Glossary of Internet and Web Terminology

• Anchor Synonymous with hyperlinks, anchor refers to non-linear links among documents. Or more simply put, it’s the word or phrase that can be clicked to connect to another page or resource.
• Anchor Color You guessed it, the color on screen that represents the anchors. The reason so many are blue is that is the default color. This color can be changed to any combination of red, blue or green.
• Agent Agents are search tools that automatically seek out relevant online information based on your specifications. Agent A.K.A.s include: intelligent agent, personal agents, knowbots or droids.
• Annotations Personal notes you can attach to the documents you have saved in Mosaic. The notes are available to you whenever the document is viewed.
• Archie Derived from the word archive, Archie is a Net-based service that allows you to locate files that can be downloaded via FTP.
• ASCII (pronounced “Ask-ee”) An acronym for American Standard Code for Information Exchange, ASCII is an international standard in which numbers, letters, punctuation marks, symbols and control codes are assigned numbers from 0 to 27. Easily transferred over networks, ASCII is a plain, unadorned text without style or font specifications.
• Asychronous Connection The type of connection a modem makes over a phone line, this connection is not synchronized by a mutual timing signal or clock.
• AU Sounds This is an audio format used in Mosaic.
• Authoring Software This term refers to software that enables the creation of multimedia or hypertext documents and presentations.
• Avatar This term refers to an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment.
• Bandwidth The range of transmission frequencies a network can use. The greater the bandwidth the more information that can be transferred over that network at one time.
• Baseband A transmission method in which a network uses its entire transmission range to send a single signal.
• Baud A unit of data transmission speed, or the maximum speed at which data can be sent down a channel. Baud is often equivalent to bits per second.
• BBS This is an acronym for Bulletin Board System, a computer equipped with software and telecommunications links that allow it to act as an information host for remote computer systems.
• BinHex A file conversion format that converts binary files to ASCII text files.
• Bit A contraction of binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer can hold. The speed at which bits are transmitted or bit rate is usually expressed as bits per second or bps.
• Broadband A transmission method in which the networks range of transmission frequencies is divided into separate channels and each channel is used to send a different signal. Broadband is often used to send different types of signals simultaneously.
• Browser A type of software that allows you to navigate information databases.
• Byte The number of bits used to represent a character.
• CD-ROM Compact Disk-Read Only Memory: An optical disk from which information may be read but not written. CD-R or Compact Disk-Recordable: Refers to computer peripheral disk drives that allow the user to record content on to a blank compact disk.
• Client A computer that has access to services over a computer network. The computer providing the services is a server. Client-Server Architecture: An information-passing scheme that works as follows: a client program, such as Mosaic, sends a request to a server. The server takes the request, disconnects from the client and processes the request. When the request is processed, the server reconnects to the client program and the information is transferred to the client. This architecture differs from traditional Internet databases where the client connects to the server and runs the program from the remote site.
• Configuration This is a general-purpose computer term that can refer to the way you have your computer set up. It is also used to describe the total combination of hardware components that make up a computer system and the software settings that allow various hardware components of a computer system to communicate with one another.
• Configure The act of changing software or hardware actions by changing the settings.
• CyberMall A term commonly used to describe an electronic site shared by a number of commercial interests.
• Cyberspace A term coined by William Gibson, a science fiction writer, to refer to a near-future computer network where users mentally travel through matrices of data. The term is now used to describe the Internet and the other computer networks. Dial-up Connection: The most popular form of Net connection for the home user, this is a connection from your computer to a host computer over standard telephone lines.
• Direct Connection A permanent connection between your computer system and the Internet. This is sometimes referred to as a leased-line connection because the line is leased from the telephone company.
• DNS An acronym for Domain Name Server, DNS refers to a database of Internet names and addresses which translates the names to the official Internet Protocol numbers and vice versa.
• Document When used in reference to the World Wide Web, a document is any file containing text, media or hyperlinks that can be transferred from an HTTP server to a client program.
