Title

What is the Internet?

Internet is a global network that connects billions of computers across the world with each other and to the
World Wide Web. It uses standard internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to connect billions of computer users
worldwide. It is set up by using cables such as optical fibers and other wireless and networking technologies.
At present, internet is the fastest mean of sending or exchanging information and data between computers
across the world.

It is believed that the internet was developed by "Defense Advanced Projects Agency" (DARPA) department
of the United States. And, it was first connected in 1969.

Why is the Internet Called a Network?

Internet is called a network as it creates a network by connecting computers and servers across the world
using routers, switches and telephone lines, and other communication devices and channels. So, it can be
considered a global network of physical cables such as copper telephone wires, fiber optic cables, tv cables,
etc. Furthermore, even wireless connections like 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi make use of these cables to access the
Internet.

Internet is different from the World Wide Web as the World Wide Web is a network of computers and
servers created by connecting them through the internet. So, the internet is the backbone of the web as it
provides the technical infrastructure to establish the WWW and acts as a medium to transmit information
from one computer to another computer. It uses web browsers to display the information on the client, which
it fetches from web servers.

The internet is not owned by a single person or organization entirely. It is a concept based on physical
infrastructure that connects networks with other networks to create a global network of billions of computers.
As of 12 August 2016, there were more than 300 crores of internet users across the world.

How does internet work?

Before understanding this let us understand some basics related to internet:

The internet works with the help of clients and servers. A device such as a laptop, which is connected to the
internet is called a client, not a server as it is not directly connected to the internet. However, it is indirectly
connected to the internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and is identified by an IP address, which
is a string of numbers. Just like you have an address for your home that uniquely identifies your home, an IP
address acts as the shipping address of your device. The IP address is provided by your ISP, and you can see
what IP address your ISP has given to your system.

A server is a large computer that stores websites. It also has an IP address. A place where a large number of
servers are stored is called a data center. The server accepts requests send by the client through a browser
over a network (internet) and responds accordingly.

To access the internet we need a domain name, which represents an IP address number, i.e., each IP address
has been assigned a domain name. For example, youtube.com, facebook.com, paypal.com are used to
represent the IP addresses. Domain names are created as it is difficult for a person to remember a long string
of numbers. However, internet does not understand the domain name, it understands the IP address, so when
you enter the domain name in the browser search bar, the internet has to get the IP addresses of this domain
name from a huge phone book, which is known as DNS (Domain Name Server).

For example, if you have a person's name, you can find his phone number in a phone book by searching his
name. The internet uses the DNS server in the same way to find the IP address of the domain name. DNS
servers are managed by ISPs or similar organizations.

Now after understanding the basics, let us see how internet works?

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When you turn on your computer and type a domain name in the browser search bar, your browser sends a
request to the DNS server to get the corresponding IP address. After getting the IP address, the browser
forwards the request to the respective server.

Once the server gets the request to provide information about a particular website, the data starts flowing.
The data is transferred through the optical fiber cables in digital format or in the form of light pulses. As the
servers are placed at distant places, the data may have to travel thousands of miles through optical fiber cable
to reach your computer.

The optical fiber is connected to a router, which converts the light signals into electrical signals. These
electrical signals are transmitted to your laptop using an Ethernet cable. Thus, you receive the desired
information through the internet, which is actually a cable that connects you with the server.

Furthermore, if you are using wireless internet using wifi or mobile data, the signals from the optical cable
are first sent to a cell tower and from where it reaches to your cell phone in the form of electromagnetic
waves.

Uses of the internet

Generally speaking, the Internet may be used to exchange information with people all over the world,
communicate across great distances, and locate information or answers fast on almost any subject.

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Here are some examples of specific uses for the Internet:

o Using social media and content sharing.

o Instant messaging, video conferencing, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Internet telephony, and email are
all examples of electronic communication. These all are used through the Internet.
o Access to online degree programs, courses, and workshops for education and self-improvement.
o Searching for jobs: To advertise available positions, submit job applications, and hire candidates
identified on social networking sites like LinkedIn, both employers and applicants use the Internet.

Other examples include:

o Online dating
o Online gaming
o Research
o Reading electronic newspapers and magazines
o Online shopping, or e-commerce.
o Online discussion groups and forums

Difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet

The World Wide Web (also known as the Web) and the Internet are fundamentally dissimilar from one
another because the Web is a collection of information that can be accessed using the Internet, whereas the
Internet is a global network of networks that offers access to almost all types of information. In other words,
the Web is a service that was added to the Internet's foundation.

The Web is the part of the Internet that gets the greatest traffic. One unique aspect of this is hypertext, a rapid
cross-referencing method. The majority of websites feature text that highlights keywords or phrases by being
a different color than the rest of the text. When a user selects one of these words or phrases, they will be sent
to the chosen website or page. Buttons, graphics, and even particular areas of images are also utilized as
hyperlinks.

On the Internet, there are billions of pages of information. The most popular web browsers are Google
Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. A web browser is used to surf the internet or do online browsing. A
certain Web site's look may vary slightly depending on the browser being used. A certain browser's later or
more updated versions have the potential to render more complicated features like music files, sound,
animation, and virtual reality.

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Social impact of the Internet
Both positive and negative effects of the Internet on society can be observed. On the one hand, some people
claim that the Internet has raised the risk of withdrawal, social exclusion, alienation, and citing a rise in
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, as evidence. On the other hand, some people also believe that the Internet
has had the opposite impact on society, increasing sociability, civic participation, and the depth of
connections.

The Internet has changed how society communicates and interacts, whether the effects are positive or
negative on society. The increased focus on personal growth is one example of change and the fall in a
community that is determined by space, job, and family. People increasingly now build social connections on
the basis of their unique projects, values, as well as interests. In addition to offline and in person,
communities are being created by like-minded people through the Internet and the abundance of online
settings it provides and produces. Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are the preferred
platforms for both businesses and individuals wishing to carry out various tasks and connect with others

History of the Internet

The forerunner of the Internet, the ARPANet, went live for the first time in 1969. The TCP/IP, open
networking protocol suite, was adopted by the ARPANet in 1983, and the National Science Foundation
Network (NSFN) developed the network to link university computer science departments across the US in
1985.

When the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) was developed in 1989, it enabled different computer
platforms to connect to the same Internet sites, which dramatically improved communications over the
network. The Mosaic Web browser was developed in 1993.

Over the years of its existence, the Internet has remained a constant growth and development. For instance,
IPv6 was created to provide for a significant future rise in the number of IP addresses that could be used. In a
related development, the Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the rapidly developing environment where nearly
any entity or device can be given a unique identifier (UID) and the capability to communicate data
automatically over the Internet.

Advantages of the Internet:

o Instant Messaging: You can send messages or communicate to anyone using internet, such as email,
voice chat, video conferencing, etc.
o Get directions: Using GPS technology, you can get directions to almost every place in a city,
country, etc. You can find restaurants, malls, or any other service near your location.
o Online Shopping: It allows you to shop online such as you can be clothes, shoes, book movie
tickets, railway tickets, flight tickets, and more.

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 o Pay Bills: You can pay your bills online, such as electricity bills, gas bills, college fees, etc.
o Online Banking: It allows you to use internet banking in which you can check your balance, receive
or transfer money, get a statement, request cheque-book, etc.
o Online Selling: You can sell your products or services online. It helps you reach more customers and
thus increases your sales and profit.
o Work from Home: In case you need to work from home, you can do it using a system with internet
access. Today, many companies allow their employees to work from home.
o Entertainment: You can listen to online music, watch videos or movies, play online games.
o Cloud computing: It enables you to connect your computers and internet-enabled devices to cloud
services such as cloud storage, cloud computing, etc.
o Career building: You can search for jobs online on different job portals and send you CV through
email if required.

Disadvantages of the Internet

o Time wastage: Although, Internet has a lot of advantages, it also contains some limitations. Time
wasting is one of among them. It can decrease your productivity if you are spending too much time
on the Internet using social media apps while doing nothing. Rather than squandering time, one
should use that time to do something useful and even more productive.
o Bad impacts on health: You can get health related issues if you spend too much time online; your
body needs outside activities, exercise, and many other things. If you look at the screen for a long
time, it causes negative effects on the eyes.
o Cyber Crimes: These days, crimes including cyberbullying, spam, viruses, hacking, and data theft
are increasing day by day. Cybercriminals can quickly break into your system, which store all of your
private information.
o Effects on children: The constant watching of videos and playing games on the Internet by young
children is bad for their social and overall personality development.
o Bullying and spreading negativity: Social media applications have provided a free tool to all those
people who regularly attempt to spread negativity with really repulsive and humiliating comments
and try to bully each other, which is wrong and does bad impact on society.

