Page Authoring for the World Wide Web

CS 297
January 1997

Instructor:

Thomas P. Kelliher
Hoyt 160
Office phone: 946-7290
Home phone: 946-3544
E-mail: Send mail to kelliher AT DOMAIN abacus.westminster.edu
URL: keystone.westminster.edu/~kelliher
Office hours: 3:00--3:30pm, other times by appointment.

Class:

Hoyt G35: Mathematics and Computer Science Lab
M--F 12:00--3:00pm

Objectives:

1. To understand, at an appropriate level, how a computer works and the relevance of a PC's various components.
2. To understand, at an appropriate level, how an operating system manages computer resources and how it provides services to application programs.
3. To understand that a personal computer can be used for performing many different tasks: word processing, web browsing, electronic mail, etc.
4. To become familiar with the Internet and the tools associated with it: web browser, telnet, ftp, e-mail, etc.
5. To learn several ways of authoring pages for the World Wide Web, including such features as tables, images, and links to other pages.
6. To understand how computing is an integral part of our society's infrastructure.
7. To understand how computing fits (and doesn't fit) into our future.

Textbooks:

1. A. Simpson, Official Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0 Book, Netscape Press, 1996. Required.
2. L. Hefferin and L. Acklen, Word 6 for Windows Essentials, Que, 1995. Required.
3. M. Meyer and R. Baber, Computers in Your Future, Que, 1995. Optional.

Web Resources:

Please note that periods almost never terminate URLs. They are quite useful, however, for terminating sentences with URLs at the end. Recognize the difference.

1. World Wide Web Consortium, www.w3.org. The Web's ``governing'' body.
2. Search engines:
   • AltaVista, altavista.digital.com.
   • Lycos, lycos.com.
   • WebCrawler, webcrawler.com.
   • Yahoo, yahoo.com.
   • There are many others. Starting from yahoo.com/Computers/Internet, can you find a list of search engines?
3. Guidelines for Web Document Style & Design,
   sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web/guidelines.html.

4. A Beginner's Guide to HTML,
   www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html.

5. HTML 2.0 Materials, www.w3.org/pub/WWW/MarkUp/html-spec/.
6. The Bare Bones Guide to HTML, werbach.com/barebones/.
7. The WWW Help Page, werbach.com/web/wwwhelp.html
8. Creating Net Sites, home.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/index.html.
9. NCSA Mosaic Web Index,
   www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/Docs/web-index.html.

10. HTML Reference Manual, www.sandia.gov/sci_compute/html_ref.html.
11. Composing Good HTML, www.cs.cmu.edu/~tilt/cgh/.
12. Webreference.com, ww.webreference.com/.

Required Materials:

For safekeeping important data, a few 3.5" floppy diskettes will come in handy. Required for learning how to format a floppy. Available in the bookstore.

Grading:

Grade Distribution

A = [90--100]
B = [80--90)
etc.

I use +/- grading sparingly.

Course Point Distribution

There will be 530 total points for the class. They will be distributed as follows:

1. Quizzes --- Quizzes will be given on Fridays. Four quizzes, 60 points each.

2. Papers --- Two 4--5 page papers, 60 points each. Some suggested topics:
   1. Buying a computer: must-have features, ``nice'' features, questionable features. Compare and contrast two PC systems.
   2. Analyze a software application; compare two examples of it.
   3. Explore an ethical issue related to computing or networked communications. For example, term paper archives.
   4. Explore an issue related to security or privacy in the electronic age. For example, electronic data gathering.
   5. A study of the use of computing and communications in your discipline.
   6. A study of future uses of computing and communications.
   If you have other ideas for topics, please discuss them with me.

3. Project --- Personal home page. 120 points.

4. Attendance, participation. 50 points.

No extra credit is available.

Course Handouts:

Most course handouts will be made available once in class. After that, they may be obtained from my personal home page on the World Wide Web (see the URL above). I also expect to distribute solutions through my home page.

Attendance:

Attendance of classes is expected and is a part of your grade. It is your responsibility to catch up on missed class work.

Integrity:

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Unless explicitly stated, you are to work alone.

Tentative Schedule:

It is your responsibility to read the assigned material before class. Some of the reading is ``outside'' reading and won't be covered in class.

Readings abbreviations:

• S: Simpson.
• HA: Hefferin & Acklen.
• MB: Meyer & Baber.

Jan. 6: Introduction, computer hardware. Video. MB Chapters 1, 2, and 10.

Jan. 7: The Internet: history, concepts, WWW, e-mail. Video MB Chapter 5. S Chapters 2, 24, and 27. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 8: The operating system. MB Chapter 3. Formatting a floppy. Programming.

Jan. 9: The Internet: telnet, gopher, USENET, etc. S Chapters 28 and 29. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 10: Software. Quiz I. MB Chapter 4. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 13: Word I. HA Projects 1--3. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 14: Word II. HA Projects 4--6. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 15: Paper I. In-class day for you to work on your paper.

Jan. 16: Netscape I. S Chapters 5--8. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 17: Netscape II. Quiz II. Paper I due. S Chapters 9 and 10. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 20: Word III. HA Projects 7 and 8. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 21: Ethics, privacy, and ``thinking machines.'' MB Chapters 8 and 9. Video(s).

Jan. 22: Paper II. In-class day for you to work on your paper.

Jan. 23: Netscape III. Home page I. S Chapter 11. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 24: Netscape IV. Home page II. Quiz III. Paper II due. S Chapter 12. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 27: Netscape IV. Home page III. S Chapter 15. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 28: Netscape V. Home page IV. S Chapter 16. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 29: Netscape VI. Home page V. S Chapter 17. Hands-on exercises.

Jan. 30: Home page VI.

Jan. 31: Quiz IV. Home page due.