Francis Marion University Web Tutorial

What is World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web is a way to look at electronic documents from all over the world.  It looks like an electronic spider web.   You use a web browser to actually look at the documents on the Web.  The web browser currently used at Francis Marion University is called Netscape.

Getting Started with the Netscape Web Browser

There are several different locations on campus that have web browsing access.  Two of the most common ways to access the web on campus are listed below.

From Stanton Academic Computer Center

                After Window starts, double click (with the mouse) on the Netscape Communicator Icon. 

                The Academic Computer Services Page will be visible on the screen.

From Rogers Library:

                Double Click on the Netscape Communicator Icon (if not already activated)

                The Library Web Page will be visible on the screen.

Moving around in the Netscape Browser

Once the site, or home page, has loaded, click on the brightly colored words (called “hypertext”) or on icons to move to other pages at the same site or to other sites with related information.  The cursor will change to a hand and then an hourglass while the connection is being made.  Do not try to go to another screen until the message “Document Done” appears at the bottom of the screen.

Click on the arrow on the bottom of the bottom right corner to move, or scroll, down the screen.  Click on the top right arrow to move up the screen.

Click on “back” in the upper left corner to return to the previous screen or on “go” to choose from a list of your recent moves.

Note:  If the web page doesn’t  load completely,  press “reload” to access the same page again.

Searching for Information on the Web

There are three common ways to search for information on the Web: go to known address, use a catalogued search engine, or use a key word search engine.

I. Known Address

Go to a known address by clicking on “Open” at the top of the screen. 

Try to go to the following address

http://www.fmarion.edu   

This will go to the Francis Marion University Home Page.  The http://  is optional.  This is only to tell the browser that this is a web page.  Most web browsers default to this option. 

Try to go to the library web page at vax.fmarion.edu.

II.  Catalogued Search

Some Search Engine Sites arrange information into subject areas.  When you click on a subject, the next screen will list more specific subjects in that field. Eventually you will be able to reach specific sites, or home pages, on your topic.  There are many different directories.

For example,

Go to the known catalogued search site of

www.yahoo.com

Click on the subject Entertainment

Click on the subject Movies and Films

Click on the subject Awards

Click on the home page Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Notice that you keep clicking on the subjects until you find the home page with information that you were interested in.

Try to find other subject areas you are interesting in finding information about.

III. Keyword Search

Some search engine sites allow you to do a “keyword” search.  Here you do a simple search for a one or two word subject by clicking on the blank square and typing in your topic.  If you click on “advanced search,” you can do a more complex search by joining your words with “and”,  “near”, or “not”.

For Example,

Go to the known keyword search site of

www.altavista.digital.com

Click on the Keyword search box and type Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Click on Search

Now the addresses to several web pages with information about the topic will be shown on the screen.

Click on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Page

Now try to do another search with on www.altavista.digitial.com

Try the keyword of Academy Awards.

Notice this gives a list of different web pages that the previous search did.

Note:  Any search that you do may require you to look at many different pages to find information relevant to your topic.  The search may find hundreds or thousands of pages with related information.

Important:  You can also go to other  search engines by clicking on “netsearch” in Netscape.

Printing Web Pages

To Print the entire Web Page Document,

                Click on File

                Click on Print      

                Click on OK

When printing a web page document, you will need to be aware that the document will always print where the default printer has been set.  The default printer is normally the local printer (one nearest you) unless you have changed it.  Please be sure the local printer is on before printing to the location.

To Print partial documents,

                Click on File

                Click on Print Preview       

A miniature version of your document will appear, and you can locate the page you want before printing. 

                Click on Print

                type the page number in the page window

                Click OK

Exiting Netscape

To exit the Netscape browser,

                Click on File

                Click on Exit