|
Most URLs include the name
and type of organization
sponsoring the page. The
type of organization is
identified by a three-letter
code called a "top level
domain name." Here are some
of the most common domains
you will find. |
 |
educational institution
Even
though a page comes from an
educational institution, it
does not mean the
institution endorses the
views expressed there.
Students or faculty members
may publish personal pages
in their account on the
school's computer. |
 |
commercial entity
Many
companies advertise and sell
products, as well as publish
annual reports and other
company information for
their customers,
stockholders and potential
investors on the Web. Much
of the quality information
you can purchase such as
online newspapers or
journals have .com names. |
 |
federal government
Government agencies use the
Web to publish legislation,
census information, weather
data, tax forms and many
other documents. |
 |
non-profit organization
Non-profit organizations use
the Web to promote their
causes. These are good
sources to use when
comparing different sides of
an issue. |
 |
network provider
This
group is an odd mix of
companies, associations and
Internet Service Providers.
Information on these sites
can look similar to sites
from .com, .org, or even
personal pages. |
|
Recently the division
between these top-level
domains became blurred.
Sometimes non-profit
organizations and
educational institutions are
now found under .com or
.net. This makes it more
difficult to determine the
organization that is
publishing the page.
The number of top-level
domain names will soon be
increasing. New domain names
include .museum, .info, and
.biz. The origin of some
international sites can be
determined by
country codes found in
the URL. |
