Title: READ: Website URLs
Course: Computer Technology

What is a URL?

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is an address of any electronic file (including those on the internet). Here is an example of a URL:

http://openhighschool.org

A URL is sometimes also called a web address when it refers to a website. However, a URL can be the address of any electronic file.

Internet URLs always have a domain name. The domain name is part of the URL, and is separated by a period. Here are the most common domain names and what they stand for:
- .com - commercial website
- .net - network
- .org - nonprofit organization
- .edu - educational institution
- .gov - government
- .mil - military

It is good to keep in mind that a domain name can say a lot about the quality and legitimacy of information on the internet.

Why does it matter if you don't know who the author is?

Knowing who wrote the webpage can be useful and informative. A web page may be biased if it is written by someone with a high stake interest in it and/or an 'enemy.'

Example #1...

A website talks about how wonderful, attractive, and safe City X is. If that website is written by the main tourist hotel in City X, is it bias? Have they left out a higher than normal crime rate, the fact City X may only have 14 days with temps above 58 degrees, or only 1 restaurant in town?

Example #2...

A website talks about how great a teacher Professor Y is. Unfortunately it was all created and written by Professor Y. Another site talks about how horrible Professor Y is. Unfortunately it was created by a disgruntled student who failed a class taught by Professor Y.

What is the true nature of Professor Y, good or bad?

Source: http://ocw.usu.edu/Instructional_Technology/principles-and-practices-of-technology/web-site-evaluation.Creative Commons License