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WWW Information Pack
Topics covered: the web, the Internet, history, browsers, hyperlinks, uses of the web
The World Wide Web (also called the WWW, or simply "the web") is a huge global collection of information, which is stored and distributed by the millions of linked computers that make up the Internet. Using the web, you can access information from all over the world, and can display it in the form of "web pages" on your own desktop computer.
Although the web makes use of the Internet for its distribution, the web is not the same thing as the Internet. The Internet can be thought of as a world wide network of interlinked computers, across which information can flow. The Internet has its roots in USA military planning of the 1960s/70s, and developed into a powerful global communications system several years before the web was invented. The web is one extremely successful way in which the Internet has been used.
The web was devised in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) in Geneva, to enable researchers to share their results very rapidly, over the Internet. Berners-Lee devised a prototype system by which pages of information could be linked, using key words, to other similar documents elsewhere on the Internet - a concept known as hypertext. The language used to construct these documents, and to define the hyperlinks between them, was called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
These early concepts are still fundamental to the operation of the web today. Web pages are still characterised by their ability to contain hyperlinks to other related pages located at sites all around the world. Using a mouse (or a keyboard) you can easily follow the links from one document to the next, exploring and assessing the information as you go.
However the development of more advanced graphical web-viewing programs (called browsers) has inspired people to publish and view increasingly elaborate web pages, containing photographs, graphic design, sound, video, and "interactive" content that responds to the user's actions. This rapid increase in sophistication has led to a dramatic increase in the popularity and importance of the web, so that it is now the most high-profile application of Internet technology.
Figure 1.1 - A modern web page containing a complex graphical layout, and links to other pages.
No central authority is responsible for organising or regulating the information on the web. This is both a major advantage (because it allows uncensored freedom of information) and a disadvantage (since it can be hard to locate the information that you require). Despite this de-regulated structure, you should remember that the content of any information provided on the web is, in most cases, the intellectual property of whoever originally created it, and is therefore subject to copyright law in the same way as any other form of publication. You should not just copy it into your own publications without prior permission.
Some web-based content is governed by UK law (e.g. obscenity and racist material) and it may be an offence for you to view it. You should also remember that not all information published on the web is necessarily true!
Today, the web is a major part of many people's lives, both at work and at home.
Educators have now realised the potential of web technology to deliver learning
resources that are more interactive and contain more multimedia content than
traditional lecture and text-book approaches. By combining video and sound
clips with static pictures and text, it is possible to make information clearer
and more interesting. By incorporating “multiple choice” quizzes
into web pages, it is possible to test users' understanding of the material,
as well as automating the marking process. The accessibility of the web has
revolutionised "distance-learning" and "asynchronous learning",
freeing students to choose their own times and places for study, and to progress
through material at their own rate. Discussion forums enable students to debate
topics and share problems with one another, even though they may be working
in different places at different times. For more information, and examples
of these techniques in use, you might like to visit the following web page:
www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/ltu/projects/current.hti
Universities are now acutely aware of the importance of the web as a promotional and marketing tool. Many prospective students are likely to visit a University's web site before making a final decision to study there. Researchers now routinely exploit the power of the web to discover new information and share results. Governmental organisations are increasingly making use of the web to communicate with the public, and there is currently a considerable drive towards making many public services available via the web - see: www.ukonline.gov.uk
When not working, many people now make use of the web for leisure. They typically reserve holidays, air, rail and concert tickets, buy books, download music, and read the latest news from around the world. The ease and immediacy of web publishing has made political censorship of books and news considerably harder to achieve.
Learning how to use the web, and how to publish your own information on it, is not prohibitively difficult. However, it requires an investment of some time and patience. The Factsheets in this series are intended to support you in that process.
After inventing the web, Tim Berners-Lee went on to become director of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - an organisation
dedicated to guiding the future development of the web. His technical papers
on the web's history, philosophy and possible future development are available
from:
www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/Overview.html
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