Internet: Practical 1
Get to know your way around your web browser
A web browser is a piece of software that
allows you to access Web sites and
navigate between them. All Web browsers
are the same in principle. The basic toolbar
buttons for web navigation are the same in
IE5 as in older version of IE, and
analogous to those in Netscape. Web
browser contains an address box, in which
you type a Web address (known as ‘URL’
or Uniform Resource Locator), and an area
in which Web pages are displayed.
The Address Box
This is where you type Web address (Try! type yahoo.com in the address box) and click on Go or press
the Return or Enter keys) to download the Web page.
Back and Forward buttons
Use the Back and Forward buttons to navigate through downloaded pages
Refresh
If a Web page is taking a long time to down load then click on Refresh button. Refreshing a web page
will seek a new copy of that page, and might load it faster as it will use a physically different Internet
route to send back the page.
Home
Use the Home button to return to your browser’s home page. This is the web page which is first
displayed when starting your web browser and can be configured to any web page you prefer.
Links
This will allow you to set up automatic links to your favourite Web sites via a button toolbar.
Task1 Understanding Web browsers
Objectives
1. Access web sites and navigate them using IE5.
2. Find out how you could easily access web sites that are visited frequently.
Method
Task 1.1: run the Internet Explorer
Task 1.2: Place your cursor in the address box, and type in the address ( as in the figure below):
www.bbc.co.uk
Note that the prefix ‘http://’ will be automatically inserted. Then press<Enter>.
The related web site will appear on the screen.
Scroll up and down the web page by clicking on the bar at the right of the screen and moving the
cursor.
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Task 1.3: Add the above Web address to Link menu
(frequent visits)
To add the BBC link to the list, drag the icon located
in front of the web site address(in the address box) and
drop it on the links button.
Task 1.4: On the left side of the BBC home page, click
on the hyperlink News
A new web page will be displayed with the latest news
topics as in the right figure.
Task 1.5: To return to the home page of your browser, click on the button Home in the toolbar near the
top of the window.
Move backwards and forwards through the web pages you have just visited by using the Back and
Forward Buttons next to the Home button.
Note Next time you enter the address of the BBC web site in the Address box, a drop-down list with
possible matches of the web sites will appear. Rather than typing out the test of the web address, you
can use the arrow keys to select the right address in the menu list and press Enter.
Searching the Web
Quickest way to find information is by is by using a search engine. Which search engine ?
The Web site at www.searchenginewatch.com explains how the main search engines work and how
efficient they are. Here are the addresses of some popular search engines:
www.altavissta.com
www.excite.co.uk
www.hotpot.com
www.lycos.co.uk
www.northernlight.com www.yahoo.com
www.google.com
http://www.metacrawler.com/
Be as specific as you can in your search and tell the search engine exactly what you are looking for.
You can get tips on better searching from the engines themselves.
Searching using Internet Explorer
IE5 has in built search features that can be used as an alternative to using a search engine.
The Search Bar
The search toolbar button is used to launch Internet Explorer’s Search Assistant.
This can be also used for searching newsgroup messages and maps.
Try: select the appropriate search category, enter a keyword and click the Search button.
It is also possible to re-run previous searches, by selecting Previous searches and clicking on a
previously saved keyword entry.
Auto-Search
Search keyword can be typed directly in the Address box to invoke a search.
Related Links
Related links (found in Tools > Related Links) is another useful feature. If you have found a web site
you like, you can select this option to get a list of web sites similar in content to the current one.
Task 2 Searching the Web
Objectives
To search for different type of information on the Internet using IE5.
Method
Use IE5’s Search Assistant and explore other built-in methods to find web sites of interest
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Task 2.1: In IE5, click on the toolbar Search.
This will open the Search window pane on the left-hand side of the
browser window, as shown in the right figure.
Notice that you can search for different types of information,
including web pages, newsgroup messages and maps.
Task 2.2
Find articles about Electronic Medical Record.
Your search results may look like this
found: 'electronic medical record'
show result summaries
1.
Coalition for Patient Rights
2.
Medical Records Institute
3.