Who owns the Internet?

There are two answers to the question of who owns the internet:

 No one
 Everyone

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No one owns the internet
If thinking of the internet as a single unified entity, no one owns it. While a few organizations
may determine the internet’s structure, they don’t have ownership over the internet itself. No
company or government can claim ownership of it.

The internet is more of a concept than an actual tangible entity, and it relies on a physical
infrastructure that connects networks to other networks.

The concept is similar to being a room full of people who all speak different languages. In order
to communicate, you’d need to come up with a standard set of rules and vocabulary so everyone
can be on the same page.

The internet is essentially that—a system that allows different computer networks to

communicate with one another using a standardized set of rules. No one entity owns these rules,
they are there to help facilitate and standardize communication.
The internet is a global collection of inter-networked systems that depend on sets of rules known
as protocols. These protocols allow computers to communicate across networks. It relies on an
expansive infrastructure of routers, Network Access Points, and computer systems.
It’s one giant system made up of many much smaller systems. While the smaller systems can be
owned, the all-encompassing giant system cannot.

Everyone owns the internet

At the same time, thousands of people and organizations own the internet. These smaller systems
each have an owner, and these owners can control the quality and level of access one has to the
internet. They may not own the entire system, but they can impact your internet experience.

The physical networks that carry internet traffic between different systems is the internet
backbone. In the beginning days of the internet, ARPANET made up this backbone. Today,
several large corporations provide the routers and cable that make it up. Some of these
corporations include:
 UUNET
 Level 3
 Verizon
 AT&T

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  Lumen Technologies
 Sprint
 IBM
These companies are Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which means that anyone wanting to
access the internet must ultimately work with these companies.
There are also smaller ISPs, such as Cable and DSL companies. These companies are not part of
the internet’s backbone, but rather they negotiate with the larger ISP companies mentioned
above for internet access.
Every ISP has its own network. Many companies have Local Area Networks that link to the
internet. Each of these networks is both a part of the internet and its own separate entity. If you
own a device that connects to the internet, that means your device is part of the enormous inter-
network system, making you part-owner of the internet.

Anatomy of the Internet

The Internet is a vast collection of computers linked by cable and satellites, not controlled by any one
authority, but all operating under common network protocols. The term 'Internet' includes both the
hardware (satellites, cable, routing devices and computers) and the software (programs and network
protocols) that enable computers to communicate with each other.

When information is sent across the Internet, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP: the networking-
language computers use when communicating over the Internet) first breaks the information up into packets
of data. The client computer sends those packets to the local network, Internet service provider (ISP), or
online service. From here, the packets travel through many levels of networks, computers, and
communications lines until they reach their final destinations. Many types of hardware help the packets on
their way. These are:

Hubs, which link groups of computers together and let them intercommunicate through multiple ports.
Bridges, which link local area networks (LANs) with each another.
Gateways, which act like bridges, but also convey data between dissimilar networks.
Repeaters, which amplify the data at intervals so that the signal doesn't weaken.
Routers, which ensure packets of data arrive at their proper destination across different technologies, media,
and frame formats.
Servers, which deliver web pages and other services as requested.
Client computers, which make the initial request for Internet services, and run applications to handle those
services.
Cables and/or satellite communications, which make the hardware connections.

All hardware units need common operating methods, basic instructions called protocols that specify to all
parties how the data will be handled

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Internet Connections
Physical Internet connections are effected with:

1. Twisted wire: two insulated copper wires twisted into pairs for ordinary telephone communications, and 4
pairs of copper cabling for Internet networks. Transmission speeds range from 2 Mbps to 100 Mbps.
(Transmission speed or bandwidth is measured in bits per second, where K a thousand, M a million, and G is
a thousand million.)

2. Coaxial cables: copper or aluminum wire wrapped with an insulating and flexible material: widely used
for cable television systems, office buildings, and for local area networks generally. Transmission speeds
range from 200 Gbps to over 500 Gbps.

3. Optical fiber cable: one or more filaments of glass fiber wrapped in protective layers: not affected by
electromagnetic radiation. Transmission speeds may exceed 1000 Gbps.

Satellite or Wireless connections are made with:

1. Terrestrial microwave transmitters and receivers placed on 'line of sight' locations on tops of buildings and
elevated ground, usually assisted by relay stations spaced approximately 30 miles apart.

2. Communications satellites using microwave radio as their telecommunications medium, which is not
deflected by the Earth's atmosphere. Such earth-orbiting systems can receive and relay voice, data, and TV
signals.

3. Cellular and PCS systems using radio communications technologies, which are often specific to individual
countries. Each area or cell employs a low-power transmitter or radio relay antenna device to relay calls from
one cell to the next.

4. Wireless LANs using both high- and low-frequency technologies to enable communication between
several devices in a limited area (e.g. Wi-Fi, BlueTooth, WiMax, UWB and ZigBee).

Networks are commonly designated as LAN ( local area network) WAN (wide area network), MAN
(metropolitan area network), PAN (personal area network), VPN ( virtual private network), CAN (campus
area network) and SAN (storage area network).

Wireless communication spans the electromagnetic spectrum from 9 kHz to 300 GHz. Satellite signals travel
at the speed of light, but the distances involved induce a time-delay called 'latency'. A 71,000 km separation
of transmitter and receiver, for example, will induce a latency of 473 ms, often noticeable on international
calls.

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It is often convenient to recognize four levels of Internet connection:

1. The 'backbones' are the main "trunk" connections of the Internet, carrying data at high speeds by fiber-
optic cables and satellite links across the countries, continents and oceans of the world. Bandwidth is a
measure of data that can be transferred per unit time, and in the US these backbones have bandwidths of 155
Mbps to 2.5 Gbps. Backbones are owned and operated by Network Service Providers, major companies like
AT&T, Verizon, and AOL. Built into this network is redundancy, transmission surplus to demand but kept in
reserve should there be traffic peaks, or breaks in the network.

2. Backbones 'step down' to regional and local networks at hubs, once called Network Access Points or
Metropolitan Area Exchanges but now Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), which are again under the
ownership and control of NSPs (Network Service Providers).

3. High-speed switching computers make the connection to the local networks, here leased by NSPs to
government departments, campus area networks, large companies and ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

4. ISPs, the most familiar to the public, are retail providers, covering the 'last mile' to offer Internet access to
client computers, i.e. those in homes and small businesses. ISPs include telecom giants but are generally
national or local companies.

Routers
Routers ensure that all data gets sent to its intended destination by the most efficient route. They open the IP
packets of data to read the destination address, calculate the best route, either to its final destination, or to
another router closer to that destination, repeating this until the destination is reached. To find the optimal
route, routers employ an internal database called a routing table. There are two types. A static table specifies
unchanging paths for packets to use. A dynamic table allows a packet to have multiple routes. Sometimes the
packets are sent to a router's input port faster than the port can process them, when they pile up in an input
queue. If packets overflow that queue, then the TCP protocol has the packets sent again. Routers are a key
element of the Internet, and today's models provide great flexibility, security and control over company
networks. The one network can link all company employees, even those on out-of-office hotel and
conference rooms. Many built-in technologies such as voice, wireless, and advanced security systems can be
optimized by the IT management team, and proper measures taken against security lapses and malicious
code attacks.

Servers
Equally important is the server, a powerful computer (or often groups of computers) that handle requests for
web pages, email data, and an increasing variety of services. The computers will use the Unix, Windows,
Linux, or Macintosh operating systems, which have the TCP/IP protocols built in, but run different types of
software, depending on the service offered: http servers, network servers, ftp servers or database servers.

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Simplest are the http (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) servers, which comply with requests from website
visitors, sending the data back to the client computer for the browser software to assemble as familiar web
pages. Generally, however, servers will also employ scripts (Perl, Common Gateway Interface scripts, .NET
and others) to engage with external mini-programs like database lookup or interactive forms processing. A
Yahoo search for information on telecommunications, for example, will appear like
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=telecommunications, where the 'bin' indicates where the scripts are
located and the 'search?p=telecommunication' instructs the script to search the associated databases for the
term 'telecommunications'.

