what's?? the internet!!

simple computer network. However, it happens to be the biggest computer network in the world.

A computer network is a system for connecting many different computers so they can share information. At schools and businesses, you may have seen cables and wires connecting computers to form a network.

When you are using the Internet you are becoming part of a huge network.

In accessing the Internet from home, you probably use a modern to dial up a local number that connects you to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). When you connect, you become part of their network. The ISP then conects you to a larger network, so that you can get access to any website in which you may be interested.

Every website is stored on a computer somewhere, perhaps thousands of miles away from you. This computer is called a server. But how does your computer know what computer has the website you are looking for?

The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) provides the location for a website. For example, http://www.monkeyshinespublishers.com is the location for the website for Monkeyshines. This address has different parts.

http stands for "hypertext transfer protocol". Protocol is a word that means "communication". http is the way that your computer communicates with the website you are trying to reach.

www stands for "World Wide Web". The World Wide Web is the part of the Internet that anyone can use. The www is the host name, which specifies a certain type of server. A server can actually use any three letters for a web address, but www is available to everyone so it is more familar to us.