1998 Edition
Great! You are able to search the Internet for criminal justice related information. Now what? The following exercises will put your skills to the test. These questions are essentially the same as those in the Quick Guide book. However, updates are provided here to links and other information that may change occasionally. Like most web research issues, these questions may have more than one answer. The answers below are what I consider to be the best responses. Good Luck!
Chapter One Questions
1) The Internet is said to have a decentralized structure. What are
the advantages of this? What are the disadvantages of this?
Answer. The Internet was given a decentralized and open structure to
ensure that military communications (the Internet’s original mission) could not be
disrupted easily. Many locations would have to be destroyed to completely disrupt
communications. Having an open structure allowed anyone with a modem and telephone line to
connect to the Internet. This meant that those with a legitimate interest could connect to
the Net. Additionally those without a a legitimate interest could connect to the Net.
2) Why did the Internet expand beyond its original military
mission?
Answer. Being an open system, many educational, business, government
and research institutions found the Internet to be an efficient means of communications.
Individuals connected to the net to take advantage of the vast array of services available
on the Net. For more information, visit this website: History of the Internet at http://www.ccit.arizona.edu/internet/inthist.html.
3) How may the Internet be of use to students? To criminal justice
professionals?
Answer. Students may use the Internet to research library
catalogues, retrieve assignments from professors, send e-mail messages to friends and
family, and search for interesting materials all over the world. Criminal justice
professionals routinely transmit crime statistics, forensics information, investigative
materials job placement information over the Internet. For more information, browse the
Allyn and Bacon Quick Guide for Criminology and Criminal Justice website at http://www.concentric.net/~nesbary/abaconcj.html.
Chapter Two Questions
1) How does the Internet differ from the World Wide Web?
Answer. The Internet is a global array of computers connected by a
network. It supports numerous communications modes. The World Wide Web is a portion of the
Internet that supports multimedia communications.
2) Please describe the difference between a web page and a home
page. Can a home page be a web page?
Answer. A web page is a file on the Internet formatted for use with
a web browser.. A home page is the web page designated as being the first page seen upon
entering a website. A home page is then by definition a web page.
3) Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are ware web
browsers. What is a web browser and how does it benefit the Internet user?
Answer. Web browsing programs allow the user to retrieve hypertext
and multimedia files over the Internet. This means that the user may view and retrieve
pictures, audio files, formatted text and graphics via the Internet. With web browsers, it
is more difficult to search for information.
4) Find a partner in class. Using Netscape's email utility, send the
following message: "Email is the greatest thing since sliced bread." For help
try this link: Netscape Handbook: Mail, News, and Bookmarks at http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/handbook/docs/mnb.html#C0.
Chapter Three Questions
1) Using Netscape, open the New Jersey Department of Law and Public
Safety website. Click the Location Bar and type in the following URL: http://www.state.nj.us/lps/. Now, click on the
Division of State Police link. Did the page open? If not, why not?
Answer. The page should not open. As of this date, the Division of
State Police does not have a web page. It is expected that the division will have a web
page developed sometime during 1997. The page will open at that time.
2) Click the Back Toolbar Button once. This returns you your home
page. Now click the forward button twice. What happens? Did you move beyond the New Jersey
Department of Law and Public Safety website. If yes, why? If no, why not?
Answer. You did not move beyond the New Jersey Department of Law
Enforcement and Public Safety. This website is the last site you opened. The forward
button cannot move you further until you open additional websites.
3) Using Netscape, open the Virginia State Police website. To do
this, click the Location Bar and type the following URL: http://dit1.state.va.us/vsp/vsp.html.
Click the Find Toolbar Button. Type in the word commonwealth (not case sensitive). Click
the Find Next button. How many times did the word commonwealth appear on this page?
The number of times the word commonwealth appears will vary. As of
March, 1997 the word commonwealth appeared three times. If the web page is changed,
additional instances of the word commonwealth may be added, or it may be totally removed
from the website.
Chapter Four Questions
1) Using the Allyn and Bacon Criminal Justice website, find the
United States Government Budget Website. Find the Budget link, click it and save Table 4.1
(Outlays By Agency, 1962 - 2002) to disk.
Answer. Your search will yield thousands of results with the best
hits listed first. The appropriate website is http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/budget98/hist_wk4.html.
2) Open Table 4.1 in a spreadsheet or word processing program. What
was the outlay (how much was spent) for the Department of Justice in Fiscal Year 1997?
Answer. The Department of Justice Outlay for Fiscal Year 1997 is
$15.596 billion.
3) Using the Alta Vista search engine, find the FBI Drug Enforcement
Administration. How many "hits" did Alta Vista find related to your topic?
Answer. Using the quote operator to limit your search to the phrase
"FBI Drug Enforcement Administration" your search will yield 26 hits with the
best hits listed first. The correct website is http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/deahome.htm. You
may have to open some of the hits to find the Drug Enforcement Administration.
4) Using the Yahoo search engine, Criminal Justice Institutes link.
How many links did you find?
Answer. The appropriate link is http://www.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Sociology/Criminal_Justice/Institutes/.
Approximately 40 links are included in this section.
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