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RANAIVOSON Heritovo
09thApril 2016
This essay would not have been finished without the help of some
people. So, I would like to thank first of all the Lord for giving me time,
courage and health that I needed for finishing my study. Then, I want to give
my sincere thanks to ECA teachers who guided me during all this time; and
also Mr.Efrain GONZALEZ and Mrs.Elonore RAHARIMIADANA for their
teaching
and
advice.
Finally,
am
particularly
grateful
for
the
Thank you!!!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................i
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. . 1
PART-ONE. GENERALITIES .......................................................................... 2
Chapter-1.
1.1.
Beginning ................................................................................................ 2
1.2.
1.3.
Accessibility ............................................................................................ 3
Chapter-2.
2.1.
History ........................................................................................................ 5
2.1.1.
2.1.2.
Lycos ....................................................................................... 6
2.1.3.
Google ..................................................................................... 6
2.1.4.
Ask ........................................................................................... 7
2.2.
Functioning ................................................................................................. 8
PART-TWO.
INTERNET EXPLORATION..................................................... 9
Chapter-3.
WEBSITE ................................................................................. 9
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
Chapter-4.
EXPLORATION METHODS................................................... 11
4.1.
4.2.
4.3.
4.3.1.
ii
4.3.2.
4.3.3.
Advertisements ...................................................................... 16
4.3.4.
5.1.
5.2.
5.2.1.
5.2.2.
Practices ................................................................................ 22
Chapter-6.
6.1.
6.1.1.
6.1.2.
6.2.
6.2.1.
Encryption .............................................................................. 25
6.2.2.
6.2.3.
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 29
iii
PART-ONE.
GENERALITIES
The World Wide Web offers information from all over the world. It is
useful for all ages and for all purposes. Thus, the Web can also be useful for
academic research.
My purpose in this chapter is to describe the internet network. First, I
give some information about its beginning, then the Internet nowadays, and
last an explanation about the access to it. The second chapter is mainly
concerned with the search engines. It is organized in two sections: its history
and its functioning.
Chapter-1.
INTERNET NETWORK
Beginning
Starting like a war strategy in 1969 during the Cold War, the
Americans started a new way to communicate between themselves. They
called it TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This
protocol used a package system: every message that we want to send
should be divided in many packets for being transmitted being reconstituted
at the destination. But why did the Americans want to innovate their means of
communications?
In 1950, the American government looked for something to protect
them from the Russian nuclear attacks. In 1964, the Rand Corporation found
a solution. A researcher named Paul Baran suggested to create a network
without a managing center. It would help them communicate and make war
strategies. Then, they established interlinked nodes. The purpose was that if
one of these nodes was destroyed, the network would still work, so the
communication would not be over.
At the beginning, a department in the Ministry of Defense called the
Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA financed a project to interlink
companies, researchers in the universities and the Ministry itself. So in 1969,
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the Arpanet was born, with four nodes. In 1970, the researchers changed
Arpanet into a new network between colleagues where they talked between
themselves about works and exchange advice.
Two years later, in 1972, other universities tried to connect on the
network. Then everyone wanted to share their researches or their
experiences on it. So every university became a node.
Internet was really opened for public in 1992 by the technology of World
Wide Web or WWW.
1.2.
Internet Today
Now, with the spread of the democratic lifestyle and the amazing
technological progress, we all witness of the existence of a parallel world of
unlimited communication that takes an increasing part of our daily routine
with the only purpose of facilitating our lives.
The dynamic and user-friendly interface of the Internet as we know it
today was breathed into life on a multi-layer global network system that
connects hundreds of millions of computers. This broad system is comprised
of using the networks in different parts like serving private, public, business,
academic and government purposes. That allows data exchanging between
more than a hundred users. This makes the Internet an enormous carrier of
various types of information, such as text and multi-media data, email, online
chat, VoIP, file transfer and file sharing, ecommerce, online gaming, etc.
1.3.
Accessibility
ISPs differ in the types of connection technologies and speeds they offer. For
example, TELMA uses the latest technology 4G LTE.
Chapter-2.
SEARCH ENGINE
History
Search engines have come and gone over the years, and many are
still in operation. The most popular search engines have changed and
defined the way that people understand the Internet.
Several search engines marked the evolution of the World Wide Web.
We can name:
Archie created in 1990, was the first search engine,
Excite created in January 1993,
World Wide Web Wanderer created in June 1993,
Aliweb created in October 1993,
Infoseek created in January 1994.
But all of these did not yet give the best results and had lots of limits.
The first search engine which allows the natural-language search
queries was AltaVista created in 1995; the users for the first time, could
simply type what they were looking for, instead of using query strings. It also
indexed much more than the other Webs, and was one of the first search
engines to use Boolean operators like: And, Or, No to facilitate the research.
