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The World Wide Web, usually referred to simply as the Web, is a
system for displaying, formatting and accessing multimedia information over
a network such as the Internet. Bits of information on the Web are
connected to each other by "hyperlinks," which allow related subjects
to be presented together without regard to the locations of the
subject matter. Hyperlinks function as pointers to information, whether the
information is located within one Web site or at any site throughout
the world.
A "Web site" is a set of files residing on a computer (usually called
a
server or a host). You access the site with software called a
Web browser which displays the files as "pages" on your screen.
The
pages can contain files of text, graphics, sounds, animation,
interactive forms-almost any form of multimedia-and they can be
downloaded to your computer. Web pages are written in HyperText
Markup
Language (HTML), a simple coding system for describing documents and
linking files.
Web sites do not have to be connected to the Internet. Many
organizations create internal Web sites to enhance education,
communications and collaboration within their own organizations.
Recently, the Web has become the predominant form of Internet
communication (with the exception of e-mail), far outstripping the use
of other systems such as gophers or ftp sites. It is already becoming
a
significant factor in many organizations' approaches to internal and
external communications and marketing. The Web provides an immensely
popular and accessible way to publish electronically, offer services
or simply express your creativity.
- The Web hides all of the underlying technology from the user. When
you access a Web site or a link in a Web document, your browser
locates
and brings you the information. You do not have to worry about where
the information is located, and the browser manages all storage,
retrieval and navigation tasks automatically.
- The Web is interactive. It is easy to move between documents and
Web
sites or to perform tasks such as placing orders and filling out
forms
in real time.
- The Web can handle many forms of Internet communication, such as
FTP, Gopher and Newsgroups and Usenet, replacing the need for many
other
tools for using the Internet.
- Web browsers are inexpensive, easy to use, and available for
nearly
all computers. Most are available free-of-charge to educational and
non-profit users.
- Simple Web sites can be relatively easy and inexpensive to create,
update and maintain, although businesses and other organizations
seeking more sophisticated sites will probably want advice and
assistance when creating
a web presence.
For more information on the Web, please examine the following resources:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Newsgroups: (Requires a News "reader" or browser
configured for "News")
- news:comp.infosystems.www.announce for Web-related announcements
- news:comp.infosystems.www.misc for Discussions about a variety of miscellaneous Web issues
- news:comp.infosystems.www.users for Browser issues
- news:comp.infosystems.www.misc for Server issues
- The following is a comprehensive Web site that lists more
Web-related UseNet News Groups
- List of
Web
newsgroups
Mailing Lists: (Also known as E-Mail Lists or Discussion
Groups)
To subscribe to one or more of the following lists, send an
e-mail message of the form request-address@w3.org with the word
subscribe
as the "subject" of the message (NOT the body). The
request-address options
are indicated below.
Instructions
for subscribing to World Wide Web e-mail lists is available.
- For technical information about HTML issues use:
www
- For technical information about general Web issues use:
www
- For technical information about Style Sheets use:
www
A slightly different technique is required to subscribe to the
list for
technical discussions of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
To
subscribe to the mailing list, send a message containing the word
"subscribe" in the body of the message (NOT the subject) to
the request address 'http-wg-request@cuckoo.hpl.hp.com'.
- Technical discussions of the HTTP-WG use:
http
Mailing List Archives: (An alternative to joining a
mailing list)
A mailing list archive consists of the collected contents of the
actual e-mail messages sent by all the participants on the list.
Archives can be viewed with a Web browser and do not require you
to actually join the list. We encourage you to browse the
archives of a list you are considering joining to understand
the issues that are being discussed before actually joining the
list.
HTTP-WG
- The Hypertext Transfer Protocol Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF)
Working Group mailing list archives at University of California -
Irvine.
Books:
- The World Wide Web Unleashed, 2nd edition
By John December and Neil Randall, Sams Publishing.
- Using the World Wide Web
By Bill Eager, QUE.
Conferences:
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