------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB BROWSERS: UNTANGLING THE WORLD WIDE WEB Joan Latta Konecky Carla Rosenquist-Bohler University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Abstract Not only are Internet resources expanding exponentially, but they are becoming more sophisticated, incorporating a variety of multimedia and hypertextcomponen ts. Internet documents on the World Wide We b may contain elaborately formatted text, color graphics, audio, and video as well as dynamic connections to other Internet resources via hypertext links. In addition to providing user-friendly access to hypermedia resources, most We b browsers (client software) provide a rich graphical environment for authoring and displaying electronic documents locally. 1bis article describes the World Wide We b and a sampling of the available Web browsers. It then discusses a test project developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries designed to explore the potential, demands, and pitfalls of We b access to the Internet, as well as to investigate hypermedia document creation in an academic library environment. The experiences with thepro ject qonfirmed the importance of the World Wide We b and We b browsers to this environment, so much so that providing access to these Internetresources must be seen as mandatoryto any academic or upper level educational library providing electronic information access. Introduction TheWorld Wide Web In the rapidly evolving world of Internet, Mosaic gained World Wi de We b (aka WWW, the We b, or W3) is a unique enormous recognition in the popular media during 1993 as one Internetresource which uses hypertext to link documents on the of the brightest stars in Cyberspace. Due to its vivid appearance, network. It was developed in 1989 at CERN, the European enhanced capabilities and searchfriend liness, it made the World Laboratory for Particle Physics in Switzerland, in order to Wide We b's hypermediacapabilities readily accessible, quickly distribute the literature of high energy physics electronically to eclipsing the well known but simple Gopher software . In fact , researchers from many countries.• "By creating computer media coverage of Mosaic led many to confuse the Mosaic linkage from the citations of an article to the corresponding software with the World Wide We b hypertext system that it source documents, users would be able to navigate through a searches. Mosaic is but one of many World Wide We b browsers body of related literature online simply by following the developed in rapid succession to take advantage of the 'electronic fo otnotes', which would lead readersto the full text multimedia and hypertext nature of the We b. 1bis article will of the materials cited in those notes" 2 describe both the World Wide We b and the client software As the World Wide We b evolved, the hypertext links designed to search it. It will also describe the We b Browser expanded beyond just footnotes in documents. Currently, Demonstration Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln hypertextlinks can appear anywherewithin a document, allowing Libraries, which used the Mosaic client software to explore the the user to make nonlinear jumps to related information capabilities and potential uses of World Wide We b browsing anywhere, simply by "clicking" on a "link" -- either some software in an academic library setting. highlighted text, a picture or an icon. The related information Educetion Ubreri" • Vol 19, No. 1 13 - may be located in the same document or may be in a source on and the user's equipment. The Wo rld Wide We b isa multi-protocol a computer in a different country, To the user, the transition is system that supports most of the earlier Internet protocols; transparent. Thus, the effortless hypertext links of the World therefore, searchers can use a We b browser to access and retrieve Wide We b tum widely dispersed Internet sources into one vast Internet resources via Gopher, FTP, WA IS, USENET, Archie, seamless resource.3 Te lnet and bthers, without having to learnthe intricacies of these In developing the World Wide We b, CERN employed three other protocols.s There are a growing number of World Wide universal standards: HyperText Markup Language (HTML), We b browser packages, but among the more popular browsers Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and HyperText Transfer are Lynx, Cello, SlipKnot, Mosaic and Netscape. These will be Protocol (HTTP). HTML was based upon the Standard discussed briefly later. Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and adds formatting Access to the Wo rld Wide We b became an overnight tags to simple ASCIT files. These formatting tags enable the sensation when the graphical Wm dows-based We b browsers were document author to perform three functions: 1) to "display a developed, beginning with NCSA Mosaic, followed closely by variety offonts, images, and highlighting options", 2) to indicate Cornell's Cello, and later AirMosaic, Netscape, and a host of structural elements in the document, such as headers, lists, and other competitors. These powerful graphical Web browsers make paragrapm, and3) to provide hypertext linksto otherdocuments using Internet resources as easy as point and click. on the Internet. 