Personal Privacy and Access to Medical Databases
4.
Medical Records, Privacy & Confidentiality
5.
For the Record
6.
Electronic Privacy Information Center - Medical Privacy
7.
HealthScreen America
8.
Getting Military Records - American War Library
9.
ConsumerInfo.Com
You will see that the search has picked up lots of other topics related to records but not really within the
parameters of your search.
Keep original search terms (Electronic Medical Record)
Click advanced search
use advanced search
cancel advanced search
Tip: You do not need to specify all the options.
Find:
all the w ords
language:
Do a Boolean Search
Electronic and medical and record
all
Choose English to reduce
the number of Hits
within domain:
Modified between:
and:
(dd/mm/yyyy)
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Click Boolean option the ‘Find’ box and ‘English’ in the language box.
This will limit your search to records that contain the three keywords of ‘Electronic’ and ‘Medical’
and ‘Record’
Click search again
It should be a more refined search e.g
found: 'elelectronic medical record'
show result summaries
Web Pages
1.
Medical Record Privacy
2.
Medical Records Institute Web Site
3.
Index
4.
Duke Medical Informatics Home Page
5.
WWW and the Electonic Medical Record
6.
The W3-EMRS Project
7.
Index of /medweb
1.
Personal Health Record Software by CapMed - Secure Personal and Family ComputerBased Medical Records
8.
ONTARIO MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
9.
Diabetes Monitor: Traveling Medical Record
<< previous
next >>
Task 2.3: Click on Search and Select the radio button Find a Web page
In the text entry box, enter the keywords UK weather and click on the Search button.
Your keywords are submitted to a search engine and a list of web pages matching your request will be
displayed. Click on the link Met.Office. This page will be displayed in the main browser window.
Organising Favorites
Favorites are web sites which you use frequently. You can store the addresses of these web sites and
organize them so you can access them more easily.
Creating Favorites
Select Favorites > Add to Favorites. Next time you want to visit the web site, you can select it from the
Favorites list, rather than typing its address in again.
Folders
When you start accumulating a long list of favorites, it is easier to organize them by topic in folders.
Folders can be created from the Favorites menu or from the Windows Explorer file management
system.
Task3 Creating and Managing Favorites
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Objectives
To create and manage Favorites-lists of web sites you plan to visit regularly
Method
Use the Favorites menu and Windows Explorer to organize your Favorites.
Task3.1: In the Address box of IE5, enter web site address: www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/ukinfo/uk.map.html
Press Return key.
This will take you to the University of Wolverhampton UK Sensitive Maps. From this map, you can
easily access the web sites of universities and HE colleges.
This web page is very useful reference source. To store this site as favorite, select Favorite> Add to
Favorites.., leave all the default and click on the OK button.
Task 3.2: Click on the toolbar button Home. To access the map of universities again, select its address
from the Favorites drop-down menu.
Task 3.3:As you add more pages to the Favorites , the list will become too difficult to use.
It will be easier to create a folder and store all the related addresses in it.
To create a folder, select Favorite> Organize Favorites and click on the button Create Folder…
Name your new folder as Academic Sites and press Enter
Highligt the link to the UK Sensitive Maps web site and drag and drop into the Academic Sites folder,
Then click on the Close button
The best way to manage large amount of Favorites is via Windows Explorer.
Create a folder called ‘Internet’ on U:drive by selecting Folder from the New command under the
File menu in Windows Explorer. Inside ‘Internet’ create a new folder called ‘Downloads’.
How to refine searches with AltaVista
Search engines have rules to help you refine a search. Always use these, particularly if you search on
popular subjects, as general searches reveal hundreds of Web sites.
1.
Type’+’ before a word that must be on a Web site, ‘-‘ before one that must not.
Examples: Electronic+medical –electronic
2.
Use speechmarks when you’re searching for precise phrases, like film titles, Example: “The
Full Monty”.
3.
Use image:filename to search for pictures. Example: image:Ultra sound will find pictures
containing ‘ultra sound’ in the title.
4.
Use an asterisk ,*, to broaden a search. Example: night* will find nightmare and nightingale.
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