Address, Internet = four numbers separated by dots ('dotted quad') which uniquely identifies a computer system connected to the Internet. For example, the Internet address of the Library of Congress' machine that stores texts of legislation is 140.147.254.3. For each address there is a domain name. Either the address or the domain name can be used to access an Internet host for remote login (telnet) or file transfer ( ftp). The full domain name of the LC machine is locis.loc.gov.
Address, E-mail = a combination of an individual username and domain name necessary for electronic messages to be routed to the proper computer system and placed in the proper e-mail box. The two names are separated by an '@'. Note that the user could have a functional name such as 'info' or 'order'. E-mail to W. Clinton is addressed: president@whitehouse.gov.
ADN = (Advanced Digital Network)
Articles = Messages posted by conferees in Usenet newsgroups. The article beginning a discussion thread is called the base note. Any later article on the same subject is called a response and bears the same subject line in its header. This permits all articles on the same subject to be grouped for easy access by the reader. See Newsreader.
Archie = a search tool for finding network host computers that have programs or data files which can be transferred to your machine. You must know the whole or part of the filename or a string (word or phrase) which might appear in a description of it.
ARPANET = See Internet.
Backbone = a high-speed connection within a network that connects shorter, usually slower circuits. NSFNet is the principal backbone for the noncommercial portion of the Internet.
Bandwidth = the capacity of a medium to transmit a signal. More informally, the mythical "size" of a network, and its ability to carry the files and messages of those who use it. A faster medium usually measured in bits per second (bps) can send bits more quickly and can accommodate more bits because the faster the bits move the more "space" there is to add others.
BBS = (electronic Bulletin Board System) an announcement and conferencing facility implemented in hundreds of software packages and run on thousands of computers both individual and networked. Users accessed early systems via modem and phone line only, though by the mid 80s some BBSs began to network (e.g., Fido BBSs via Fidonet) providing vastly increased resources similar to those of Bitnet and Internet. Most BBS access is still through dialin modems but some Fidonet conferences (Echos) are carried on Internet. Most individual BBSs now also offer local e-mail and access to databases. See bulletin boards.
binhex = (binary hexi-decimal conversion) a shareware program for converting Macintosh binary files to text-format (ascii) so that they can be attached to an e-mail message and converted back to binary upon receipt.
BITNET = "_Because It's Time Network_" An international educational network which is not a part of Internet but is gatewayed to it so that e-mail can be exchanged. Listservs, the largest collection of mailists, are hosted on BITNET machines.
Bridge = a device used to expand a LAN by selectively forwarding packets of data to another part of the LAN. It functions as a smart repeater. See router.
bulletin boards = Used in networking to refer to a system for providing online announcements, with or without provision for user input. Internet hosts often provide them in addition to Usenet conferences. Sometimes referred to as BBSs. See BBS.
BTW = By The Way; one of a group of abbreviations often used in network messages to save keystrokes; also IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
Client See Server.
CMC = Computer mediated communication; the branch of telecomputing in which users exchange ideas and information by sending e-mail or its variants (e.g., electronic conferencing via newsgroups or mailists or realtime chat--IRC. See Resource Sharing
Conferencing, Electronic = Any means of discussion among two or more people undertaken via computer and communication media. This includes video conferencing which because of equipment and bandwidth requirements is not yet in wide k-12 use. See mailists, newsgroups, BBSs.
Conferencing System = Usually refers to commercial (some are nonprofit, e.g., Institute for Global Communications [IGC]) computer systems which provide CMC and to users who dial in and exchange messages using one-to-one e-mail and many-to-many discussion groups. Some (e.g., Delphi, CompuServe, GEnie, IGC) also provide database resources. They are distinguished from networks by having all or most of their resources on one machine. See Distributed Networking.
CoSN = Consortium for School Networking, a consortium of educational institutions, organizations, corporations, government agencies, and individuals to help K-12 educators and students gain access to information and communication resources. Formed in 1991. Maintains a mailist, COSNDisc, for k-12 educators.
