110CSC004/105 Information Technology

Dr Barry McCollum

(b.mccollum@qub.ac.uk)

Introduction Lecture

• Provide Documentation

• Aims and Objectives

• Course Structure– Assign Practical Classes

• Assessment

• Syllabus

Aims and Objectives• Aim

– to provide the fundamental principles of Information Technology• word processing• spreadsheets, • databases, • powerpoint• Internet • E Commerce

• Objectives– gain an appreciation of application software packages– be able to construct a useful spreadsheet– understand the fundamentals of database systems and be able to construct

simple relational databases

Aims and Objectives

• Objectives (continued)– learn to use Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and

PowerPoint– Learn HTML and be able to create World Wide

Web pages– Foundations of Electronic Commerce

Course Structure

• Read in detail the course material

• Practical based Structure

• Emphases on learning

Course Structure

• 24 Lectures– Monday and Wednesday 10 - 11am

• Practical Sessions– 2 hour duration– Time to be arranged (beginning 2nd week)

• Assessment Sessions– Fridays 10 - 11 am (beginning 3rd week)

Module Assessment

• Assessment classes 20 %

• Web Project 10 %

• Class Test 10 %

• Examination 60 %

Text Books

• Mastering Microsoft Office (2nd Edition)– Clare Martin & Helen Holding

• HTML 4 for the World Wide Web (4th Edition)– Elizabeth Castro

• Both books are Compulsory.

Weekly Personal Study

• 2 x 1 hour lectures 2 hours

• 1 x 2 hour practical class 2 hours

• 1 x 1 hour assessment class1 hour

• 2 x 2 hour personal study of lecture material

• 1 x 4 hour preparation for practicals and / or project work

Syllabus• Course Outline• HTML

– World Wide Web, simple first page– Advanced

• Word processing– advanced exercises

• Spreadsheets– file management, cell manipulation, layout, functions,

formulas.– Charts, multi-worksheet workbooks

Syllabus (continued)

• Databases– introduction, tables– relationships, queries, forms, reports– Design and implementation

• PowerPoint

• Industry trends– E-commerce

Hardware• 100 plus computers [PCs] in the first floor

lab

• 170 computers in the ground floor lab

• Each computer contains a Intel Pentium processor and is connected to the School and University networks

• University has seven Student Computer Centres

Software• Each computer has an operating system

– program that co-ordinates the use of the hardware resources:

• processor

• memory

• discs

• input/output

– enables several programs to run at one time– Windows NT

Windows NT• Route by which we use other programs

– Netscape Internet Browser– Notepad– Microsoft Office

• Provides a File System for storing programs and data– Windows explorer– my computer

• Allows computers to be networked

Internet• Computers connected by telecommunication

networks• Each computer is identified by a four part IP

address e.g.– 143.117.5.35

• May have a name attached e.g.– Lackey.cs.qub.ac.uk

• Any computer can direct messages around the world• Introduction by Elizabeth Castro

Internet• Interactive

• electronic web that connects people and businesses that have access to networks and allows them to send and receive E-mail and to participate in a number of other activities around the clock

• In essence, the Internet provides two basic capabilities– Information retrieval– Worldwide communication

E Mail

• Most popular networked application

• Messages are stored in a central post office (an area of disk) mail server

• Each user has a private mailbox on a mail server

• To gain access the user will need a username and a password

Structure of a Message

• An e-mail message contains basic elements– header

• information pertaining to sending a message– To

• address of the recipient– Subject

• summary of message– Cc

• who should receive copies of message

• The text of the message appears in the area below the header

An E Mail Address

• User may send messages to anyone on the Internet

• Address depends on the location of the recipient

• Example– B.McCollum@qub.ac.uk

• Username, mail server, domain by which the computer is connected

E Mail - Domains• Networks that comprise the internet are

organised into a series of domains

• Enable E Mails to be delivered

• Universities belong to the “ac” domain within the UK

• Government agencies are in the “gov” domain

• Commercial organisations are in the “com” domain

Internet - History

• Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

• Linked Department of Defense centers with Universities

• Exchange of data through use of Protocols

• Other organisations joined

How the Internet Works

• Data is transmitted through a series of protocols known collectively as TCP/IP

• Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

• Data is sent from one network to the next in packets, each packet limited in size

• The rules for creating, addressing and sending the packets are specifies by TCP/IP

• The TCP portion

– divides the file into packets

– numbers each packet

• The IP portion sends each packet on its way

by specifying the addresses of the sending

and receiving computers so that the routers

will be able to do the same

Internet - Access

• Access through a company’s connection or through commercial online services– CompuServe– Microsoft Network (MSN)

• A standalone PC will gain access through a dial-up connection via a modem

• Communicate with any computer which follows the TCP/IP protocol

Current Internet Issues

• security, copyright, theft, unauthorised access (hacking)

• information overload

• employees are “surfing the net” for fun rather than for business purpose

• traffic jams

• lack of uniform, interface

• ownership

The Internet applications

• communication and collaboration (using email, computer conferencing)

• advertising/sending goods and services• access to online information services and

online databases• electronic publishing• commercial (data acquisition, exchange,

distribution)

The World Wide Web

• Originally uninviting and difficult to use– ftp– Telnet– Archie– Gopher

• No common user interface to speed learning

• Graphics and sound were not available

World Wide Web• organised as a hypertext tool designed to

improve access to the Net but now commonly used as a term for the body of data available on the net.

• allows users to access and display documents and graphics stored on any server on the internet

• Can be thought of as a large subset of the Internet

World Wide Web• Consists of hypertext and/or hypermedia• Hypertext document

– contains a link to another document

• Hypermedia– provides links to graphics, sound and videoclips

• effortless movement from one document to another

• (HTML)

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http)

• Every client must be able to display every document from every server

• Data travels between clients and servers through a protocol known as http

• A browser is required - Netscape Navigator

• Every server/document has a unique address

• This is known as the documents URL

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)• Location appears in the location text box• Primarily a means of navigating the Web• Indicates the address of the Web server from which a

document has been requested• A URL consists of

– method of access– internet address of the web server– path in the directory structure (optional)– document name

• http://www.abs.u_net.com/vt/main.html

Search Engines• Allows information to be found easily

• Search Form

• Key word search

• Query

• Each uses own database of documents

• Each has a special program - spider– automatically searches the web on a periodic basis

• No consensus on the “best” engine

Search Engines

• Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com

• InfoSeek http://www.infoseek.com

• Lycos http://www.lycos.com

• OpenText http://www.opentext.com

• WebCrawler http://www.webcrawler.com

• Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com

Questions

• What types of Browsers are there?

• What are the differences?

• What is XML?

• What are the advantages of using XML?