What is ARPANET?
The U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first public packet-
switched computer network. It was first used in 1969 and finally decommissioned in 1989. ARPANET's main use
was for academic and research purposes.

Many of the protocols used by computer networks today were developed for ARPANET, and it is considered the
forerunner of the modern internet.

Developments leading to ARPANET

ARPANET and the subsequent computer networks leading to the internet were not the product of a single
individual or organization, nor were they formed at one time. Instead, the ideas and initial research work of many
people over years of time was used to form the basis of ARPANET and to build it to become the forerunner of the
internet.

In the 1960s, computers were large mainframe systems. They were very expensive and were only owned by large
companies, universities and governments. Users would sit at dedicated terminals, such as teletype machines, and
run programs on the connected mainframe. Connections between computers was done over dedicated links. These
systems were highly centralized and fault-prone.

This was during the height of the Cold War. The U.S. military was interested in creating computer networks that
could continue to function after having portions removed, such as in the case of a nuclear strike. Similarly,
universities were looking to develop a network that could be fault-tolerant over unreliable connections and could
be used to share data and computing resources between users at different locations.

In the early 1960s, Paul Baran, working for the U.S. think tank Rand Corporation, developed the concept of
distributed adaptive message block switching. This would enable small groups of data to be sent along differing
paths to the destination. This idea eventually became packet communication that underlies almost all data
communication today. At that time, though, it was not implemented.

Joseph C.R. Licklider became the director of ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) in 1962.
He was a major proponent of human-computer interaction and using computers to help people make better

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decisions. His influence lead ARPA to develop its network and other innovations, such as graphical user
interfaces.

History of ARPANET
Development of ARPANET began in 1966. Several standards were developed. Network Control Program (NCP)
would handle communication between hosts and could support the first commands, Telnet and File Transfer
Protocol (FTP). It would use packet-switching technology to communicate. Interface Message Processor was
developed to pass messages between hosts. This can be considered the first packet gateway or router.
Hardware modems were designed and sent out to the participating organizations.

The first message sent over ARPANET happened on Oct. 29, 1969. Charley Kline, who was a student at the
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), tried to log in to the mainframe at the Stanford Research Institute
(SRI). He successfully typed in the characters L and O, but the computer crashed when he typed the G of the
command LOGIN. They were able to overcome the initial crash, however, and had a successful connection that
same day.

The first permanent connection between UCLA and SRI was put into place on Nov. 21, 1969. Two more
universities joined ARPANET as founding members on Dec. 5, 1969. These were the University of California,
Santa Barbara and University of Utah School of Computing.

ARPANET grew rapidly in the early 1970s. Many universities and government computers joined the network
during this time. In 1975, ARPANET was declared operational and was used to develop further communications
technology. In time, several computers in other countries were also added using satellite links.

Many packet-based networks quickly came into operation after ARPANET became popular. These various
networks could not communicate with one another due to the requirements of standardized equipment in the
existing networks. Therefore, TCP/IP was developed as a protocol to enable communication between different
networks. It was first put into operation in 1977.

TCP/IP enabled an interconnected network of networks and is the foundational technology of the internet. On
Jan. 1, 1983, TCP/IP replaced NCP as the underlying packet-switching technology of ARPANET.

Origin and History of World Wide Web

The World Wide Web ("WWW" or simply the "Web") is a global information space
which people can read and write via computers connected to the Internet.

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The term is often mistakenly used as a synonym for the Internet itself, but the Web is
actually a service that operates over the Internet, just like e-mail. The History of the
Internet dates back much earlier
The origins of the World Wide Web can be traced back to 1980. Since then it has evolved
beyond what its creators imagined would be a file-sharing tool for academic and U.S.
government contract researchers.
1980-91: Development of the WWW
In 1980, Tim Berners-Lee, an independent contractor at CERN, built ENQUIRE, as a
personal database of people and software models, but also as a way to play with
hypertext; each new page of information in ENQUIRE had to be linked to an existing
page.
Another major development occurred when Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf introduced Transfer
Control Protocol (TCP) in 1977 for cross-network connections. Although it had used the
older Network Control Protocol (NCP) since its establishment in 1969, ARPANET and its
associated networks slowly began a transition to the new protocol during the 1970s. In
1978, Internet Protocol was added to TCP, responsible for the routing of messages. The
TCP/IP combination was officially adopted by ARPANET and its partners in 1983,
redefining the Internet as networks using the TCP/IP network. The standardisation of
network protocols helped lay the foundations for the later growth of the World Wide Web.
In 1984 Berners-Lee returned to CERN, and considered its problems of information
presentation: physicists from around the world needed to share data, with no common
machines and no common presentation software. He wrote a proposal in March 1989 for
"a large hypertext database with typed links", but it generated little interest. His boss,
Mike Sendall, encouraged Berners-Lee to begin implementing his system on a newly
acquired NeXT workstation. He considered several names, including Information Mesh or
Mine of Information, but settled on World Wide Web.

The WorldWideWeb (WWW) project aims to allow links to be made to any information
anywhere. [...] The WWW project was started to allow high energy physicists to share
data, news, and documentation. We are very interested in spreading the web to other
areas, and having gateway servers for other data. Collaborators welcome!” —from Tim
Berners-Lee’s first message

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1992-1995: Growth of the WWW
In keeping with its birth at CERN, early adopters of the World Wide Web were primarily
university-based scientific departments or physics laboratories such as Fermilab and
SLAC.
Early websites intermingled links for both the HTTP web protocol and the then-popular
Gopher protocol, which provided access to content through hypertext menus presented as
a file system rather than through HTML files. Early Web users would navigate either by
bookmarking popular directory pages, such as Berners-Lee's first site at
http://info.cern.ch/, or by consulting updated lists such as the NCSA "What's New" page.
Some sites were also indexed by WAIS, enabling users to submit full-text searches similar
to the capability later provided by search engines.
Early browsers
There was still no graphical browser available for computers besides the NeXT. This gap
was filled in April 1992 with the release of Erwise, an application developed at Helsinki
University of Technology, and in May by ViolaWWW, created by Pei-Yuan Wei, which
included advanced features such as embedded graphics, scripting, and animation. Both
programs ran on the X Window System for Unix.

Internet Commerce
The Internet provides an opportunity to create markets, and serve customers in ways hitherto unimaginable. A couple of years ago
many viewed electronic commerce as simply trading using online networks and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). For them, the
Internet was "totally irrelevant and unsuitable for electronic commerce". Their views have changed! Many large companies and
retailers are now flocking to the Internet. Many have suffered set-backs through rishing into this new medium carrying over
baggage from established practices, This briefing sets out the scope of Internet commerce, indicates the opportunities and
challenges, and gives insights into the strategies of the entrepreneurs who are succeeding.

What is Internet Commerce?

Internet Commerce is the use of the Internet for all phases of creating and completing business transactions.
Various surveys suggest that the amount of business conducted online will increase ten-fold over the next
few years, from around $500 million in 1996 to over $6 billion in 2000. However, this still represents less
than 10 per cent of the business conducted by mail order.

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In our view too much focus of electronic commerce to date has been put on carrying out the final
transactional phases - the ordering and payment. While such a perspective is all right when there are
established supply chains for regular and routine purposes, this overlooks the wider perspective. It is often
said, that the formal placement of an order is preceded by as many as 30 previous information exchanges.
Thus, in its broadest sense we view Internet Commerce as also including:

 The full sales and marketing cycle - for example, by analysing online feedback to ascertain customer's needs
 Identifying new markets - through exposure to a global audience through the World Wide Web
 Developing ongoing customer relationships - achieving loyalty through ongoing email interaction
 Assisting potential customers with their purchasing decision - for example by guiding them through product choices
in an intelligent way
 Providing round-the-clock points of sale - making it easy for buyers to order online, irrespective of location
 Supply Chain Management - supporting those in the supply chain, such as dealers and distributors, through online
interaction
 Ongoing Customer Support - providing extensive after-sales support to customers by online methods; thus increasing
satisfaction, deepening the customer relationship and closing the selling loop through repeat and onging purchases.