Cyberspace = used by networkers to refer to the vast, worldwide reservoir of information being transmitted or stored by internetworked computers. The term was coined by William Gibson in his fantasy novel, _Neuromancer_ to describe the world of computers, and the society that gathers around them.
Database, network = any electronically stored and network-accessible collection of information. Network databases include collections of full-text documents, tables, lists, graphics, programs, etc.
datagram = the basic unit of information passed across the Internet. It contains a source and destination address along with data. Large messages are broken down into a sequence of IP datagrams. See packet.
Dialins See Dialups.
Dialups = organizations (usually commercial) which offer Internet access to computers connected via modems to standard voice phone lines. Dialups may be local or national. The latter provide service via public data networks (Tymnet, Sprintnet, etc.) from most population centers or via 800 lines at higher cost. Some people use dialup to refer only to services which give access to computers running special client software (e.g., SLIP, PPP) containing TCP/IP protocols making the machine an Internet host (with its own Internet address. Services offering access to machines running ordinary terminal emulation programs (e.g. Zterm, Procomm, Flash) are called Dialins. Many dialups/dialins are UNIX systems providing full UNIX functionality to people with home PCs, Macs, Ataris, Amigas, etc. Generally dialup is used to refer to both types of connection
Distance Learning = in its broader context, distance learning is a term used to describe instruction where teachers are physically or geographically separated from their students. Cable companies, instructional television stations and electronic transmissions via phone lines are all systems that currently deliver distance learning opportunities into the nation's classrooms. More commonly, satellite technology is used to deliver accredited courses where participants watch and interact with the programs via a television set in their school, classroom or home.
Distributed Networking = dividing up resources among many host computers on a network thereby reducing the burden on any one system. Distributed networking is a primary characteristic of the Internet. Contrast with conferencing systems.
Distribution list = a group of addresses to which an e-mail message can be sent with a single command. This capability is found in most mail readers and can be used to create an informal mailist.
Domain Name = the name divided by periods (dots) which uniquely identifies a machine on the Internet. The leftmost group of characters is the hostname; the rightmost is the top-level domain--the most general category to which the computer belongs; between these are categories (subdomains) which become narrower as they move to the left. The domain name of the server which houses the CDE gopher is www.cde.gov. Goldmine is the hostname; gov is the top-level domain for government agencies; and cde is the subdomain for the California Department of Education. Large organizations with many hosts in many departments may have domain names with many subdomains.
Domain name server = the computer (or the program) that converts a domain name (as in a telnet address, e.g., locis.loc.gov) to the Internet Address or dotted quad (140.147.254.3 for locis.loc.gov) which the network uses for routing messages. See Address, Internet.
EDUCOM = a consortium of almost six hundred colleges dedicated to the improvement of higher education through the effective and efficient application of information technology.
Email = Electronic mail; Written messages transmitted across networks (or within the same computer) and usually accessible only by the addressee either by using an online mail user agent (mail reader) or by downloading for reading and other processing offline. Each message contains a header with routing, date and subject information and a body containing the message. Email is the essential CMC one-to-one or one-to-few vehicle. Compared to paper mail e-mail is faster, requires less effort once the system is booted up and connected to the network, permits group planning and organizing because of easy and rapid response, but is less secure.
Distribution list = a group of addresses to which an e-mail message can be sent with a single command. This capability is found in most mail readers and can be used to create an informal mailist.
ERIC = the Educational Resources Information Center is a federally-funded national information system that provides access to an extensive body of education-related literature and bibliography. ERIC provides access via e-mail query, gopher server, telnet sites, and anonymous ftp sites.
Ethernet = a 10-million bits per second networking design originally developed by Xerox Corporation that is widely used for LANs because it can network a wide variety of computer types, is not proprietary, and uses components that are widely available from many sources.
FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions, a compilation of the most often asked questions and answers on the topic covered by the newsgroup which maintains and updates the FAQ. Search the FAQ before posting a question on the newsgroup or related mailist.
FDDI = (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) a new standard for network technology using fiber optic cable capable of 100-million bit per second data rate.
