Green Allegheny Assignment One

Congratulations! You made it to the assignment page. What follows is a series of exercises that are designed to take you through some browser basics. Although some of these questions might seem like busywork or strike you as too easy, this is one way to see if each of you can work with browsers online. Be observant when you're online and stretch yourself. Remember, we're going to design our own pages now, so we want to examine each site with a critical eye.

The lesson is divided into the following sections:
Getting Started | Basics | Surfing | Citing | Searching | Downloading | Reacting | Turn in the Assignment | Resources |
The assignment includes questions to consider, tips, and exercises you should do for class. You will surely go through the whole assignment carefully, but to help you out, the places where you need to do some work are marked with a .

GETTING STARTED

1. Preferred Browser

What browser are you using for this assignment? Why do you prefer it?

Chances are good that you're using Internet Explorer (an solid 75% or more of users), but you might be using Netscape, a long-time leader.

What VERSION of the browser are you using? Are you using a Macintosh or PC platform?

TIP: Most software identifies its version as it loads. Or pull down the menu HELP > ABOUT to find this information.

What difference does it make?

As web designers, we should be aware of the technical requirements of all--or most--of the browser types.

Please note: These exercises were designed for use with Internet Explorer on an IBM PC. Some version of these exercises will work for other browsers, but might require slightly different technical directions.

What other browsers do you know about?

2. Preparation

• In this exercise you will be asked to download some files. Right now is a good time to create a NEW FOLDER in your home account to transfer your files into easily. (I call my file WEBSTUFF)

• You will be asked to turn in your answers. Have a blank Word document already up on your screen for making notes or jotting down addresses of your files.

BASICS

Save Your Work!

You find something with a search engine, or you surf to a page so easily, or the page seems so distinctive that you're positive you'll find it again. DON'T COUNT ON IT! Always make notes and save your efforts.

1. BOOKMARK or SAVE this page, by clicking ADD TO FAVORITES (IE) or by clicking on BOOKMARK - ADD or FILE.

What title appears automatically in the "Name" Panel?

Where else do you see this title on your browser?

TIP: Organize as you go. Create new folders to group your findings, change the names, and write notes in Properties area to remind yourself why you were interested in this page.

2. Put information in a Word document or email.

Cut and paste URLs to make sure they are copied correctly.

Don't forget to make notes

3. Add frequently used sites to your browser sidebars.

In Internet Explorer, click Add to Favorites, and file under LINKS.

Click ORGANIZE FAVORITES, and put the bookmarks in order of priority by dragging their icons. You can DELETE the links that the manufacturer put there by default.

In Netscape, go to BOOKMARKS, then EDIT BOOKMARKS

Under the file PERSONAL TOOLBAR FOLDER, organize links by dragging. Delete those you do not want.

Right click each of the links and examine the PROPERTIES. Here you can revise the saved names and add notes.

TIP: There's limited space on your browser bar, so RENAME the links to shorter titles that make sense to you.

TIP: Right click your mouse to get a menu of options. In IE, you can edit the links toolbar right in the browser, but not reorder it.

4. Save your index.

Does your browser automatically save your bookmarks? If not, hit SAVE.

SURFING

Sites to Explore

• Sonoma College Landscape Plan
• Botanic Garden at Smith College
• Pearson College Landscape Plan
• Lake Forest College's Historic Campus: Landscape and Buildings

Questions to Answer for Each Site

1. What is the URL of this site?
2. Who is the author of this site?
3. What gives this site and/or author its authority? How can you tell?
4. How is this site organized? Is it easy to get around?

TIP: Do you want to keep this assignment page on your computer screen while you're working online? Open another window.

In either browser, go to FILE > NEW > WINDOW

Or, right click on the link and select OPEN IN NEW WINDOW

For one of the sites above, write a formal citation.

Scholarly organizations are beginning to standardize the citations of internet resources. In art history, we can generally use the MLA guidelines. For information about various formats, see the site maintained by Emory University.

SEARCHING

Search Engines

Do you have a preferred search engine? Why do you like it?

• If these programs are not already among your bookmarks, consider adding them.
• TIP: CUT and PASTE the URL's rather than retyping and risking a typing error.
• Google, http://www.google.com/
• HotBot, http://www.hotbot.com/
• Nothern Light, http://www.northernlight.com/search.html
• Check our Helen McCullough's web resources page for more information on searching.
• See our text Non-Designer's Web Book Chapter 2 for information on searching.

Do a search

As a group, we need to identify internet sites that are important for our project. We will use the resources ourselves, and put together a "links" page that will direct our future viewers about related materials.

