The two parts of the internet that have become most popular are email and the World Wide Web, or WWW. Those two parts are related -- you can use the WWW as a tool to help you with your email -- but they can be understood separately. The web is a collection of computer files -- called "web pages," mostly written in the language "html" -- that are accessible through the internet using communications programs called "web browsers," such as Lynx, Mosaic, Netscape, and Explorer. These programs are very easy to use, and web pages are easy to create. Consequently the World Wide Web has become very popular; it has been growing very rapidly since the introduction of Lynx in 1992 and Mosaic in 1993. If you're interested, here are some links to the history of the internet. If you tape some papers to your office door, they can be read by anyone who walks by. The World Wide Web is like an enormous collection of office doors. However, unlike the paper taped to your door, your web pages can contain electronic information -- e.g., files and programs. Moreover, your office door is rather limited in size, but you can keep adding to your web pages, and you can organize them in very sophisticated ways. Some indexing systems that are built into the web make it possible for people to find just the information they're seeking.
Dealing with the World Wide Web really involves two separate, very different activities:
Here are some things you'll find when BROWSING:
|
Here are some things you might consider POSTING:
|
| BROWSING: http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/links/ is a good place to start your browsing. That is our department's "bookmark page", or "internal home page". It is devoted to information for our department's faculty, graduate students, and staff -- it contains links that our department's members will find useful on an everyday basis. Graphical browsers. Use one of the X-terminals in our computer room, and log onto your accout on Artemis or Atlas. Then type "netscape" or "mosaic". (Note that those commands are all in lowercase letters.) This will start up the Netscape or Mosaic program. These programs are mouse-driven, so they're mostly self-explanatory. Links show up on the screen as underlined words or phrases; click on a link to go there. Click on the "help" button if you need help. Netscape is also available on the Macintoshes in our computer room, and on the terminals in the library and in the computer building. By the way, you may want to adjust the options/preferences on your own copy of Netscape, so that it always starts by loading the "internal home page" mentioned in the paragraph above; that will probably be more useful to you than the Netscape company's home page. Text browser. Lynx works even with very old equipment -- e.g., over a slow modem, from a slow computer at home. It's like Netscape without the pictures. See detailed instructions on another page.
|
POSTING: http://www.math.vanderbilt.edu/ is the URL that we advertise to outsiders as our (external) "home page". It is devoted to information about our department. Our department's webmaster maintains that page and many subpages. In addition, individual members of our department may post their own web pages. (The webmaster and secretaries will maintain web pages for faculty members who don't want to bother, but we prefer that all department members maintain their own web pages and we encourage them to do so.) How do you write a web page? Well, the language is HTML, or HyperText Markup Language. Take a look at the very brief introduction to markup languages. To write a very basic HTML page, you really don't need to know much of the HTML language -- just take a web page similar to the one you want, copy it, and edit it to suit your own needs. For instance, copy some other person's web page, change the name to your name, change the phone number to your phone number, etc. Or, start from a copy of our departmental template. Then edit it according to these simple instructions, using whatever is your favorite texteditor. Optional: You can put forms on your web pages; here are instructions and an example. We also have programs for converting your mathematical documents to gifs. If you want to get fancier, here are some links you may find helpful:
|