Finger = a command (and the program) used to locate people on a given machine and to access limited information stored in fingerable files. (Weather data is currently supplied through this mechanism.) Machines running finger daemons allow remote access to their finger program.
Flame = an e-mail, newsgroup, or mailist message which is vigorously argumentative and often ad hominum. Flaming, except in newsgroups designed for that purpose, is discouraged on the Internet.
Frame Relay = a CCITT recommendation (I.122) and ANSII standard (T1S1). Frame relay is an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) packet-mode bearer service that defines a user-to-network interface. The two main benefits are bandwidth on demand and integrated access. The standard currently addresses data communications speeds up to 2 Mbps over permanent virtual circuits. By reducing the network functions performed, frame relay takes advantage of more robust physical facilities to improve throughput.
FTP = (File Transfer Protocol), the command (and process) for moving files or programs across the Internet from a remote server to your own host, (analogous to Xmodem or Kermit for transfers across voice phone lines between computers using terminal emulation software.). Systems set up to offer open public access to their resources (anonymous ftp) will admit remote users who login, with the ID 'anonymous'. If you connect to your Internet host via terminal emulation software you must use Xmodem, Zmodem, Kermit, etc., to complete the transfer to your machine.)
Gateway = a special-purpose dedicated computer that is a node in two (or more) networks and routes packets from one network to the other. The two networks may use the same protocol or different protocols. The gateway has a name/address in EACH network and has to be running an implementation of each protocol. An Internet gateway (both nets are using the TCP/IP protocol) routes IP datagrams between the networks it connects. Gateways route packets to other gateways until they can be delivered to the final destination directly across one physical network.
Gopher = software which permits searching files on remote hosts using layered menus. Text from these files can be read online or the files can be transferred to your computer.
Header = the portion of a packet, preceding the actual data, containing source and destination addresses and error-checking fields. Also the part of an e-mail message or news article which includes information normally found in the letterhead, date, inside address, and subject line of a business letter, as well as other routing data.
Host = any computer (node) connected to a network which is directly used by resources (e.g., public domain programs, text/data files, mailboxes, etc.). An Internet host can be identified by its dotted quad address or its distinctive domain name.
Hub = a regional point of connection between an Internet user and the Internet. Regional hubs are also called Internet Service Providers which sell their networking services for a fee. (See Internet Service Provider below.)
Hytelnet = a hypertext menuing system to locate remote resources.
IETF = Internet Engineering Task force, an open body of Inet users, vendors, and developers who develop Inet standards.
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion, abbreviation often used in net messages; seldom humble. See BTW.
Information Infrastructure = the aggregate of computers, computer data banks, fax machines, telephones, and video displays and their high-speed telecommunication links. Also included, though less often mentioned, are the equipment manufacturers, training institutions, legal and regulatory systems, and other institutions and structures which contribute to the creation, processing, and transmission of information.
Internet = the Internet, with definite article and capital I, is a set of networks all running the TCP/IP protocols, sharing the same underlying network address space as well as the same domain name space, and interconnected into an internet. The Internet dates from 1983, called before that, the ARPA Internet, which grew out of a Department of Defense (DoD) experiment in1968 to test the sharing of expensive computer facilities which DoD-funded researchers were demanding at sites around the country. In 1983, Milnet, the military production network separated from ARPANET, and reflecting increased non-military research needs, NSF was given responsibility for supervision of the resulting structure, named the Internet. NSFnet, is the highspeed backbone to which most universities and other research facilities were connected via regional internetworks. See also NREN.
internet = (with a little i) or internetwork can be any old internet which interconnects other networks, such as the XEROX Internet. There are also other TCP/IP internets.
Internet Service Provider = also known as ISP, this can be any business or enterprise that acts as a middleman between the Internet and the connecting individual or agency. ISPs are usually geographically close to the connecting site and could vary from a commercial organization to a university. The ISP will assign the user an Internet "address" attaching their own domain name to the end of the code. It is this address which enables a user to receive mail.