This wider perspective of Internet Commerce - as an ongoing iterative relationship that uses email,
discussion lists, and other Internet facilities as well as the World Wide Web - is the strategy of most
successful 'Netrepreneurs'. As in other marketing, the main categories of Internet Commerce are business-to-
business and business-to-consumer.

Opportunities and Benefits

Those who trade via the Internet cite the following benefits:

 Timeliness - Your Web site is accessible round the clock. Email queries can be handled more expeditiously and
completely than is often possible by mail or phone.
 Reduced Marketing Costs - Online catalogues are cheapre to produce and maintain that paper catalogues.
 Better Targetting - Internet communities are self selecting. People with particular interests tend to visit particaulr places
in Cyberspace. Customers find you, rather than vice versa.
 Greater Market Reach - Distance is no object. Sending information or exchanging messages costs virtually the same as
someone locally. You don't need to pay expensive courier bills.
 Reduced communications costs - With electronic networking it cost virtually the same to send a message to 100 people
as to one.
 Improved After Sales Service - By providing online support, customers can serve themselves for many of the common
post-sales information needs.

There are particular opportunities for those who have specialised markets, or wish to expand their market
base without the cost of opening new offices. There are also opportunities created by the medium itself - for
example for Internet intermediaries (directory and trading services), and novel ways of providing access e.g.
kiosks in public areas.

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 Governance on internet

Internet governance refers to the rules, policies, standards and practices that coordinate and shape global
cyberspace.

The Internet is a vast network of independently-managed networks, woven together by globally standardized
data communication protocols (primarily, Internet Protocol, TCP, UDP, DNS and BGP). The common
adoption and use of these protocols unified the world of information and communications like never before.
Millions of digital devices and massive amounts of data, software applications, and electronic services
became compatible and interoperable. The Internet created a new environment, a complex and dynamic
“cyberspace.”

While Internet connectivity generated innovative new services, capabilities and unprecedented forms of
sharing and cooperation, it also created new forms of crime, abuse, surveillance and social conflict. Internet
governance is the process whereby cyberspace participants resolve conflicts over these problems and
develop a workable order.

The Forms of Internet Governance

We say Internet governance and not government because many issues in cyberspace are not and probably
cannot be handled by the traditional territorial national institutions. Governance implies a polycentric, less
hierarchical order; it requires transnational cooperation amongst standards developers, network operators,
online service providers, users, governments and international organizations if it is to solve problems while
retaining the openness and interoperability of cyberspace. For better or worse, national policy plays an
important role in shaping the Internet, but the rise of cyberspace has produced, and will continue to produce,
new institutions and governance arrangements that respond to its unique characteristics.

IGP’s analysis of the Internet governance space is informed by institutional economics, which identifies
three broad categories of governance: markets, hierarchies and networks. Markets are driven by private
transactions and the price mechanism. Hierarchies govern interactions through orders or compulsion by an
authority, such as law enforcement by a state, a binding treaty, or the organizational control of a
firm Networks are semi-permanent, voluntary negotiation systems that allow interdependent actors to opt for
collaboration or unilateral action in the absence of an overarching authority. Internet governance involves a
complex mixture of all three governance structures, including various forms of self-governance by market

16
actors.

17
Information Architect Mean?

An information architect is an individual who works to make information attractive and accessible to an
audience. This type of role can include elements of technical writing or written format creation, as well as
graphic design and Web development. Generally, information architecture means developing a better
presentation for given data through attention to a digital landscape.

Information Architect
Many information architects have experience in writing or design. They often use Web development tools
like HTML and CSS to help to construct specific presentations for text and associated elements of a Web
page or site. They may also work on a written or digital blueprint that outlines multilevel goals for a project,
constructing specific digital presentations from these meta-directives.

Information architects are said to help develop a "user experience," which relates to both the content and the
style of a Web page or site, or other facility like a company intranet.

The role of an information architect in a given project can be broad, and these professionals may
work with multiple departments to make sure that the presentation of information to the audience is as good
as it can be.

Information architects create and manipulate content and information in order to enhance impact, understanding,
and readability. They develop layouts and templates for information by applying design principles along with
expert language skills. They also inform design processes, track UX trends, and study feedback to improve
information delivery.

information architect to design and enhance our current information layouts and displays. In this role, you will
need to research and develop information layouts, prepare interactive and paper-based prototypes, analyze
feedback from users/readers, and update our current information layouts according to UX trends and principles.

To ensure success as an information architect, you will need to have strong design and user experience skills as
well as a flair for creating quality information flows and templates. A top-notch information architect will
understand the final product from a customer perspective and be able to rapidly change informational
architecture design.

Information Architect Responsibilities:

 Meeting with relevant stakeholders to determine project requirements and details.

 Identifying key areas of enhancement and improvement in information architecture designs.

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  Formulating prospective informational designs and templates for further development.

 Designing prototypes for informational architecture flows and experiences.

 Developing draft information architectures for final products to be used by the company.

 Evaluating the performance of information architectures through analysis and research.

 Enhancing existing information architectures to be more interactive and digitally friendly.

 Working with other members of the creative team on UX and UI design tasks.

 Updating team members on information architecture design principles and developments.

 Improving information architectures for products and services in both digital and print mediums.

Communication and Collaboration

Communication refers to exchange of information between persons through internet. Internet provides a
basis for communication and collaboration which can be done using mail, chat, skype, etc. When dealing
with official matters, electronic mail helps in the exchange of messages text documents, web pages, audio,
video, etc.
In this topic, we are going to discuss in detail about basics of email, email addressing, configuring email
client, using emails, opening email client, mailbox, creating and sending a new email, replying to an email
message, forwarding an email message, sorting and searching emails, advance email features, sending
documents by email, activating spell check, using address book, sending softcopy as attachment, handling
spam, instant messaging and collaboration, using emoticons and some of the internet etiquettes.

Basics of E-mail
Electronic mail is an application that supports interchange of information between two or more persons.
Usually text messages are transmitted through email. Audio and video transfer through email depends on the
browser in use. This provides a faster way of communication in an affordable cost.

Advantages of E-mail
Functionalities like attachment of documents, data files, program files, etc., can be enabled. This is a faster
way of communication at an affordable cost.

Disadvantages of E-mail
If the connection to the ISP is lost, then you can’t access email. Once you send an mail to a recipient, you
have to wait until she/he reads and replies to your mail.

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Email Addressing
Email address is a unique address given to the user that helps to identify the user while sending and
receiving messages or mails.
Username − Name that identifies any user’s mailbox
Domain name − Represents the Internet Service Provider (ISP).
@ Symbol − Helps to concatenate username and domain name.
Web collaboration is a component of unified communications, which facilitate organizational teamwork and
workflow. If unified communications is not well developed within an organization, Web collaboration
implementation is challenging for management and personnel.

Managers should ensure that employees understand new technologies. For example, Web collaboration
software packages include tools for monitoring and evaluating attendee activities during Web training
sessions.

Many software manufacturers and vendors provide Web collaboration tools. Examples include Jive
Software, AtTask and Maymoon.

Collaboration and Communication

The information architect must communicate effectively with the web site development team.
This is challenging, since an information architecture is highly abstract and intangible. Besides
communicating the architecture verbally, documents (such as blueprint diagrams) must be
created in ways that can be understood by the rest of the team regardless of their own
disciplinary backgrounds. In the early days of the Web, web sites were often designed, built, and
managed by a single individual through sheer force of will. This webmaster was responsible for
assembling and organizing the content, designing the graphics, and hacking together any
necessary CGI scripts. The only prerequisites were a familiarity with HTML and a willingness to
learn on the job. People with an amazing diversity of backgrounds suddenly became webmasters
overnight, and soon found themselves torn in many directions at once. One minute they were
information architects, then graphic designers, then editors, then programmers. Then companies
began to demand more of their sites and, consequently, of their webmasters. Simple home pages
quickly evolved into complex web sites. People wanted more content, better organization,
greater function, and prettier graphics. Extensions, plug-ins, and languages proliferated. Tables,
VRML, frames, Shockwave, Java, and ActiveX were added to the toolbox. No mortal webmaster
could keep up with the rising expectations and the increasing complexity of the environment.
Increasingly, webmasters and their employers began to realize that the successful design and
production of complex web sites requires an interdisciplinary team approach. An individual
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cannot be an expert in all facets of the process. Rather, a team of individuals with
complementary areas of expertise must work together. The composition of this team will vary,
depending upon the needs of a particular project, available budget, and the availability of
expertise. However, most projects will require expertise in marketing, information architecture,
graphic design, writing and editing, programming, and project management. Marketing The
marketing team focuses on the intended purposes and audiences for the web site. They must
understand what will bring the right people to the web site and what will bring them back again.

