Homework Explain these terms in your own words. If they are not your own words, they need to be in quotes with a source given. Sources 1.Wilson 2.Webopedia 3.Burke 4.Other authoritative sources 5.Wikipedia
ROM Read Only Memory Used on chips and discs Data can not be altered, deleted, augmented or overwritten Data is retained when computer is turned off
Hard Disk Hard Drive is the main storage area for a PC. Up to 100 GB. Data persists without power Much larger capacity than a floppy disk Does a hard disk use ROM?
Sound Card Expansion card that allows the computer to receive audio input from a mic and send audio output to speakers/headset. The sound card converts digital data to analog audio and vice versa.
Mouse An input device which allows a user to interact with a computer through a point and click system. Dragging the mouse moves the cursor/pointer on the screen. Variations on a mouse –Track ball –Touch pad etc.
Scanner Input device that reads images. Barcode scanner – reads barcodes Optical scanner – scans images and text with the help of Optical Character Recognition Software
Port Opening or slot on a computer for plugging in peripherals such as scanners, keyboards, printers, ethernet connections, telephone lines etc.
LAN Local Area Network A network of computers in a building or campus connected together for the purpose of sharing information.
GUI Graphical User Interface A graphical system for controlling a computer. The icons/images on the screen represent programs and files. A mouse is usually used with a GUI to create a point and click navigation system. Different from a command line interface.
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange A numeric system for encoding the keyboard characters. Based on the English language. This standard allows for the exchange of information between different types of computers.
Binary Binary code is used for all computer operations. At the most basic level all computer operations are based on a binary system where all data and programs are converted into a series of 0s and 1s.
The Internet Global computer network made up of smaller networks using common protocols
Asynchronous is an example What is an example of synchronous communication?
Bandwidth Width of the pipe. The amount of data that can be sent at once.
blog Weblog Diary style information source
Electronic Mail
FTP File Transfer Protocol Loading bibliographic records (MARC records)
Firewall Software that blocks access and protects a network or PC
HTML Hypertext Markup Language Coding language used for the WWW
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol World Wide Web
Hypertext System of linking from text and images from one document to another. Basis of the WWW
IM Instant Messaging Synchronous communication system
intranet Web site internal to an organization, limited to local access and contained within a firewall.
IP address Internet Protocol address A unique number that identifies a computer connected to the Internet. Contains 4 octets: A domain hostname ( is the name equivalent of a numeric IP address. Server/PC
ISP Internet Service Provider A company or organization that provides access to the Internet
LISTSERV Internet software that creates mailing or discussion lists.
NNTP Network News Transfer Protocol Newsgroups or Usenet Newsgroups
protocol A standard format for exchanging data between computers
RSS Really Simple Syndication Rich Site Summary RDF Site Summary An Internet tool that creates feeds or updates from Web sites and alerts subscribers
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Used to send and receive
Internet Protocols HTTP FTP SMTP TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol Packet switching protocols
Internet In Libraries Public Services Reference Services Technical Services Collection Development Communication
Technologies in Libraries Blogs Chat/IM reference