Internet Tour = a Mac, full color, Hypercard guide (Often called the MERIT Tour) to the high spots of the Internet.
Interoperability = the capacity of multi-vendor computers to work together using a common set of protocols. When interoperable, PCs, Macs, Suns, Dec VAXen, CDCCybers, etc, all work together allowing one host computer to communicate with and take advantage of the resources of another. The TCP/IP+ protocols are a major implementor of interoperability.
IRC = Internet Relay Chat, an Internet service permitting real-time messaging similar to a CB system but in written form.
ISDN = design specifications for digital transmission on existing copper phone lines. Advocated by the long distance phone carriers as a cheaper alternative to fiber optic lines.
Keypals = the electronic equivalent of penpals.
Knowbots = dynamic programs that move around in networks and carry out algorithms or searches. While the knowbot is carrying out a search, it can modify it, for example, by searching another database.
LAN = Local Area Network; a network spanning a small area, usually a building or set of buildings, and usually using high speed but low cost media, and owned by the user organization
Listservs See Mailists.
Login = to enter a network or computer. As a noun, login is a synonym for a user's network account name or userid, a word composed of alpha and/or numeric characters that uniquely identifies each user of a network. Access to particular network host may also require a login which may not be unique but enables the computer to identify the files or program to which the user will have access. For example, the login, gopher, on a host to which the user has telnetted may connect to a public gopher client running on that host.
Mailists = a conference/discussion group in which all messages are sent to one e-mail address from which they are redistributed to the e-mail boxes of everyone who has subscribed. All messages are expected to pertain to a specific topic. If moderated, messages will be reviewed before distribution. A more convenient discussion vehicle than newsgroups, but one which can easily result in e-mail box overload (many-to-many CMC).
Mail Reader (or Mail User Agent) = software on the the user's network host computer which organizes the incoming e-mail data so that it can be sorted and displayed and manipulated (printed, forwarded, replied to, saved to a file, deleted, etc.). An offline reader or browser is software that runs on the user's own machine which downloads the current e-mail messages permitting them to be read and answered while not logged on to the network. Note that the user's own machine may be connected to a LAN or may be at a remote site logging in via telephone dialup.
Matrix, The = a worldwide community of cyberspace communicators composed of the Internet and a myriad of other WANs and internets (e.g., BITNET, UUCP, and JANET); commercial Conferencing Systems; and networked BBSs (e.g., FidoNet); all of which are connected for e-mail exchange only, (because they do not share the TCP/IP protocols). (See _The Matrix_ by John Quarterman, Digital Press, 1990)
Modem = a device which connects between a computer and a phone line to translate between the digital signal of the computer and the analog signal required for telephone transmission. A net modem connects the hosts on a LAN with a phone line (also Modem Pool)
MUD = (Multi-User Dungeon [or Dimension]) a text-based simulation of reality derived from the early single user text adventure games and Dungeons and Dragons board games. Users navigate through rooms, manipulate objects and interact with other users. MUDs (and their variants, MUSHes, tinyMUDs, etc.) can range from time (and bandwidth) wasting to intellectually challenging and skill building.
Multiplex = the division of a single transmission medium into multiple logical channels supporting many simultaneous sessions. For example, one network may have simultaneous FTP, telnet, and SMTP (mail) connections, through one set of wires.
Netiquette = the informal rules of behavior while communicating or resource sharing on the Internet.
Network = a set of computers communicating over communication media (e.g., telephone, radio, cable) using common conventions called protocols. Networks are used for CMC and resource sharing. A network is a real entity with a name, history, administration, financing and addressing/routing scheme in addition to the protocol. Network also may refer to a group of people with a common interest who use part of a network or internetwork to communicate and share information on one or more subjects.
Network application gateway = see gateway.
Newsgroups = Electronic conferences/discussion groups similar to mailists. Newsgroup messages, called articles, are not mailed to a subscriber's e-mailbox but are distributed to a subscribing system's news server. This single copy is then accessed by all users on their network-connected machines. There are over 2500 active newsgroups. Each newsgroup focuses on a subject area (e.g., soc.culture.china--highest level subject: social issues; intermed. level subject: culture; low level subject: China.) Within each newsgroup specific discussion threads are identified by common subject lines in the header of each message. See Article and Usenet.
