Workforce Theme: Responsive Workforce

Let’s take a moment to go over some of the best features of the navigation software that reporters would likely need. Most of the illustrations will be from Netscape Navigator, but I will include descriptions of Internet Explorer when the functions are different from Netscape. Also note that each company releases updated versions of the software regularly.

Once connected to the Internet, click on the software icon, a preprogrammed “home page” will pop onto the screen. A home page is the main page of a Web computer site. Your new software will be programmed for either the software manufacturer’s home page or the computer manufacturer’s home page, either of which is not too useful for reporters. We will discuss briefly how to change the home page in a bit, but first some basics.

Near the top of the program is a white box (called “Location” in Netscape Navigator and “Address” in Internet Explorer). That gives you the computer address of the Web site that is currently on the screen. It is vital to keep a close eye on this box in order to determine where you are at all times and to enable you to evaluate the reliability of the information.

The power of the Web is in “hyperlinks, or simply “links,” which takes a user to another section of the same Web page, or to another page on the same computer site, or to a completely different site, all with a simple mouse click. You can see what has links by passing your mouse arrow over the text and graphics. If there is a link, the arrow will turn into a hand with an extended index finger pointing at the linked object.

Linked texts also stand out in a different colour from the unlinked portion of the text, usually in blue. To go to the link site, simply click with your mouse.

The point-and-click method is both the beauty and the problem with the Web. It is easy to get from one place to another, but too often users will go clicking through a site and soon do not know where they are or how they got there. That is why it is critical to keep your eye on the Web address. Even before clicking on a link, you can see the new address by placing the mouse pointer over the linked material. You may however be lucky sometimes to find your way back by clicking on the “back”

button. This can progressively bring you back to your starting point.

The linked address will appear in the bottom left portion of your screen.

Self Assessment Exercise 3.1

Explain the terms Modem and WWW.

Stop Right There!

It is important to be aware of what the computer is doing at any given time. Depending on the speed of your connection and the complexity of the graphics on the page being accessed, it could take some time before the page is fully loaded. To observe whether the screen is still downloading, look at the corporate icon in the top right corner of the screen. If it is moving, that means the last command is still being performed. The command is completed when the icon stops moving. The results of the command also can be viewed in the lower left-hand corner, which shows the computer opening up the file. When it is completed, Netscape tell you “Search: Done”. For graphic-laden Web sites on slow-moving modems, you may decide you simply want to cancel your last command. To do that, go up to the command bar and click on the red stop sign in Netscape or the red “X” in Explorer.

Getting Rid of Graphics

Graphics make Web pages eye-catching, but they do little, for journalists other than slow down their reporting, especially for those who do not have high-speed connections to the Internet. You may want to consider turning off the graphics. That leaves you with just text, but greatly speed up the downloading process. To turn off the graphics in Netscape, go to the “Options” menu and click on Auto Load Images. That will remove the check mark. To turn the graphic back on, repeat the command and the check mark will reappear. In Explorer, go to the View menu and select “Options”. Click on

“Appearance” and remove the checks from the top three boxes-Show Pictures, Play Sounds, and Animations – to remove the check marks.

Web Navigation Tools And Techniques

The following are some basic web navigation tools and techniques.

Moving Backward and Forward

Among the most important software tools are the Back and Forward commands. You can “surf” around a site – the process of clicking from one page to another via hyperlinks – and then if you decided what was really needed was something two clicks ago, simply “back out:” by using the Back button (a left arrow in Explorer). Each click on the Back button will take you to the previous page. The Forward button (a right arrow in Explorer) will take you ahead to points where you had been previously before backing out. Netscape and Explorer also leave a “footprint” on links that have been used recently by changing the traditional blue link text to a different colour, enabling you to retrace your steps.

Bookmarks

Each program also enables users to save the addresses of useful Web sites. When you come across a site you may want to return to, pull down the Bookmarks menu and go to “Add Bookmark”. The next time you want to go to that site, go back to the Bookmarks menu and pull down to the saved site. The “Go To Bookmarks” function under the Bookmarks menu allows user to organize their saved Web sites in folders.

Print, Find, and Save

Both programs have print buttons that will print out the full Web page you have opened on the screen. If a file is too long you may want to save it onto your computer hard drive or floppy disk and read it later. To save a file into a word processor, go to the File menu and select “Save As” (same in both programs). There will be other times when you are looking for a very small piece of information in a very large document. Instead of downloading the entire document into your word processor, you can click on the “Find” icon in Netscape and type in a keyword or phrase. “Find” will take you directly to the word or words you are seeking.

Go directly to a site

This enables you to go to specific addresses. Simply go to the Location box in Netscape (or the Address box in Explorer) and type in the address. Note that, as you begin making the change, the Location box name turns to “GO to:” (and Explorer’s Address box turns to “Open”). Alternatively, you can click on the “Open” icon in Netscape (Open File icon on the top right side in Explorer) and type in the address. Either way, be sure the address is precise.

A misplaced comma, an extra letter or a dot instead of a slash will result in a failed search. Also note that in newer versions of

Navigator and Explorer, the programs automatically add the http:// to the beginning of all addresses.

Searching

Search engines are used when you do not have a specific Web address. There are many search engines out there, they all work differently, and there is no single search engine that can comprehensively search through Internet. To easily access some of the major search engines, click in the Net Search button on Netscape under the Location box. On this page Netscape has links to a handful of the most popular and powerful search engines, including Yahoo.

Infoseeks, Lycos, and WebCrawler. Much like the personal preferences for Navigator or Explorer, everyone who has ever been on the Net has a favorite search engine and sticks to it. The reality, however, is that we should use different search engines for different situations.

Changing the Home Page

As we discussed earlier, the browser software comes with a preprogrammed home page that appears every time you go on-line. It usually advertises the software you are using or the computer you have just bought or something not too useful for a deadline reporter.

Instead, the home page can be changed to a site that a reporter might actually want to look at and use in daily reporting. Some options include your own newspaper, you local news competition, a dominant regional newspaper, or a national publication. The home page also could be the Web site of an institution you cover regularly, such as National Assembly or the University of Lagos.

To change the home page on Navigator, go to the “Options” menu and pull down to preferences. Click on “Appearances” and, inside the Startup box, type in the address of the Web site you want to be your opening page. In Internet Explorer, call up the page you want to be your home page, they go to the View menu and pull down

“Options”. Click on the Start and Search Pages, click on the Use Current button and then the OK button. The home button icon on Navigator (and house icon on Explorer) will bring you back to your home page.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Your access to the Internet begins with a deliberate attempt to get connected and also frequently patronizing the Net. Mastering the use of the Net therefore needs a constant use of it. This will no doubt enhance your knowledge of the Internet and its use in making your job easy as a journalist.

5.0 SUMMARY

This unit has briefly introduced you to how to search for materials on the Net and the basic navigational tools and techniques needed to do this.

You must be acquainted with these tools and techniques for your proper understanding of their functions and working.

6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)

Name six web navigation tools and explain five of them in detail.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Houston Brand, (1999): Computer Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide 2^nd Edition, New York, Bedford/ St. Martin’s.

Randall. D. (2000) The Universal Journalist 2nd Edition, London, Pluto Press.

UNIT 4 USING THE BROWSER