	The third piece of information is the path to the actual document requested. In this example, the URL indicates that the document is in the systems directory and is named url.htm.

URLs Help You Evaluate Information

Since it is often difficult to determine who has created a web page, you can gain a few clues by looking at the URL. The first part of the URL ends with a domain which gives some indication about what type of organization is responsible for the web site.

Listed below are the most common domains and the types of entities identified with them:

Domain	Entity	Purpose	Example
.gov	Government	Information, Statistics	National Transportation Safety Board
.edu	Educational	Information, Education related	University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center
.com	Commercial	Promoting or Selling a product or service	Cars.com Safety
.org	Organization	Influence public opinion	Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

More things to consider:

Country names appear as a two-letter abbreviation in the domain name. For a complete list, go to Domain Name Registries around the World.
New domain names include .museum, .info and .biz, among others. Read more about them at InterNic FAQ on Domain Names.
Use Whois, a database of domain name registrations from Internic.net to find out who has registered the domain name of the URL.

USING URLs

Using URLs

If you know the URL of a particular resource, you can go directly to that resource. There are two easy ways to enter a URL in your browser.

Erase the address displayed in the Location or Address Box, then type in the complete URL and press the Enter/Return key.
Use the File menu to choose Open Location (Netscape 3.0), Open Page (Netscape 4.0), or Open (IE4.0). Type in the complete URL in the dialog box.

Use one of the methods above to go to one of the URLs listed below. Remember to use the Back Button or the Go Menu to find your way back to the Internet Navigator course.

Practice Navigating with these URL Addresses

CNN Interactive http://www.cnn.com/

Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/

Lonely Planet Travel Guides http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/

The Virtual Hospital http://www.vh.org/

Tip: If you have trouble determining who has published a web site, you can use the first part of the URL (up to the first slash) to backtrack.

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