Latter, some other search engines were born and proved to be smarter than
the older ones: Yahoo search, Lycos, Google.
2.1.1. Yahoo Search
Yahoo Search was one of the most recognizable search engine
names. In the early days, Yahoo's search was just a front end for results that
came from other web crawlers. It was not until 2003 that Yahoo became its
own self-crawling search engine. Some of the companies that powered
yahoo were Inktomi and Google. Ironically, Google would later become its
biggest competitor. In addition, Yahoo purchased several search engine
companies: Inktomi, AlltheWeb, and Overture which owned AltaVista.
2.1.4. Ask
Ask.com started as Ask Jeeves before. The search engine operated
on a question and answer platform, where users could ask questions using
natural language and the search engine would find the answers. One of its
main contributions to search is its own page-ranking algorithm.
Instead of Google PageRank, Ask uses ExpertRank. The latter works
with subject-specific popularity: if a website on a specific subject has
backlinks from other sites on the same subject, then it is more relevant. Ask
eventually stopped focusing on search. It still exists as a search engine, but
its core product is a searchable database of questions answered by users.
2.2.
Functioning
Chapter-3.
WEBSITE
The biggest advantage in using the World Wide Web as a source for
research is that it lets us look at specific topics with a chance to have another
view in other things. Due to the large volume of published literature in the
libraries, researchers have had a tendency to stay within their own fields
when they search for references. By using WWW, they may restrict
themselves to their own fields and have a little idea of the kind of studies in
other disciplines that may be helpful. In looking for information on the Web,
searches are often more general in nature, which may bring information that
otherwise may not have caught the users attention.
Another advantage in using the Web for academic research is the
ability to gain access to the most current information. Since studies can take
months -or years- to get published, data can be outdated by the time it
reaches the shelves of our libraries. Direct access to current information
increases the effectiveness of scientists in their search for information in their
areas of interest. Thus, the Word Wide Web has made it possible for
individuals to contact researchers quite easily by using e-mail or social
networks. This ease of communication is a tremendous advantage for
amateurs researchers. It helps to get valuable advice or guidance from the
original source of information on the Web.
The only challenge using the Web for academic research is the
overwhelming amount of information that is available. One can easily get lost
in the infinite amount of titles, abstracts and texts. It is helpful to keep a piece
of paper that states exactly what we are looking for it to keep focus on the
relevant information.
3.3.
web
It is always important to ask where the information comes from. Check
the name of the author of the document and go to the end of the document
and cross -check the validity of the information with others sources in internet
or in hard copies.
Checking the 'domain' in the URL of a document may be very
important. Although, many people assume that documents from domains with
".edu", ".org" or ".gov" are from more legitimate sources than documents
from ".com," all documents found on the Web need to be authenticated.
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Documents appearing in legitimate Web are probably the most reliable. But a
researcher needs to confirm the accuracy and source of all information
appearing on the World Wide Web.
If other studies are referenced in the document, always verify them by
checking traditional printed books and journal articles in a library or other
information resources on the Internet.
This chapter has given some keys about the information on the Web. The
chapter will indicate the ways to use Internet for getting information quickly.
Chapter-4.
EXPLORATION METHODS
of
8%
week.
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Searching Strategies
These strategies are defined to guide the users in his works and to
use the existing research tools efficiently.
They help select information and avoid waste times in a tremendous variety
of data.
These strategies can be explained in six steps:
Step 1
When we do research. It should be important to analyze precisely what kind
of information we are looking for. It consists to take notes, to write all the
tasks and goals.
Step 2
We can prepare our research. This task is illustrated by few points:
Circle the exact topic in all the fields: history, sociology,
economy, education, etc. It can be useful for handling better
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the topic and thinking about the tools used during the
research.
Define the goals of the research: represent states, and
develop idea or a report.
Fix limits: time limits, geography limits, the language limits.
We should think about all the circumstances that can trouble
the work.
Determine the keywords: make a list about all the words
which could be in relation with the topic; it facilitates the
research on the internet.
Step 3
Choose sources which are appropriate for the research: books, articles,
experts comment about the topic, reports, etc.
Step 4
Mark the useful documents: check all the keywords and specify the suitable
data.
Step 5
Evaluating the data: how relevant are the documents and how about their
qualities?
The pertinence checks the difference between the goals and the results of
the research: is it interesting? The information that I want, are they there?
Are they recent?
The quality of information can be checked through some critics: the author,
its notoriety, the type of the document commercial, journalistic, etc - , the
quality of the content and its structuring.
Step 6
Treating the results, it means to order the results in function of the goals. It is
an evaluation of the final results of the research. We are checking at this
moment if the research has been successful or not.
