Who publishes the website?
For the most part, the publisher may be the only thing we can confirm about the website. The only standard for the Internet is the assignment of domain names which comprise the URL or Uniform Resource Locator for a website. The URL is often referred to as a website address. Decifering the URL helps us to validate who is publishing the information the website contains, or at least, who is sponsoring it.
RCC Library Center
http://www.rcc.vccs.edu/public/library/library_home.htm
(www.) The very first component of the URL is the name of the computer. Most people, or institutions name the computer that has their web content WWW which stands for World Wide Web.
(rcc.vccs) The next component, after the first period, is the name of the server. Most servers are named after the institution or organization. It is generally used to identify the publisher of the information. The server name has to be approved by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Once a server name is registered, it can not be used by anyone else. Most server names are also trademark protected.
(.edu) The next component of a URL is the domain type. The domain type always follows the final period in the URL. These are remain standard internationally and are determined through ICANN as well.
- edu institutions of higher education
- gov federal governments (only the U.S. does not have to follow with a country code FR=France, CA=Canada, etc.)
- org non-profits
- mil U.S. military
- net for profit networks, usually webpage hosts
- com commercial or the catch-all for those who don't fall into the other categories.
(/public/library/) Anything following a slash is the name of the folder the web page you are viewing is located in on the server.
(library.htm) The final component is the name of the webpage and the file type. The library webpage is named "library" and the file type (.htm) is an html document.
Will the real Whitehouse please stand up?