Page:Untangling the Web.pdf/16

 In fact, as huge as it is, the Worldwide Web is actually a subset of the Internet. The Internet is the network of networks, all the world's servers connected by routers, to put it in semi-technical terms. The web is that portion of the Internet that uses a browser (typically Netscape or Firefox—browsers built upon Mozilla—or Microsoft's Internet Explorer) and some type of hypertext language (usually HTML) to move around. This book focuses primarily on the web because tackling the web by itself is a big enough challenge.

As you have no doubt guessed by now, the Worldwide Web does not come with an instruction manual or users guide, which means much if not most of what you learn about researching using the Internet will come from hard-won experience. On the up side, you probably will not be able to break anything on the Internet. More than likely, no matter how lost or hopelessly confused you become, you will only damage your own computer and/or network—and perhaps your good humor and sanity. However, because of the almost astronomical growth of malicious activity, the Internet has become a dangerous place, and users have discovered that they have inadvertently spread malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. That is why I have devoted the last section of the book to personal computer security and privacy. We are all at risk from the rising tide of bad and in some cases criminal behavior, so we must take responsibility for protecting ourselves and our computers from the ruses and attacks that grow in number and sophistication each year.

This book will expand on simple "rules" of Internet research, rules that are really more in the nature of friendly suggestions. These rules are the fruit of my own experiences as an Internet user and may prevent you from repeating all the mistakes I made that gave rise to the rules in the first place. Some of these suggestions may at first strike you as odd or inconsistent, but the rationale for each I hope will become clear as we go along. The fact is that today we are drowning in information and starving for knowledge. The goal of Untangling the Web is to help rescue users from the ocean of information (and misinformation) by throwing them a virtual lifeline.

What's New This Year

Most people probably have not thought about or been very much affected by the changing search landscape because, as is only natural, most people have one or two sites they routinely use for search and research, regardless of the nature of the inquiry. However, virtually all search professionals will agree that knowing where to look for information is the key to successful searching. Yet few venture beyond 8