Information Architect: The information architects focus on the design of organization,

indexing, labelling, and navigation systems to support browsing and searching throughout the
web site.

Graphic Design: The designers are responsible for the graphic design and page layout that
defines the graphic identity or look of the web site. They strive to create and implement a design
philosophy that balances form and function.

Editorial Editor: Editorial Editors focus on the use of language throughout the web site. Their
tasks may involve proofreading and editing copy, messaging content to ensure a common voice
for the site, and creating new copy.

Technical: The technical designers and programmers are responsible for server administration
and the development or integration of site production tools and web site applications. They
advise the other teams regarding technology-related opportunities and limitations.

Project Management: The project manager keeps the project on schedule and within budget. He
or she facilitates communication between the other teams and the clients or internal stakeholders.

The success of a web site design and production project depends on successful communication
and collaboration between these specialized team members. A linear, black-box, throw-it-over-
the-wall methodology just won't work. Everyone needs to understand the goals, perspectives,
and approaches of the other members of the team. For example, while the marketing specialist
may lead the audience analysis process, he or she needs to anticipate the types of questions about
the audience that the specialists will have. Otherwise, each will need to start from scratch in
learning about that audience, wasting substantial time and resources. For the information
architect, communication is a special challenge because of the intangible nature of the work.
Anyone who has played Pictionary knows that it is much harder to draw an abstract concept such
as science than a physical object such as moon. As an information architect, you face the
daunting challenge of helping others visualize such abstract concepts as a metaphor-based

21
architecture and indexing systems. The information architect has to identify both the goals of the
site and the content that it will be built on. This means getting the people who drive the business,
whether bosses or clients, to articulate their vision of the site and who its users are. Once you've
collected the data and developed a plan, you need to present your ideas for an information
architecture and move the group toward consensus. All in all, this significantly burdens the
architect to communicate effectively.

How to Organize Information Effectively

At its core, a website is a way of presenting information to users. When the information is organized
effectively, it makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for and for the business to
accomplish its goals. In this article, we’ll look at how you can use Information Architecture (IA) to
create better designs.

The main strategies for organizing information include creating systems for: 
 Classification: Categorizing and structuring information 
 Labelling: Representing information 
 Navigation: Moving through information 
 Search: Looking for information
For you to create the required IA systems, you have to understand that information architecture is
affected by three factors: content, context, and users. 

 Content: This is the amount of content that you have to organize, its type, how it is
structured, and who owns it. 
 Context: These are the business goals, culture, technology, and resources within which your
site exists. 
 Users: This is who the website is made for, the tasks that they need to accomplish, their
information-seeking behaviors, and their level of experience. 

Types of Information Architecture Design Structures

There are different ways that you can organize the information on your website. The IA design
pattern that you choose will depend on the three factors that we have discussed before: content,
context, and users.  Here are five common web structures. 

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Single Page Structure 

In this IA structure, all the information is presented on one page. The single-page structure is
suitable for sites with a small amount of information and a single goal. These can be personal
contact sites or a site that promotes one product. 

Flat structure 

All the pages have the same level of importance in this structure. Users can access every other page
from one page. Typically, this structure is used for simple sites that have few pages such as ‘Home’,
‘About’, and ‘Contact us.’

Strict Hierarchy Structure 

This structure is made up of a home page, category/ subcategory pages, and then individual pages.
The categories can be accessed from the homepage. Each category or subcategory has its own
individual pages that are linked from it.  A good example is an e-commerce site where the ‘men’
category has individual pages such as ‘clothes’ and ‘shoes.’

Multi-dimensional hierarchy structure 

This structure is similar to the strict hierarchy structure with the only difference being that individual
pages can be accessed from different category pages. This structure is suitable for sites that have a
lot of similar information. 

Methods of organizing information to improve IA design

When choosing how to design the IA of your site, there are several methods that you can use. 

Card Sorting
Card sorting is a simple and inexpensive method of getting the input of users on how you should organize the
information on your site. First, you write the content type or page name on an index card, and then the users’
sort and group the index cards. 
You can use the basic card sorting method where you place the cards at random and the users sort and group
them or you can use the reverse card sorting method where you sort the cards into groups and then have the
users rearrange them. Moreover, you can let the users name the groups or you can have them use pre-named
groups. 
Wireframing and Prototyping 
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Wireframes are useful for outlining how the design layout of your site will look. More than that, they also
give a basic view of how the information will be organized once the site is complete.
The same is true for prototypes which are an early model of how your site will look and function. You can
use UXPin to create wireframes and prototypes that look like the real thing which will help you test the IA of
your site. 

Mindmapping 
This is a low-fi way of web organizing and illustrating the relationships and connections between the
different types of content on your site. You can ask users who participated in the card sorting exercise to
create mind maps of how they think the content should be grouped using pen and paper. You can also create
mind maps yourself using software tools such as Lucid Chart or Miro.

Organizing Web sites and Intranets

The organization of information in web sites and intranets is a major factor in determining success, and yet
many web development teams lack the understanding necessary to do the job well.

Organization systems are composed of organization schemes and organization structures. An organization

scheme defines the shared characteristics of content items and influences the logical grouping of those items.
An organization structure defines the types of relationships between content items and groups.

Before diving in, it’s important to understand information organization in the context of web site
development. Organization is closely related to navigation, labelling, and indexing. The hierarchical
organization structures of web sites often play the part of primary navigation system. The labels of categories
play a significant role in defining the contents of those categories. Manual indexing or metadata tagging is
ultimately a tool for organizing content items into groups at a very detailed level. Despite these closely knit
relationships, it is both possible and useful to isolate the design of organization systems, which will form the
foundation for navigation and labelling systems. By focusing solely on the logical grouping of information,
you avoid the distractions of implementation details and can design a better web site.

Organization Schemes

We navigate through organization schemes every day. Telephone books, supermarkets, and television
programming guides all use organization schemes to facilitate access. Some schemes are easy to use. We
rarely have difficulty finding a friend’s phone number in the alphabetical organization scheme of the white
pages. Some schemes are intensely frustrating. Trying to find marshmallows or popcorn in a large and
unfamiliar supermarket can drive us crazy. Are marshmallows in the snack aisle, the baking ingredients
section, both, or neither?

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In fact, the organization schemes of the phone book and the supermarket are fundamentally different. The
alphabetical organization scheme of the phone book’s white pages is exact. The hybrid topical/task-oriented
organization scheme of the supermarket is ambiguous.

Exact Organization Schemes

Let’s start with the easy ones. Exact or “objective” organization schemes divide information into well-
defined and mutually exclusive sections. The alphabetical organization of the phone book’s white pages is a
perfect example. If you know the last name of the person you are looking for, navigating the scheme is easy.
“Porter” is in the Ps, which are after the Os but before the Qs. This is called known-item searching. You
know what you’re looking for, and it’s obvious where to find it. No ambiguity is involved. The problem with
exact organization schemes is that they require users to know the specific name of the resource they are
looking for. The white pages don’t work very well if you’re looking for a plumber.

Exact organization schemes are relatively easy to design and maintain because there is little intellectual work
involved in assigning items to categories. They are also easy to use. The following sections explore three
frequently used exact organization schemes.

1. Alphabetical

An alphabetical organization scheme is the primary organization scheme for encyclopedias and
dictionaries. Almost all nonfiction books, including this one, provide an alphabetical index.
Phone books, department-store directories, bookstores, and libraries all make use of our 26-letter
alphabet for organizing their contents. Alphabetical organization often serves as an umbrella for
other organization schemes. We see information organized alphabetically by last name, by
product or service, by department, and by format.