• Document Window This is the Mosaic program’s scrollable window in which HTML documents can be viewed.
• Download To transfer to your computer a copy of a file that resides on another computer.
• DSU The abbreviation for Digital Services Unit, DSU replaces the modem in synchronous connections to the Internet.
• EDI The abbreviation for Electronic Data Interchange, EDI system allows linked computers to conduct business transactions such as ordering and invoicing over telecommunications networks.
• External Viewer This is the program used for presenting graphics, audio and video in Mosaic. Programs that allow the viewing of GIF and JPEG files and the hearing of AU files falls into this category.
• FAQ This is the acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A common feature on the Internet, FAQs are files of answers to commonly asked questions. Read FAQs before wasting electrons asking obvious questions. Saves you from receiving flames.
• Firewall This term refers to security measures designed to protect a networked system from unauthorized or unwelcome access.
• FTP File Transfer Protocol is a protocol that allows the transfer of files from one computer to another. FTP is also the verb used to describe the act of transferring files from one computer to another.
• GIF Pronounced “jiff” — as in the peanut butter, this acronym stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a commonly used file compression format developed by CompuServe for transferring graphics files to and from online services.
• Gopher A menu-oriented tool used to locate online resources.
• Gopherspace A term used to describe the entire gopher network.
• Groupware This term refers to software applications that facilitate shared work on documents and information.
• GUI An acronym for Graphical User Interface, this term refers to a software front-end meant to provide an attractive and easy to use interface between a computer user and application. Macintosh operating system is pretty GUI, DOS is not.
• Home Page The document displayed when you first open Mosaic. Home Page also refers to the first document you come to at a Web site.
• Hotlists Lists of frequently used Web locations and URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).
• Host A computer acting as an information or communications server.
• HTML An acronym for HyperText Markup Language, HTML is the language used to tag various parts of a Web document so browsing software will know how to display that document’s links, text, graphics and attached media.
• HTML Document A document written in HyperText Markup Language.
• HTTP The abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, HTTP is used to link and transfer hypertext documents.
• Hypermedia The hypertext concept extended to include linked multiple media.
• Hypertext This term describes the system that allows documents to be cross- linked in such a way that the reader can explore related documents by clicking on a highlighted word or symbol.
• IAB The abbreviation for Internet Architecture Board, the IAB is the council that makes decisions about Internet standards.
• IETF The abbreviation for Internet Engineering Task Force, IETF refers to a subgroup of the Internet Architecture Board that focuses on solving technical problems on the Internet.
• Inline Images These are the graphics contained within a Web document.
• IP The abbreviation for Internet Protocol, IP refers to the set of communication standards that control communications activity on the Internet. An IP address is the number assigned to any Internet-connected computer.
• ISDN The abbreviation for Integrated Services Digital Network, ISDN is a telecommunications standard that uses digital transmission technology to support voice, video and data communications applications over regular telephone lines.
• ISOC This is the abbreviation for Internet Society, an organization formed to support a worldwide information network. ISOC is the sponsoring body of the Internet Architecture Board.
• JPEG The acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, JPEG is an image compression format used to transfer color photographs and images over computer networks. Along with GIF, is the most common way photos are moved over the Web.
• Links These are the hypertext connections between Web pages. This is a synonym for hotlinks or hyperlinks.
• Live When used in reference to a World Wide Web file, this term designates an object linked to another layer of information.
• Metaverse From the book “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson, this term describes a virtual online representation of reality.
• MIME An acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, MIME is a messaging standard that allows Internet users to exchange e-mail messages enhanced with graphics, video and voice. MIME file types are also used in Mosaic.
• Mosaic This is the common name of a World Wide Web multimedia browser program developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in Urbana-Champaign, Ill. The official, copyrighted name of the program is NCSA Mosiact.