NIC = Network Information Center
NOC = Network Operations Center
Node = any computer, machine, system, connected to a network.
Novell = A software company that was started in 1983. Their objective was to develop a network operating system (NOS) that would allow micro-computers to share resources and data. They have since grown to be the largest NOS vendor in the world. They provide a framework of tools, information and support that can create a network solution, from a small workgroup network to an enterprise-wide network system.
NREN = National Research and Education Network which will replace the current non-commercial part of the Internet. Created by High Performance Computing Act of 1991, Public Law 102-194, a framework for coordinating and improving the networking programs of agencies of the Federal Government, a program for engineering and deploying billion-bit-per-second and higher performance networks, and a process for formulating and evaluating public policy. Although not a part of the original NREN plan, provision has been made for including k-12 schools, libraries and other community institutions in the development process.
NSFnet = National Science Foundation Network; a backbone or major link of the Internet and an internet in itself; serves research and education activities; non-commercial.
OPAC = Online Public Access Catalog The contemporary electronic version of the old library card catalog. Hundreds are currently connected to the Internet including the Library of Congress OPAC permitting extensive bibliographical research from any Intenet connected computer.
PC = Personal Computer, used in this document to refer to DOS or Windows-based machines
PPP = Point to Point Protocol; a protocol that allows a computer to use the TCP/IP (Internet) protocols (and become a full-fledged Internet member) with a standard telephone line and a high-speed modem. PPP is a new standard for this which replaces SLIP. Although PPP is less common than SLIP, it's quickly increasing in popularity.
Packet = The unit of data sent across a packet-switching network. The term is used loosely. While some Internet literature uses it to refer specifically to data sent across a physical network, other literature views the Internet as a packet switching network and describes IP datagrams as packets. Protocol = A set of software rules which governs one or more aspects of the communication between networked computers. See TCP/IP.
Packet Switching = using a packet-switched network means you have no dedicated piece of a circuit. What you send is mixed together with everyone else's transmissions, similar to the U.S. Postal Service moving a bag of letters. Because of the address encoded in each unit of mail, your message reaches its destination along with all the others, sometimes taking different routes to get there depending upon the traffic at the time of transmission.
PINE = An e-mail package running on CSUNet's C.O.R.E. system, developed by University of Washington.
RFC = (Request for Comments) An official Internet online document which specifies standards or provides extensive information about Internet activities or structures.
Repeater = A device connected into a network to amplify or otherwise condition signals and pass all of them on to another part of the transmission medium without altering the addresses or data. A repeater may be required to expand a LAN. See bridge, router.
Resource Sharing = a function of networks and many conferencing systems in which users access remote computer systems: 1) to read documents or up/download documents or program files or 2) to use the computing or peripheral resources on the remote machine.
Router = a device (sometimes a dedicated computer) within a network that forwards packets of data of a specific protocol type (such as IP) from one network to another. It processes the data to determine how to forward packets toward their destination.
Server = a computer which offers services to another computer; also the software which enables it to do so. The computer served is a client which runs client software to obtain the services. The workload involved in providing the service is thus divided between the server and the client. Telnet, ftp, and gopher are client programs which request services from remote servers.
Signature = A block of information about the sender which netiquette dictates should appear at the end of an e-mail message because the From: address in the header rarely fully identifies the sender. Should be kept to three or four lines which can often be automatically appended by creating a sig.file on the sender's system.
SLIP = Serial Line Internet Protocol
Smilies = combinations of keyboard characters which enable electronic correspondents to convey non-verbal cues. Hundreds are currently known. If used to excess they can result in diminished enthusiasm (and stiff necks) among readers. :-) <--standard smile But they can help some people understand which of multiple possible meanings was intended. ;-) <--wry smile (or leer)
SMDS = Switched Multimegabit Data Service. An emerging high-speed networking technology to be offered by the telephone companies in the U.S.