For more comprehension on these steps, the next picture shows the cycle for
online research projects.
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4.3.
When the research is done, glance over the first page of search
results and see if it responds to the demand.
If the search results do not seem satisfying, the user may need to try other
search terms. Remembering that, the search engine cannot read the mind; it
just looks for matching words. For example, if the word polish is typed, the
search engine does not know whether we are looking for shoe polish or a
history of the Polish language.
The search could be improved by putting shoe polish. However, this still
may return a variety of websites, including:
14
There are numerous search engines, but the most popular ones are
Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Each one has its own unique features, but the
process of a search is similar.
Many browsers have a built-in search bar. Most of the time, it is located on
the top right of the address bar. To perform a search, just type the keys known as search terms - in the search bar, then press Enter. The browser
will then take you to the search engine's website to show the search results,
which is a list of all of the websites that contain the search terms.
15
4.3.3. Advertisements
Search engines may include advertisements with the search results.
They are chosen by the search engine based on the search terms, and they
look a lot like the actual search results. While they may be useful in some
cases, it is usually more effective to focus on regular search results.
Google puts them at the top right of search results.
4.3.4. Improving Searches
With search engines, you gain experiences; it is possible to conduct
better and better searches. It becomes quicker and easier to find the right
information. Here are a few tips for improving searches:
Take suggestions: when typing the search terms, the search engine
tries to guess the information, and it shows a list of search
suggestions - which are similar to related searches; they appear
during the typing -. These can give ideas for search terms that we may
not have thought of.
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PART-THREE.
ONLINE STUDYING
Chapter-5.
headphones,
speakers,
with
specially
20
5.2.
Learning Methods
With a variety of documents and tutorials existing on the web, with lots
of discussion about everything and the evolution of the information, making a
self-study or an online training can be tiresome. And sometimes, it is not sure
if the training is guaranteed or not.
Under these circumstances, it is important to establish some types of
work for making a research or a self-study efficient. These rules can be
expressed by:
Analysis
Practical work
Writing report
Final results
5.2.1. Analyze of the project
Analyze
It defines the way to surround the topics, and the goals of the study. It
expresses the final point of the study. What we should use for studying the
21
5.2.2. Practices
Simulations
Students practice all the theories got during the courses: they make
simulations, build projects, and doing exercises. It means tasks in which
22
Chapter-6.
SAFETY WARNING
softwares, such as those used to share music files, are among of the most
common forms of file-sharing technology. However, P2P softwares introduce
security risks that may put the information or the computer in jeopardy.
The following are a few examples:
Installation of malicious code: With the use P2P softwares, it is
difficult, but not impossible, to verify that the source of the files is
trustworthy. These softwares are often used by hackers to transmit
malicious code. Hackers may incorporate spyware, viruses, Trojan
horses, or worms into the files, the computer becomes infected.
Exposure of personal information: the user may be giving other users
access to his personal information: whether it is because certain
directories are accessible, or because he provides personal
information to what he believes to be a trusted person or organization.
Unauthorized people may be able to access financial or medical data,
personal documents, sensitive corporate information, or other
personal information. Once information has been exposed to
unauthorized people, it is difficult to know how many people have
accessed it. The availability of this information may increase the risk of
identity theft.
Susceptibility to hack: Some P2P software may ask to open certain
ports on the firewall to transmit the files. However, opening some of
these ports may give hackers access to the computer or enable them
to attack the computer by taking advantage of any vulnerabilities that
may exist in the P2P software. Some of these latter can modify and
penetrate firewalls themselves, without the knowledge of the user.
Denial of service: Downloading files causes a significant amount of
traffic over the network. This activity may reduce the availability of
certain programs on the computer or may limit the access to the
internet
Prosecution: Files shared through P2P softwares may include pirated
software, copyrighted material, or pornography. If the user downloads
these, even unknowingly, he may be faced with fines or other legal
24
Data securities
used
to
be
the
unique
province
of
geeks
and
26
27
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Learning through the Internet: a review of networked learning by
Lypponen and Raykkainnen .M, University of Helsinki.
Internet as a research and dissemination source by Mary duff, Oxford
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Faughnan, J.G., Doukas, D.J., Ebell, M.H., and Fox, G.N. Cruising the
information highway: online services and electronic mail for physicians and
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Gralla, Preston. How the Internet Works. Indianapolis, IN: Que Pub., 2007.
Mehta, Basant, and Ranjeeta Madhwani. Internet and Education.
MacDonald, Randall M. The Internet and the School Library Media
Specialist: Transforming Traditional Services. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
1997.
"Indispensable
Resources
for
Online
Academic
Research."
OnlinePhDprogramorg. Web.
"Academic Research Resources: Free Online Academic Resources. Web
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