Applied Anthropologist at Work

RESEARCHING ANTHROPOLOGY ON THE INTERNET

Glossary

Archie. A method of searching for programs on the Internet before the widespread availability of the web.

bandwidth. A measure of how fast data can be transmitted from one point to another in bits per second.

bookmark. A method of recording the address of a web site using your browser so that you can return to it without typing in the address.

browser. The software that interprets the formatting and programing codes that are contained in web pages. Browsers display web pages so that you can read them. They also transmit your commands back to the web site.

cookie. A small file on your computer that contains information that can be transmitted to a web site when you visit it. Cookies allow web sites to shop for products (they keep track of your shopping cart) and they allow you to customize web pages so that the content you want is there whenever you return.

domain name. Domain names are used to locate computers on the Internet. Minimally domain names consist of a name and a suffix. The suffix is usually .edu, .com, .net, .org, or .gov in the United States, but each country also has its own suffix (for example, the United Kingdom is .uk).

electronic bulletin board. Electronic bulletin boards allow visitors to post messages that can be read by others. The advantage of a bulletin board is that the messages are not distributed as email messages so they do not all end up in your mailbox whether you are interested in them or not. The disadvantage is that the messages drop off the board after a few days or weeks so that you can miss messages if you do not check the board regularly. The biggest collection of bulletin boards is usenet (see below).

Email. Short for electronic mail, email consists of text messages that are sent from one person to another person. The message waits at the recipient's mailbox until it is discarded by the recipient.

Frequently Asked Questions (faq). Frequently Asked Questions are collections of common questions and their answers that have been written by people all over the world. They are not limited to topics concerning the Internet or computers. Originally these documents were distributed by usenet, but now they typically reside on a web site. There are faqs on almost any topic you can imagine.

Gopher. A precursor of the World Wide Web (see below). Gopher distributed text files that could be displayed by software programs (called gopher clients). Image and sound files could also be retrieved, but were not combined into a single display. Gopher was well-suited to limited bandwidth and slower computers that did not display graphics.

hypertext. A document that includes text, images, and links which are combined into a single computer display by browsers. It is the basis of the World Wide Web.

Hypertext Markup Language (html). The language for describing hypertext documents so that the pieces can be retrieved and combined by the browser.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (http). The communication method used by computers to transfer hypertext documents from one computer (the server or host) to another (the client).

Internet. The Internet is global network of computer networks that connects different kinds of computers so that they can share information.

Internet Relay Chat (irc). A method of allowing several people to transmit text messages to one another over the Internet. The people who want to chat all link to a particular chat room.

instant messaging (im). A method of sending a message from one person to another as long as both computers are connected to the Internet and both are running compatible Instant messaging software.

mailbox. Every email address has a mailbox, a space on the hard disk drive of the computer that receives email messages. Email stays in the mailbox until it is retrieved or deleted. Most mailboxes have size limits (for example, 1 or 2 megabytes of email). When the limit is reached, incoming messages are returned to the sender.

mailing list. A mailing list consists of a group of people (subscribers) who wish to exchange email messages on a particular topic. Any message sent by one subscriber to the mailing list is distributed to all of the subscribers.

newsgroup. A newsgroup is a form of electronic bulletin board. usenet newsgroups are grouped into hierarchies that indicate the general topic of the group. For example, the groups that begin with "comp." are concerned with computing issues and the groups beginning with "sci." are concerned with the sciences.

newsreader. A newsreader is a software program that allows you to retrieve and post messages to newsgroups.

plug-ins. Plug-ins are software programs that work within your web browser to handle file types that the browser cannot interpret. For example, plug-ins handle files containing video, sound, and virtual worlds.

portal. A web site that provides access to many features on a single page. A portal usually contains a subject classification of the web and a web search box, as well as news, stock prices, weather, sports, and other information. Most portals can be customized so that you select what features are included.

spam. Spam is the email equivalent of junk mail. It is email that you have solicited and that usually involves some kind of advertising.

start page. The web page that your browser loads when you first start it up. The default page is set by the company that distributes the browser, but you can change it to any other web page. You can also create a simple web page on your computer and use that as the start page.

virus. A computer program that copies itself to other computers. Just like biological viruses, software viruses can be relatively benign or they can destroy data on your computer. They are carried in software programs and document files. Virus protection software is generally effective, but you should still keep current backup copies of all of your important files.

web rings. A group of web sites that provide links to one another so that you can easily jump from one to another.

World Wide Web (www). Much of the information on the Internet is now organized through html documents and hyperlinks that allow you to combine text from one site with an image from another site with sound from a third site. This ability to link resources around the world is the World Wide Web.

Universal Resource Locator (url). An url is the address of a file on the World Wide Web. It allows the browser to select it out of all the files that are accessible on the web.

usenet. The USEr NETwork is the hierarchical collection of newsgroups including "comp.", "alt.", "sci.", "talk.", and others.