2. Chronological

Certain types of information lend themselves to chronological organization. For example, an archive of press
releases might be organized by the date of release. Press release archives are obvious candidates for
chronological organization schemes (see Figure 5-3). The date of announcement provides important context
for the release. However, keep in mind that users may also want to browse the releases by title, product
category, or geography, or to search by keyword. A complementary combination of organization schemes is
often necessary. History books, magazine archives, diaries, and television guides tend to be organized
chronologically. As long as there is agreement on when a particular event occurred, chronological schemes
are easy to design and use.

3. Geographical

Place is often an important characteristic of information. We travel from one place to another. We care about
the news and weather that affects us in our location. Political, social, and economic issues are frequently
location-dependent. And, in a world where mobile devices such as Blackberries and Treos are becoming

25
location-aware, while companies like Google and Yahoo! are investing heavily in local search and directory
services, the map as interface is enjoying a resurgence of interest.

With the exception of border disputes, geographical organization schemes are fairly straightforward to
design and use. Figure 5-4 shows an example of a geographical organization scheme. Users can select a
location from the map using their mouse.

Creating Cohesive Organization Systems

As you’ve seen in this chapter, organization systems are fairly complex. You need to
consider a variety of exact and ambiguous organization schemes. Should you organize
by topic, by task, or by audience? How about a chronological or geographical scheme?
What about using multiple organization schemes?

You also need to think about the organization structures that influence how users can
navigate through these schemes. Should you use a hierarchy or would a more
structured database-model work best? Perhaps a loose hypertextual web would allow
the most flexibility? Taken together, in the context of a large web site development
project, these questions can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to break down
the site into its components, so you can tackle one question at a time. Also, keep in
mind that all information retrieval systems work best when applied to narrow domains
of homogeneous content. By decomposing the content collection into these narrow
domains, you can identify opportunities for highly effective organization systems.

However, it’s also important not to lose sight of the big picture. As with cooking, you
need to mix the right ingredients in the right way to get the desired results. Just because
you like mushrooms and pancakes doesn’t mean they will go well together. The recipe
for cohesive organization systems varies from site to site. However, there are a few
guidelines to keep in mind. In considering which organization schemes to use, remember the
distinction between exact and ambiguous schemes. Exact schemes are best for known-item
searching, when users know precisely what they are looking for. Ambiguous schemes are best
for browsing and associative learning, when users have a vaguely defined information need.
Whenever possible, use both types of schemes. Also, be aware of the challenges of organizing
information on the Web. Language is ambiguous, content is heterogeneous, people have

26
different perspectives, and politics can rear its ugly head. Providing multiple ways to access the
same information can help to deal with all of these challenges. When thinking about which
organization structures to use, keep in mind that large web sites and intranets typically require all
three types of structure. The top-level, umbrella architecture for the site will almost certainly be
hierarchical. As you are designing this hierarchy, keep a lookout for collections of structured,
homogeneous information. These potential subsites are excellent candidates for the database
model. Finally, remember that less structured, creative relationships between content items can
be handled through hypertext. In this way, all three organization structures together can create a
cohesive organization system.

Designing Navigation Systems

Navigation systems can be designed to support associative learning by featuring

resources that are related to the content currently being displayed. For example, a page
that describes a product may include see also links to related products and services
(this type of navigation can also support a company’s marketing goals). As users move
through a well-designed navigation system, they learn about products, services, or
topics associated to the specific content they set out to find.
Any page on a web site may have numerous opportunities for interesting see
also connections to other areas of the site. The constant challenge in navigation system
design is to balance this flexibility of movement with the danger of overwhelming the
user with too many options.
Designing a navigation system involves creating a user-friendly and intuitive interface
that enables users to easily navigate and find information within a system or
application. The design process should take into consideration the needs and goals of
the user, as well as the context in which the navigation system will be used.

Here are the key points to consider when designing a navigation system:

 Define the scope and purpose of the system.

 Identify the different types of content and tasks that users will need to
perform.
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  Organize the content into logical categories and hierarchies.

 Create a visual representation of the navigation structure.

 Select appropriate navigation elements, such as menus, buttons, links, and

icons.

 Arrange the navigation elements in a way that is visually appealing and easy
to use.

 Ensure consistency across all pages and sections of the system.

 Test the navigation interface with actual users.

 Use feedback to refine the design and improve usability.

 Continuously monitor and update the navigation system as needed.

 The first step in designing a navigation system is to define the scope and purpose of
the system. This involves identifying the different types of content that the system
will contain, as well as the various tasks that users will need to perform. This
information will help guide the design of the navigation system and ensure that it
meets the needs of the user.

 Once the scope and purpose of the navigation system have been defined, the next
step is to create a navigation structure. This involves organizing the content into
logical categories and hierarchies, and creating a visual representation of the
navigation system. The navigation structure should be intuitive and easy to
understand, with clear labels and descriptions that accurately reflect the content that
they represent.

 After the navigation structure has been created, the next step is to design the
navigation interface. This involves selecting appropriate navigation elements, such
as menus, buttons, links, and icons, and arranging them in a way that is visually
appealing and easy to use. The interface should also be consistent across all pages

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 and sections of the system, to ensure that users can easily navigate between different
areas of the application.

 Usability testing is an essential part of designing a navigation system. This involves

testing the navigation interface with actual users, to identify any usability issues and
areas for improvement. Feedback from usability testing can be used to refine the
design of the navigation system and ensure that it meets the needs of the user.

In conclusion, designing a navigation system requires careful consideration of the

needs and goals of the user, as well as the context in which the system will be used. By
following a systematic design process and incorporating user feedback, it is possible to
create a navigation system that is intuitive, user-friendly, and effective.

Browser Navigation Features

When designing a navigation system, it is important to consider the environment the
system will exist in. On the Web, people use web browsers such as Netscape Navigator
and Microsoft Internet Explorer to move around and view web sites. These browsers
sport many built-in navigation features.

Open URL allows direct access to any page on a web site. Back and Forward provide a

bidirectional backtracking capability. The History menu allows random access to pages
visited during the current session, and Bookmark enables users to save the location of
specific pages for future reference. Web browsers also go beyond the Back button to
support a “bread crumbs” feature by color-coding hypertext links. By default, unvisited
hypertext links are one color and visited hypertext links are another. This feature helps
users understand where they have and haven’t been and can help them to retrace their
steps through a web site.
Finally, web browsers allow for a prospective view that can influence how users
navigate. As the user passes the cursor over a hypertext link, the destination URL
appears at the bottom of the browser window, ideally hinting about the nature of that
content (see Figure 4.1). If files and directories have been carefully labeled,
prospective view gives the user context within the content hierarchy. If the hypertext

29
link leads to another web site on another server, prospective view provides the user
with basic information about this off-site destination.

Figure  4-1. In this example, the cursor is positioned over the Investor Info button. The prospective view
window at the bottom shows the URL of the Investor Info page.

Much research, analysis, and testing has been invested in the design of these browser-
based navigation features. However, it is remarkable how frequently site designers
unwittingly override or corrupt these navigation features. For example, designers often
modify the unvisited and visited link colors with no consideration for the bread crumbs
feature. They focus on aesthetics, attempting to match link colors with logo colors. It’s
common to see a complete reversal of the blue and purple standard. This is a classic
sacrifice of usability[5] for aesthetics and belies a lack of consideration for the user and
the environment. It’s like putting up a green stop sign at a road intersection because it
matches the color of a nearby building.
Given proper understanding of the aesthetic and usability issues, you can in fact
modify the link colors and create an intelligent balance.[6] Unfortunately, this
convention has been violated so frequently, the standard may no longer be standard.
A second common example of inadvertently disabling valuable browser navigation
features involves prospective view. Image maps have become a ubiquitous navigation

30
feature on web sites. The graphic navigation bar allows the aesthetically pleasing
presentation of navigation options. Unfortunately, server-side image maps completely
disable the prospective view feature of web browsers. Instead of the destination URL
preview, the XY coordinates of the image map are presented. This information is
distracting, not useful. Again, a solution that balances aesthetics and usability is
available. Through an elegant use of tables (or by using client-side image maps), you
can present a graphical navigation bar that leverages the browser-based prospective
view feature.

Once you are sensitive to the built-in navigation features of web browsers, it is easy to
avoid disabling or duplicating those features. In fact, it is both possible and desirable to
find ways to leverage them. In designing navigation systems, you should consider all
elements of that system. Web browsers are an extremely common and integral part of
the user’s navigation experience. From a philosophical perspective, we might say that
web pages do not exist in the absence of a web browser. So, don’t override or corrupt
the browser!

