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MYTHS
& MISCONCEPTIONS
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Terms for Better Searching
Many people find the technology of the
Internet confusing. Some may in fact be surprised to discover that the
Internet and the Web are not the same thing. This chart provides
definitions of terms helpful to those who use the Web to find information.
| print
this chart |
| Database: |
electronic
storage medium consisting of multiple records and files. Each record
contains fields that hold specific data; e.g., an author field will
contain the name of an author. A file contains a collection of records.
This medium presents an orderly means of arranging data, making it
possible, for example, to identify all data associated with a published
work. Moreover, a relational database system ties together related
information; e.g., two separate records contain information about two
different articles written by the same author, or one social security
number points to an individual who has lived at five different
addresses. Database example: Contracts
Library by the Contracting and Organizations Research Initiative.
See also: Database
as defined by the Lycos Tech Glossary. |
| Directory: |
an
arrangement of information in an hierarchical fashion; e.g., A to Z, 1
to 10, etc. A telephone directory, for example, arranges telephone
numbers by the name of a residential or business owner. A reverse
telephone directory, on the other hand, arranges phone numbers
numerically. Trainers often refer to the drill-down approach to
arranging information that Web sites like Yahoo
use as directories. Directory example: FindLaw's Legal
Subjects. See also: Directory
as defined by the Lycos Tech Glossary. |
| Internet: |
a global
network connecting many diverse, public and private, computers and
computer networks. Its decentralized design allows it to continue to
function even when parts that comprise the whole go down. Protocol,
known as TCP/IP, connects each computer or computer network and enables
data transmission. Conceptually, the Internet refers to all types data
transmitted via its infrastructure -- email, Web sites and pages,
newsgroups, chat rooms, files available via file transfer protocol
(ftp), instant messages, etc. See also: Internet
as defined by the Lycos Tech Glossary. |
| Online
Research System: |
a group of
centrally controlled research databases accessed via modem or via the
Internet. LexisNexis and Westlaw are two examples of online research
systems. |
| Search
Engine: |
a database
containing an index of (mostly) text collected from Web pages.
Search engines perform three basic functions. They locate and index Web
pages, and then retrieve them based on the results of a query. Search
engines face a Herculean task -- providing access to information that is
constantly moving, changing and growing. Moreover, while a search
engine's database may constitute an orderly storage medium, the Web
pages it collects often defy logical arrangement. Perhaps the key
difference between an online research system and a search engine is the
lack of control the latter has over the information residing in its
database. Search engine example: Google.
See also: Search
engine as defined by the Lycos Tech Glossary. |
| Web: |
a system
that stores and retrieves hypertext over the Internet. Hypertext
consists of various data types (text, graphics, sounds,
videos, software, etc.) that can be linked together. Conceptually, the
Web constitutes a part of the Internet. Not all computers that function
as servers (dedicated to a particular task like storing Web sites) store
Web pages. See also: World
Wide Web as defined by the Lycos Tech Glossary. |
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