How can we find sites that might be useful examples for us? Choosing what words to search can make all the difference in locating web resources.

Use the keywords College Landscape.

How many hits do you get? Why so many? Which ones are useful?

Try some other keywords. Make a note of the ones that are most useful to you.

Identify two or three sites that you think might relate to our project.

Send me two or three of them, in proper citation format. Extra points if you find a good site that nobody else lists.

Keep in mind:

Assignment Two will ask us to collect and evaluate BEST and WORST sites. Start looking now!

Remember to SAVE sites as you run across them. Believe me, it's almost impossible to retrace your steps later on.

Try different combinations of words and concepts in your search.

Do not limit yourself to one Search Engine only. They all utilize different databases and search criteria. You'll be amazed at how different your hit lists will be!

DOWNLOADING

Saving Content

How many ways can you think of to save information that you find in a site? Below I've listed some of the most common techniques. Review each of these procedures to make sure you know how to do them.

• Holding down your left mouse button, block off an area in a document, COPY it (with CTL-C or Edit > Copy) and PASTE it (with ALT-V or Edit > Paste) into a blank Word document.
• CUT and PASTE into an e-mail and send it to yourself.
• Save the file onto your computer by using FILE > SAVE AS.
  This will save the webpage as an .HTML file (more on that later).
• Use the VIEW > SOURCE option to retrieve the coding of the page you're viewing. SAVE this file as an HTML document, or cut and paste it into a WORD document.
• PRINT the page.

Saving Images

As we build our own web pages and retrieve information from the web, we will be able to make use of archives of data, software and images. For example, all of the little icons I used on this page, like the backward arrow, the image of the Virgin, and my homepage symbol were taken off of the web. As you create your own pages, you will want to take advantage of these graphic sources, too.

For practice, let's download a graphic or two from The Icon Bazaar.

Instructions:

• CLICK on the Icon Bazaaar link above,
• CLICK on their link ARROWS. (but not Animated)
• You will see a page of square boxes that will gradually turn into various images of arrows for web pages. THESE MIGHT TAKE A LONG TIME TO LOAD. But here is one image that you will see right away:
  
• Note: You do NOT have to wait for the whole page to load. Once you can see the entire image, it's available for you to download.
• RIGHT CLICK on the image.
  In IE, SAVE PICTURE AS
  In Netscape, SAVE IMAGE AS.
• In the window that comes up, select the folder in which you want to save your image. The file will be called arrw01e.gif
• TIP: Be consistent about where you save images, so you can find them later. Windows will often default to MY DOWNLOAD FILES.

That's all there is to it. When you devise your own pages, you can download entire sets of navigational icons, backgrounds, and more. You can save images from any page that you find on the web. Check the resources page for more graphics sites, or try searching under CLIP ART or GRAPHICS. Sites like Caboodles of Clip Art will often contain links to even more graphics archives.

TIP: It's so easy to grab graphics, that we often forget to acknowledge our sources. More on copyright issues later. But as scholars, we try to acknowledge our sources. Many sites also request acknowledgement if you use their graphics.

YOUR REACTION: How was this assignment?

Was this easy for you? or difficult? What did your experience tell you?

• If you had trouble with simple tasks of navigating, saving, etc., that may indicate that you need a refresher course on the basics. That's okay, just LET ME KNOW!
• If you found yourself confused by the websites, maybe it's not your fault, but a problem with the webpage, or the software. Can you identify the problem? How will OUR site be better?
• Was this taking a long time? Or were links not working? Avoid netsurfing during the peak early afternoon hours. Late at night, or early am works better.

TURN IN THE ASSIGNMENT

• In a Word Document, write up the answer to the questions posed in this assignment. This doesn't have to be anything formal.
• Send me your work in e-mail to acarr@allegheny.edu.
• TIP: Send your file as an ATTACHMENT to the e-mail. If you aren't using Word software, save your file as a .TXT document. Figuring out how we can send each other files is not easy. If you have problems, let me know.
• Don't forget to report on how difficult this assignment was for you.
• We will set a deadline for this assignment in class on January 29th.

RESOURCES

• For more information about some of the topics covered in this assignment, check out the Resources page.
• Cite this page in MLA format as follows:
  Carr, Amelia. "Green Allegheny Assignment One." Green Allegheny Project. 28 Jan. 2001. <http://merlin.allegheny.edu/employee/a/acarr/green/assign1.html>.

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http://merlin.allegheny.edu/employee/a/acarr/green/assign1.html Last modified January 28, 2001. Feel free to send comments and opinions by e-mail to acarr@allegheny.edu Images from The Icon Bazaar and from The Graphics Station