Internet Computing — HIT100 Course Notes OmpathStudy

Internet Computing — HIT100 Course Notes Course notes for the Internet Computing section of HIT100 Information Technology, University of Nairobi. Covers the history of the internet, intranets and extranets, web browsers, core protocols, searching techniques, and access to medical information via PubMed. Objectives There has been a significant increase in the demand for data mining in internet technologies. The objective of this section of the course is to review the state-of-the-art of internet computing technologies and basic searching techniques, so that students can use the internet effectively — especially for accessing medical literature. Foundations History and Evolution of the Internet The internet began as ARPANET in the late 1960s, a U.S. government research network designed to connect universities and military sites. It grew through the 1970s and 1980s as academic and research institutions joined, and exploded into public use in the 1990s with the development of the World Wide Web and graphical browsers. Today the internet is a global network of networks connecting billions of devices. Internet, Intranet and Extranet Internet — the worldwide public network that connects computers across the globe. Anyone with access can use it. Intranet — a private network belonging to a single organisation, using the same technologies as the internet (web pages, email) but accessible only to the organisation's members, usually protected by a firewall. Extranet — a private network that extends an organisation's intranet to selected outsiders, such as partners, suppliers or customers, over a secure connection. Web Browser A web browser is a software application used to access and display information on the World Wide Web. Common browsers include Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. The browser requests web pages using HTTP, renders the HTML content, and lets the user navigate through hyperlinks. Basic Tools of Internet Access Email — electronic mail for sending and receiving messages and attachments. Telnet — a protocol for logging into remote computers over the network and using them as if they were local. FTP — File Transfer Protocol, used to transfer files between computers over the internet. XML — eXtensible Markup Language, a flexible language for structuring and exchanging data between systems. HTTP — HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol used by web browsers and servers to request and deliver web pages. TCP/IP — Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the fundamental communication protocols that carry data across the internet. IP handles addressing and routing; TCP ensures reliable delivery of the data. SMTP — Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, the protocol used for sending and relaying email messages between mail servers. Searching Techniques Creating a search strategy — decide what you are looking for, identify the key concepts, choose appropriate keywords and combinations before you start. Basic search tips — use specific keywords, try synonyms, use quotes for exact phrases and refine your results step by step. Field searching — restrict your search to a particular part of the record, e.g. the title, author or subject field. Title searching — searching for your keywords only in document titles, which increases precision. Domain searching — restricting results to a specific top-level domain, such as .edu , .org or .gov , to improve the quality and relevance of results. Natural language search — typing a query as an ordinary question or sentence, which the search engine interprets and returns ranked results for. Applications Access to Medical Journals and Articles The internet gives medical and dental students free access to the scientific literature: Access to medical journals and articles, book information and full-text medical e-books. Medline via PubMed — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's database of biomedical literature, containing over 30 million citations and abstracts. It is the standard starting point for searching the medical literature. Using search strategies to retrieve relevant papers, abstracts and full text for study and research. Health Informatics: Ethical Orientation in E-health E-health applies information and communication technology to health care. Using it ethically means: Protecting patient confidentiality and privacy when health information is stored and transmitted electronically. Using health information only for legitimate, authorised purposes. Being critical of the quality and reliability of medical information found on the internet. Accessing Medical Information from the Internet Students learn to find, evaluate and use medical information online — from journals and textbooks to clinical guidelines and health statistics — while remaining aware of the need to verify sources and avoid unverified or misleading content.