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For many risk managers,
venturing onto the ``information superhighway'' for the first time
will be a little like traveling to an English-speaking foreign
country.
While it may appear that everyone is speaking their
native tongue, not all of the words will have the same meaning. Those
who, for instance, think of Archie and Veronica as two characters out
of comic books will have to get accustomed to using the two as names
for computerized search programs.
The following glossary is
designed to help risk managers improve their online communications
skills:
America Online. One of the
leading online services. It provides users a gateway to the Internet
and World Wide Web for a monthly fee. Other popular online services
are CompuServe and Prodigy, both of which offer similar services.
Archie. A program for searching
for files and directories on the Internet and the Web.
ASCII
files. An American Standard Code for Information
Interchange, or ASCII, file is a plain text file that can be read by
almost any computer program.
Client-server
software. Software system in which users, or clients, use
their personal computers to access information on host computers, or
servers, usually located offsite. Most of the Internet services, such
as electronic mail and the World Wide Web, use the client-server
model.
Domain name. The name used
to identify the host computer on the Internet that has the content you
want to access. Domain names are usually shown in lowercase letters.
For example, ``www.risknet.com'' is the domain name for an online risk
management mailing list maintained at the University of Texas in
Austin.
Download. To copy a file
from a remote computer to your PC. E-mail. Short for ``electronic
mail.''
Encryption. Scrambling a
message to make it difficult for other people to read unless they have
a key for decoding it. Many types of encryption are used on the
Internet for security purposes.
FAQs
(Frequently Asked Questions). A file that contains
answers to questions often asked by Internet and Web users.
FTP
(File Transfer Protocol): The Internet program for
transferring files between computers.
Gopher.
A server that acts as a table of contents for the Web.
After you select an element from the Gopher list by using a mouse, you
can open another menu (and another and another) until you pick a file
and are transferred to the site on which it is stored.
Home
page. What initially appears on the screen upon entering
a World Wide Web site. They can function as tables of contents that
contain links to other sites.
HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language). The programming language used to
communicate on the Web. HTML documents are text files with additional
commands embedded in them that enable users to open several documents
at once.
http (Hypertext Transport Protocol).
The command used for connecting to hypertext documents on
the World Wide Web. It is always typed lowercase at the beginning of a
URL (see Uniform Resource Locater below) followed by a colon and two
forward slashes.
Hypertext. A
computer language used to create documents that contain links to other
documents. When reading a hypertext document, such as a Web page, you
can quickly jump to related documents by clicking your mouse on
underlined or boldface words in the text.
Internet.
A network of thousands of computers around the world that
use a mutually agreed-upon method for communicating with one another.
The Internet started about 25 years ago as an experiment in how to
design a computer network that could grow easily with very little
centralized control. While the U.S. government financed its
development, no one owns the Internet.
LISTSERV.
A program used on some Internet computers for handling mailing lists.
Mailing list. A system of
duplicating one message and sending it to many people at the same time
via electronic mail.
Online. The
status of your PC when connected to another computer on the Internet
or the Web via a modem and telephone line hook-up.
Search
engine. A program to search Web sites based on key words.
Popular versions include Yahoo, Lycos and Webcrawler.
Spiders.
Programs that roam the World Wide Web collecting
information to build indices.
URLs (Uniform
Resource Locators). The World Wide Web addressing method.
URLs consist of three parts: the type of Internet service used; the
name of the computer on which the information or service resides; and
the specific request. For example, in the address
``http://www.phantom.com/zasny/,'' "http:'' is the Internet
service used, ``www.phantom.com'' is the name of the computer on the
Web being contacted, and "zasny/'' is the request. (This is the
URL for Zurich-American Insurance Co.)
UNIX.
An operating system like Microsoft Corp.'s DOS or Windows
that is used by servers and hosts on the Internet. While today almost
any computer can be an Internet host, early Internet systems ran
primarily UNIX programs.
Upload. To
send a file to a remote computer.
Veronica.
A program for searching for files listed on Gopher
servers.
Web browser. Computer
software, such as Netscape, Netcruiser and Mosaic, used to navigate
the Web.
Web servers. Computers
that store information on the Web.
World Wide
Web. An Internet service that enables users to retrieve
hypertext and graphics files from various computer sites linked via
telephone line. Because of its user-friendly graphical interface, the
Web has become one of the most popular Internet services. Many
Internet information providers now publish only on the Web. |