Types of Navigation systems in web technology:

There are three main types of website navigation. They are:

1. Global Website Navigation

2. Hierarchical Website Navigation
3. Local Website Navigation

When combined correctly, they help your visitors navigate your website and find their
destination without issue. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

1. Global Website Navigation:

This navigation system provides access to the key sections of a website from every page.
It usually consists of a menu bar, which can be located at the top or bottom of the page.
The menu bar includes links to the main sections of the website, such as Home, About Us,
Products, Services, Contact Us, etc. This type of navigation helps users easily access the
website's main content, regardless of which page they are on. Example: The menu bar at
the top of Amazon.com, which includes links to the main sections of the website, such as

31
 Departments, Your Account, Cart, etc. This navigation system allows users to easily
access any part of the website from any page.

2. Hierarchical Website Navigation:

This navigation system organizes website content into categories and subcategories,
creating a hierarchy of pages. It typically includes a left or right-hand navigation menu
that shows the website's structure. This type of navigation helps users easily navigate a
website's content by showing them where they are in the hierarchy and what other content
is available on the same level. Example: The left-hand navigation menu on the Wikipedia
page for "History of the United States". The menu includes categories such as "Colonial
period" and "Civil War and Reconstruction", which are further broken down into
subcategories. This navigation system helps users easily navigate through the different
periods of US history and find relevant information.

3. Local Website Navigation:

This navigation system is designed to help users navigate within a specific section of a
website. It typically includes links to related pages, subcategories, and tags that are
specific to the content on that page. This type of navigation is useful for websites that
have a lot of content on different topics, allowing users to find relevant information
quickly and easily. It is usually found within the main content area of a page. Example:
The "Related Articles" section at the bottom of an article on the website Medium.com.
This section includes links to other articles that are related to the one the user is currently
reading. This navigation system helps users explore more content on the same topic
without having to search for it.

Integrated navigation elements in web technology

Integrated navigation elements in web technology are design elements that allow users
to easily navigate a website or web application. These elements are often used in
conjunction with each other to create a seamless and intuitive user experience. Here are
some of the most common integrated navigation elements in web technology:

1. Navigation Bar: The navigation bar is typically located at the top of a website
and consists of a series of links or buttons that allow users to navigate to different
sections of the site. The navigation bar is one of the most important navigation

32
 elements on a website because it is usually the first thing users see when they
visit the site.

2. Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are a series of links that show users the path they
have taken to arrive at the current page. Breadcrumbs can be useful for users who
have gotten lost or who want to backtrack to a previous page.

3. Sidebar Navigation: Sidebar navigation is a menu that is located on the left or

right side of a website. It typically contains links to different sections of the site
and can be useful for websites with a lot of content.

4. Footer Navigation: Footer navigation is a menu that is located at the bottom of a

website. It typically contains links to important pages such as the About page,
Contact page, and Terms of Service page.

5. Hamburger Menu: The hamburger menu is a navigation icon that is located in

the top left or right corner of a website. When clicked, it reveals a menu with
links to different sections of the site.

6. Search Bar: The search bar is a tool that allows users to search for specific
content on a website. It is typically located at the top of a website and can be a
useful tool for users who are looking for something specific.

7. Call to Action Buttons: Call to action buttons are buttons that encourage users
to take a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a
purchase. These buttons are typically located in prominent positions on a website
and can help to guide users through the site.

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In conclusion, integrated navigation elements are an essential part of web design. They
help users navigate a website or web application with ease and create a seamless user
experience. By using a combination of navigation elements, designers can create a
website that is easy to use and navigate, no matter what the user's goals are.

Searching Systems

A searching system is an essential component of web technology, enabling users to search for specific
content on the internet. This system is responsible for indexing websites and organizing the results of user
queries into a list of relevant links.

There are various searching systems in web technology, including web crawlers, search engines, and
metasearch engines.

1. Web crawlers: Web crawlers, also known as spiders or bots, are programs designed to
systematically browse the web and collect data from websites. They follow hyperlinks to move from
one web page to another, and they index the content of each page they visit.
2. Search engines: Search engines use the data collected by web crawlers to create an index of web
pages, which they use to respond to user queries. When a user enters a search term, the search engine
retrieves a list of relevant pages from its index and presents them to the user in order of relevance.
3. Metasearch engines: Metasearch engines are similar to search engines, but instead of maintaining
their own index of web pages, they query multiple search engines and aggregate their results. This
enables users to see a broader range of results from different sources.
4. Indexing: Information identified by the crawler needs to be organized, Sorted, and Stored so that it
can be processed later by the ranking algorithm. Search engines don’t store all the information in
your index, but they keep things like the Title and description of the page, The type of content,
Associated keywords Number of incoming and outgoing links, and a lot of other parameters that
are needed by the ranking algorithm. Why indexing is important? Because if your website is not in
their index it will not appear for any searches this also means that if you have any pages indexed
you have more chances of appearing in the search results for a related query.

5. Ranking: Ranking is the position by which your website is listed in any Search Engine. (There are
three steps in which ranking works).

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 Step 1: Analyze user query – This step is to understand what kind of information the user is
looking for. To do that analyze the user’s query by breaking it down into a number of meaningful
keywords. A keyword is a word that has a specific meaning and purpose, for example when you
type how to make a chocolate cupcake search engines know that you are looking for specific
information so the results will contain recipes and step-by-step instructions. They can also
understand the meaning of how to change a light bulb is the same as how to replace a light bulb
search engines are clever enough to interpret spelling mistakes also.
Step 2: Finding matching pages – This step is to look into their index and find the best matching
pages, for example, if you search dark wallpaper then it gives you the result of images, not text.
Step 3: Present the results to the users – A typical search results page includes ten organic results
in most cases it is enriched with other elements like paid Ads, direct answers for specific queries,
etc.
The effectiveness of a searching system depends on the quality of the web crawling and indexing algorithms
used. Additionally, search engines often use complex ranking algorithms to determine the relevance of each
page to a user's query.

In recent years, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies have been increasingly used in
searching systems to improve the accuracy and relevance of search results. These technologies enable search
engines to better understand user intent and context, and to personalize search results based on a user's
previous search history and other relevant data.

Overall, searching systems are critical components of web technology, enabling users to find the information
they need quickly and efficiently.

Here are some key points about searching systems in web technology:

 Searching systems are essential for users to find specific content on the internet.
 Web crawlers are programs that systematically browse the web and collect data from
websites.
 Search engines create an index of web pages based on the data collected by web crawlers
and use it to respond to user queries.
 Metasearch engines query multiple search engines and aggregate their results to provide
users with a broader range of results.
 The effectiveness of a searching system depends on the quality of the web crawling and
indexing algorithms used.
 Search engines use complex ranking algorithms to determine the relevance of each page
to a user's query.
 Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are increasingly used in
searching systems to improve the accuracy and relevance of search results.

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 Personalization is becoming more prevalent in searching systems as they aim to
understand user intent and context.
 The goal of searching systems is to help users find the information they need quickly and
efficiently.
 Searching systems play a critical role in web technology, enabling users to access and
navigate the vast amount of information available on the internet.

Searching Your Web Site

Searching and Your Web Site The preceding three chapters were intended to help you create the best
browsing system possible for your web site. This chapter describes when to use a search engine with your
site and demonstrates techniques that will make searching work best for it. Throughout this chapter, we use
examples of searching systems from major sites which allow you to search the entire Web, as well as site-
specific search engines. Although these Web-wide tools are different in that they index a much broader
collection of content than your search system will, it is nonetheless very useful to study them. Of all
searching systems, none has undergone the testing, usage, and investment that Web-wide search tools have,
so why not benefit from their research?

Searching your website refers to the process of allowing users to search for content within your website
using a search engine. Implementing a search function on your website can greatly enhance user experience
by allowing users to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for.

Here are some key points to consider when implementing a search function on your website:
 Choose a search engine: There are a number of search engine options available for website owners,
including Google Custom Search, Apache Solr, and ElasticSearch. Consider factors such as cost, ease of
implementation, and features when selecting a search engine.
 Optimize your content: In order for your search function to be effective, your website content should
be properly optimized with relevant keywords and metadata.
 Design your search interface: Your search interface should be intuitive and easy to use, with clear
instructions and options for refining search results.
 Test and refine: Once your search function is live, monitor usage and collect feedback from users to
identify any areas for improvement.