4 With graphical We b browsers, users can access not only The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a unique identifier simple ASCII text but the full multimedia resources of the for each Internet resource and serves as the "address" for Internet, including form atted text, full-screen color graphics, connecting to that resource. A URL has a standardized format audio recordings and video. These browsers use the WWW of: protocol:/lhostlpath/filename document "language," HTML,to display or print formatted text with headlines, subheadings, bold, italics, and different sizes and The firstpart of the URL,pro tocol, describes the type of Internet types of fonts. In most graphical browsers, the hypertext links resource, such as HTTP (WWW site or hypertext document), are displayed in one color while previously selected links are gopher, wais, telnet, ftp or file. The second part, host, is the remembered and displayed in another color. Internetaddress andport of the computer where the information Most We b browsers are designed with an open framework, is stored. Path refers to the directory or subdirectory on that using external viewer programs to handle the different types of computer and filename refers to the specific file. It is very textual and multimedia data. This open framework allows the important to include the : and I punctuation in a URL.5 � browser software to 1) be customized with different individual The underlying protocol used to transfer documents on the viewer programs, 2) easily evolve to handle new data types, and We b is HTTP. Unlike earlier Internetprotocols, HTTPpermits 3) be able to integrate improved viewers. The We b browser the transfer and retrieval of documents which have been software unifiesthese separate external programs, providing one form atted with HypertextMarkup Language (HTML)and which consistent and easy to use interface for accessing many different may contain graphic, audio or video elements.6 Computers that types of Internet resources.9 use HTTPto send or deliver HTML documents to users of the We b browsers also provide many other capabilities. To Internetare called "Web servers." Users browse the We b using improve the speed of access, many browsers store previously "Web client" software (suchas Cello, Ly nx, SlipKnot, Netscape retrieved documents in cache memory on the local computer for or Mosaic) on their local computers. rapid rebrowsing. Anextremely valu able function of all the We b The World Wide Web is a "client/server" system, composed browsers is the ability to develop personalized Internet resource of at least two separate computers, a "server" and a "client". A lists by saving theURLs to Bookmark or "hotlist" filesfor future "server" is the central information provider which stores and, reference. The URLs in the Bookmark lists are active hypertext upon request from a "client", provides either the specific links so that the user may jump directly from an entry in the information resources or the hypertext links which point to Bookmark file to the specifiedInternet resource . These lists may information sources at other sites. One ofthe advantages of a also be exported, loaded or appended fo r others to use. client/server system, such as the World Wide We b, is that the user may choose from a variety of client programs, tailored for different needs, preferences and computingplatform s.? Network Access Issues There are several issues which must be confronted when Accessing the Web: Web Browsers accessing the World Wide We b, including type of network connection, network traffic load and operating equipment The We b user interface (the way it looks, how it accesses requirements. First, there are several kinds of Internet the WWW site, and its ease of use) is determined by the We b connections from which to choose: dedicated or direct ethemet client or "browser" software. There are many different types of connection, SLIP or PPP connections and dial up "shell" (UNIX Web browsers, tailored to the needs, or limitations, of the user or terminal) connections. - 14 Education Libraries • Vo l 19, No. 1 Dedicated connectionshave their own IPaddr ess, use TCP/ A Sampling of Web Browsers IPlang uage, have unlimited access for multiple users, are very fast and expensive. SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) or PPP We b browsers are under rapid development. Within eight (Point-to-Point Protocol)connections are available for individual months, Mosaic, a browser that was hailed as a "killer dial up users and linkdirectly to theInternet through the phone application" in the mainstream media and popular journals, has line. SLIP/PPP connections have complex installations which been replaced by other critically acclaimed browsers. As new require the users to configure an IP address, load TCP/IP Web browsers emerge, new or improved capabilities are software, and, ifthey are using Wm dows, load Trumpet Wm sock introduced in rapid fire, leapfrog fashion.