SMTP = (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The Internet standard protocol for transferring electronic mail messages from one computer to another. SMTP specifies how two mail systems will interact and the format of control messages they exchange when transferring mail.
SNMP = (Simple Network Management Protocol) The network protocol that permits monitoring and management of the operations of LANs and internetworks and their hosts, servers, etc.
Snailmail = Networkers' disparaging term for paper based mail.
Switched 56 = See ADN.
TCP/IP = (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) The sets of software rules which enable computers to directly connect to networks which are interconnected through the Internet. Though designed for UNIX systems, TCP/IP software is now available for computers running operating systems other than UNIX.
Telecommunications = long-distance communications using electromagnetic systems - including wire (e.g. telephone or telegraph) and broadcast transmission (e.g. radio, television, or satellite). It is often used by computerists to refer to CMC and resource-sharing activities using either conferencing systems or networks. See Telecomputing.
Telecomputing = a shorter term for computer-based telecommunications; sometimes used to refer specifically to use of the computing resources of a remote system as in computer time sharing.
Telenet = a public data network (PDN) which permits users to dial a local exchange and be connected to remote conferencing systems and Internet dialups. (New name = Sprintnet) Don't confuse with telnet.
Telnet = the TCP/IP command (and the program) used to login to remote host computers and read text or other data from their files and otherwise use the host as if seated at a terminal at the remote site. Usually the user must have an account and log into the remote host with a name and password. Many systems allow public access without accounts. Some require no login ID; others require a login ID which must be known in advance.
TERC = Technology Education Research Center, Cambridge MA; a nonprofit institution heavily involved in research and development of telecomputing.
Terminal = a keyboard with display which has limited processing circuitry and therefore relies on the remote computer to which it is connected for everything but input and output of data. Microcomputers which cannot connect directly as nodes to LANs or WANs may connect through a terminal server by running software which emulates a standard terminal such as a VT100. A VT100 terminal or VT100 terminal emulation software (or better) is required to use many of the services on the Internet.
Terminal server = a specialized, networked computer (or the software) that connects terminals (or computers functioning as terminals) to a LAN through one network connection. Any user so connected can then connect to other network hosts. Use of these hosts is then limited by the type of terminal or, if the machine is a computer, by the terminal emulation software the computer is running. See terminal.
Topology = the general layout of the equipment and links forming a network.
Twisted pair = cable composed of a pair of insulated copper wires wrapped around each other to cancel the effects of electrical noise.
USENET = a huge but decentralized network devoted to one function, conferencing, by enabling users to write and share articles in thousands of subject-specific newsgroups. Usenet is not a part of Internet but is able or even on the Internet.
Userid = See login.
VERONICA = (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) An Internet search tool that does keyword searches of indexes of Gopher documents at FTP and Telnet sites. Available as a menu item on most Gopher servers. There is no Veronica client.
Virtual = an adjective used (and frequently misused) to describe a phenomenon which is similar in essence or effect to another phenomenon but which is different in form or substance. e.g., virtual memory is not a physical part of a computer's memory, but consists of sectors on a disk which the operating system is fooled into treating as if it were memory. Thus it reads and writes to the disk data which the application program assumes is in machine memory.
WAIS = (pronounced, wayz) (Wide Area Information Server) a search tool which searches for all text/data files containing a word or words you specify and accesses the material for you. The WAIS software should be running on your Internet host or you can telnet to another host that provides the service.
WAN = Wide Area Network; a network which connects LANs and single computer systems to other systems and other LANs outside the building. Most WANs are interconnected via the Internet, Bitnet, or other internetworks.
World Wide Web = An Internet search tool and a hypertext directory system which incorporates the other search tools listed above to find Internet resources. Each step in your search reveals collateral resources that can be accessed by typing a number embedded in the text. These 'hot' keys will bring onto your screen the relevant linked documents from any databases publically accessible on the Internet. Analogous to 'see also' references in paper documents but which can be 'seen' without leaving your chair, state or continent.