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Implementing a search function on your website can greatly improve user experience and make it easier for
visitors to find the information they are looking for. By carefully selecting a search engine, optimizing your
content, and designing an effective search interface, you can create a powerful tool that enhances the overall
functionality and usability of your website.

When not to make your site searchable

Before we delve into searching systems, we need to make a point: think twice before you make
your site searchable. What? What's the point of having a web site if people can't find information
in it? Your site should of course support the finding of its information. But don't assume a search
engine alone will satisfy all users' information needs. While many users want to search a site,
some just want to browse it. Also, does your site have enough content to merit the use of a
search engine? How much is enough? It's hard to say. It could be five resources or fifty; no
specific number serves as a threshold. Perhaps a site with five long, dense documents deserves a
search engine more than one with a collection of twenty brief, well-labeled documents. In any
case, you'll want to balance the time necessary to set up and maintain a searching system with
the payoff it brings to your site's users. Because many site developers see search engines as the
solution to the problems that users are experiencing when trying to find information in their sites,
search engines become bandages for sites with poorly designed browsing systems. If you see
yourself falling into this trap, you should probably suspend implementing your searching system
until you fix your browsing system's problems. Search engines are fairly easy to get up and
running, but like much of the Web, they are difficult to set up effectively. As a user of the Web,
you've certainly seen incomprehensible search interfaces, and we're sure that your queries have
retrieved some pretty strange results. This often is the result of a lack of planning by the site
developer, who probably installed the search engine with its default settings, pointed it at his or
her site, and forgot about it. So, if you don't plan on putting some significant time into
configuring your search engine properly, reconsider your decision to implement it. Now that
we've got our warnings and threats out of the way, we'll discuss when to implement searching
systems, and how you can make them work better. 6

When To Make Your Site Searchable

Most web sites, as we know, aren't planned out in much detail before they're built. Instead, they
grow organically. This may be all right for smaller web sites that aren't likely to expand much,
but for ones that become popular, more and more content and functional features get added
haphazardly, leading to a navigation nightmare. There's a good analogy of physical architecture.
Powell's Books (http://www.powells.com), which claims to be the largest bookstore in the world,

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covers an entire city block (43,000 square feet) in Portland, Oregon. We guess that it originally
started as a single small storefront on that block, but as their business grew, they knocked a
doorway through the wall into the next storefront, and so on, until they occupied the whole
block. The result is a hodgepodge of chambers, halls with odd turns, and unexpected stairways.
This chaotic labyrinth is a charming place to wander and browse, but if you're searching for a
particular title, good luck. It will be difficult to find what you're looking for, although you might
serendipitously stumble onto something better. Yahoo! once was a Web version of Powell's.
Everything was there, but fairly easy to find. Why? Because Yahoo!, like the Web, was
relatively small. At its inception, Yahoo! pointed to a few hundred Internet resources, made
accessible through an easily browsable subject hierarchy. No search option was available,
something unimaginable to Yahoo! users today. But things soon changed. Yahoo! had an
excellent technical architecture that allowed site owners to easily self-register their sites, but
Yahoo!'s information architecture wasn't very well-planned, and couldn't keep up with the
increasing volume of resources that were added daily. Eventually, the subject hierarchy became
too cumbersome to navigate, and the Yahoo! people installed a search engine as an alternative
way of finding information in the site. Nowadays it's a decent bet that more people use Yahoo!'s
search engine instead of browsing through all those hierarchical subject categories, although the
browsable categories remain useful as a supplement to the searching process (and, in fact, are
included in search results). Your site probably doesn't contain as much content as Yahoo! does,
but if it's a substantial site, it probably merits a search engine. There are good reasons for this:
users won't be willing to browse through your site's structure. Their time is limited, and their
cognitive overload threshold is lower than you think. Interestingly, sometimes users won't
browse for the wrong reasons; that is, they search when they don't necessarily know what to
search for. Even though they would be better served by browsing, they search anyway. You
should also consider creating a searching system for your site if it contains highly dynamic
content. For example, if your site is a Web-based newspaper, you could be adding dozens of
story files daily. For this reason, you probably wouldn't have the time each day to maintain
elaborate tables of contents, browsable indices, and other browsing systems. A search engine can
help you by automatically indexing the contents of the site once or many times per day.
Automating this process ensures that users have quality access to your site's content, and you can
spend time doing things other than manually indexing and linking the story files.

Designing the Search Interface

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Designing the search interface is an essential task for any web-based application that provides a search
function. The search interface should be intuitive, user-friendly, and efficient to help users find what they are
looking for quickly and easily.

Often, users are moving quickly on the interface when they are searching. The interface should allow them to
carry out searches quickly and not waste their time locating the search bar. We should follow the following
guidelines regarding search:

 search should be available on every page of the interface, as the user might feel the need to search at
any time.
 search should be in a box, as users scan the interface and a box search is what they are accustomed to.
 search should be a type-in-field in the form of a text box and not a link.
 the search box should be placed at the top right corner of the page, as the convention dictates it
should be and that is where the users look for it.
 the search box’s size should be wide enough to contain a typical sized query. If it is too small, the
query will scroll, and this decreases usability.
 the most relevant search results should appear on the first page, as users rarely go to the second page
of the search results.

Here are some key factors to consider when designing the search interface:

1. Search Box Placement:

The search box should be prominently placed on the homepage, ideally at the top of the page, as
users typically look for it there. It should be visible and accessible to users without scrolling.
2. Search Box Size:
The size of the search box should be large enough to accommodate typical search queries, and the
font size should be readable. A smaller search box may discourage users from entering complex
queries, while a too-large box may make the interface cluttered.
3. Search Box Functionality:
The search box should have auto-complete suggestions, which can help users by suggesting popular
search terms or recent queries. Autocomplete can speed up the search process, improve user
engagement, and help reduce typos and errors.
4. Search Results Layout:
The search results layout should be visually appealing, easy to read, and structured so that users can
quickly scan and find relevant information. The results page should provide filters and sorting options
that help users refine their search and quickly identify the most relevant information.
5. Relevance and Ranking:
The search algorithm should prioritize relevant results and rank them in a logical order. Factors such
as keyword relevance, popularity, and recency should be considered when ranking search results. It's
important to ensure that the search algorithm is working correctly and producing accurate results.
6. Feedback Mechanisms:

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 The search interface should include feedback mechanisms that enable users to provide feedback on
the search results. For example, users may flag a result as irrelevant, report broken links, or suggest
improvements to the search algorithm. This feedback can help improve the search experience for all
users.
7. Search Analytics:
Search analytics should be used to track user behavior and gather insights that can inform future
improvements to the search interface. For example, search analytics can reveal popular search
queries, the most clicked search results, and the percentage of users who refine their search queries.
This data can be used to optimize the search interface and improve user engagement.

Before designing a search interface, there are several things that should be considered. Here are some of the
key factors:

 User Needs and Expectations: It's important to understand the user's needs and expectations when
designing a search interface. What are the typical search queries, and what types of information are
users looking for? What are the most important features and functions that users expect from a search
interface? Conducting user research and gathering feedback can help inform the design process.
 Context of Use: The context of use is an important consideration when designing a search interface.
For example, the search interface for a library database will differ significantly from a search
interface for an e-commerce site. The type of content, the scope of the search, and the level of
expertise of the user will all impact the design of the search interface.
 Search Algorithm and Ranking: The search algorithm and ranking strategy will impact the relevance
and accuracy of search results. It's important to consider factors such as keyword matching,
popularity, recency, and user behavior when designing the search algorithm.
 User Interface Design: The user interface design should be intuitive, visually appealing, and
consistent with the overall design of the website or application. It's important to consider factors such
as the size and placement of the search box, the layout of search results, and the use of filters and
sorting options.
 Performance and Scalability: The performance and scalability of the search interface should be
considered, especially if the website or application is expected to handle a large volume of searches
or users. The search interface should be designed to optimize speed and minimize the load on the
server.
 Feedback and Analytics: Feedback and analytics mechanisms should be included in the search
interface to gather feedback from users and track user behavior. This data can be used to continuously
improve the search interface and provide better search results for users.

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