• MPEG The acronym for Moving Pictures Expert Group, MPEG is an international standard for video compression and desktop movie presentation. A special viewing application is needed to run MPEG files on your computer.
• NCSA This is the abbreviation for National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
• NFS The abbreviation for Network File System, NFS is a protocol suite developed and licensed by Sun Microsystems that allows different makes of computers running different operating systems to share files and disk storage.
• NIC The abbreviation for Network Information Center, NIC is an organization responsible for supplying information for component networks that comprise the Internet.
• NOC The abbreviation for Network Operations Center, NOC is the organization responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Internet’s component networks.
• Node A device attached to a network. A node uses the network as a means of communication and has an address on the network.
• NREN The abbreviation for National Research and Education Network, NREN is an effort to combine the networks operated by the U.S. government into a single high-speed network.
• OSI Model The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for describing network protocols was devised by the Internet Standards Organization. It divides protocols in to seven layers to standardize and simplify definitions.
• POP An acronym for Point of Presence, POP is a service provider’s location for connecting to users. Generally, POPs refer to the location where people can dial into the provider’s host computer. Most providers have several POPs to allow low-cost access via telephone lines.
• POTS This is an acronym for Plain Old Telephone Service.
• PPP The abbreviation for Point-to-Point Protocol, PPP is an Internet connection where phone lines and a modem can be used to connect a computer to the Internet.
• Protocol A set of standards that define how traffic and communications are handled by a computer or network routers.
• QuickTime This is a digital video standard developed for Apple Macintosh computers. Special viewing applications are needed to run QuickTime movies.
• Router A communications device designed to transmit signals via the most efficient route possible.
• Search Engine This term refers to a program that helps users find information in text-oriented databases.
• Server A computer system that manages and delivers information for client computers.
• SGML The abbreviation for Standard Generalized Markup Language, SGML is an international standard for the publication and delivery of electronic information.
• Shareware This term refers to software that is available on public networks and BBSs. Users are asked to remit a small amount to the software developer, but it’s on the honor system.
• SLIP The acronym for Serial Line Internet Protocol, SLIP refers to a method of Internet connection that enables computers to use phone lines and a modem to connect to the Internet without having to connect to a host.
• Socket This is a communication mechanism originally implemented on the BSD version of the UNIX operating system. Sockets are used as endpoints for sending and receiving data between computers.
• Synchronous Connection An analog to analog or digital to digital connection that is able to perform two or more processes at the same time by means of a mutual timing signal or clock.
• T-1 High-speed data line connection. T-1 operates at 1.45 Mbps.
• Tags These are formatting codes used in HTML documents. Tags indicate how parts of a document will appear when displayed by browsing software.
• TCP-IP The basic protocols controlling applications on the Internet.
• TIFF This is the acronym for Tagged Image File Format, a graphic file format developed by Aldus and Microsoft. Mosaic supports the viewing of TIFF images.
• Trumpet Winsock A popular, cheerier TCP/IP protocol stack.
• URL This is the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator, The addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed and the path of any file to be accessed.
• Veronica This is a search utility that helps find information on gopher servers. Veronica allows users to enter keywords to locate the gopher site holding the desired information.
• WAIS The abbreviation for Wide Area Information Service, WAIS is a Net-wide system for looking up specific information in Internet databases.
• WAIS gateway This term refers to a computer that is used to translate WAIS data so it can be made available to an otherwise incompatible network or application. Mosaic must use a WAIS gateway.
• Web Browser This is the software that allows a user to access and view HTML documents. Examples of Web browsers include Mosaic, Cello and Lynx.
• Web Document An HTML document that is browsable on the Web.
• Webmaster This term refers to the person in charge of administrating a World Wide Web site.
• Web Node This term is synonymous with Web site or Web server.
• Web Page An HTML document that is accessible on the Web.
• Webspace This term refers to the space created by the World Wide Web. World Wide Web: Also known as WWW or W3, the World Wide Web is a hypertext- based Internet service used for browsing Internet resources.

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