Dental Hygienists' Guide to the Internet

As a dental hygienist new to the web, check out our Web Terms listed below put as together by Margaret.  Later browse the Dental Hygiene Links where you can find out about the Dental Hygiene Career and Schools, Associations, and Patient Information, as well as Research and other related healthcare pages. 

For students, there is a special page for you at  Student Cases with lots of links and other related information.  See below also for more information on the  Top Ten List of Tips and Notes on Professional Email Correspondence.  

Another Language? Hit This Altavista Site For Translation
New Textbook and Website on Computing in Dentistry
WEB STYLE GUIDE, 2nd edition

Do not let the lingo of the Internet throw you,
just browse over these Web Terms and it will all fall into place.

• A-D

• E-H

• I-N

• O-Z

Bookmark - Using your Internet browser (see below) to keep favorite Web sites in its memory.
Boolean Phrases - Certain words used to conduct keyword searches, such as or, and, or not. 
To improve your searches, see the Site server search query language noted below.
Browser - A user interface that is used to navigate the World Wide Web (e.g., Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Explorer).
Caching - Method of automatically saving copies of your files either in your computer's memory or on hard disk, which allows you to recall previously visited Web sites much more quickly than downloading a page from the Web.
Chatroom - An online discussion forum for talk sessions where users exchange information and ideas.
Cyberspace - Term currently used to describe the whole range of information resources available through computer networks.
Dial-up Access - A way to use a computer and modem to "dial-in" through a telephone to access a network/host computer.
Domain - The right-most part of the Internet address. It categorizes the type of site you are accessing. (e.g., com=commercial, edu=education). - Using your Internet browser (see below) to keep favorite Web sites in its memory.

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Electronic Mail (Email) - A service that allows information to be sent from one person to another via computer.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)- Frequently asked questions and answers about particular Internet, forum, newsgroup or subject area; it's usually pronounced "facks".
Gopher- Text-based information system that allows subject and keyword searches on worldwide databases.
Hacker- Someone who likes to break into computer systems and read data that isn't intended for their eyes.
Home Pages - The first page of a World Wide Web page, which serves as a guide to the site's contents.
Hyperlink - Special text in a web page that links to another web page anywhere on the Internet.
Hypertext - A technology that links information resources together on the web.
Hypertext Mark-up language (HTML) - A format used to create documents that contain hypertext.
Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) - The computer language that browsers use to talk to World Wide Web servers.

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Internet - A global, cooperative collection of interconnected networks of computers allowing people and computers to communicate.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) - An online service provider (i.e., America Online, CompuServe, etc.), local phone companies, (i.e., Pacific Bell, Cincinnati Bell, etc.), and national phone companies (i.e., MCI, AT&T etc.), that provide electronic mail accounts access to the World Wide Web, as well as access to other Internet services.
Intranet - Intranets are networks which are internal or contained within an organization.
Listserv -Discussion groups or mailing lists on the Internet that distribute information to a large number of interested subscribers at one time.    
Local Area Network (LAN) - A group of networked computers that are located in one area and are usually connected by less than 1,000 feet of cable.
Modem - A communication device used to connect a computer to a network through a telephone line.
NetSpeak - Communication by email using acronyms and funny little symbols.  See Internet Guide for Smileys.
Newsgroup - Service that provides members a forum to share in focused areas of interest.

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Online - The status of being connected to the Internet.
Offline - The status of not being connected to the Internet.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - Storage/memory capacity of a computer.
Search Engine - Computer programs/applications that exist in the Internet that locate and catalog. Users then query these programs to locate specific resources on the Internet (e.g., Hotbot, Lycos, Yahoo, Altavista, Excite, Web Crawler, Infoseek, etc.). To improve your searches, see the Site server search query language noted below.
Spam folder- Filter for your email. Messages stored in the Spam folder should be regularly monitored as real mail may be incorrectly identified as Spam. 
Surf - Term used to access and navigate the World Wide Web.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) - An addressing system used on the web to identify and locate sites on the World Wide Web. (i.e., http://www.adha.org).
Web Page - One of many pages that together make up a Web Site.
World Wide Web (WWW) - A system for finding and accessing Internet resources.

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Site Server Search Query Language

Enter a query term that unambiguously defines what you are looking for: use a multi-word phrase or more than one search word, separated by spaces or commas.  With more information, you are more likely to return the results you seek: Enter Dental Hygiene, not just Dental. Boolean phrases and proximity operators can be used to create a more precise query:

Hints:

• You can use parentheses to nest expressions within a query. The expressions in parentheses are evaluated before the rest of the query.

• Use double quotes (") to get an exact match of the phrase such as an  example "Fehrenbach and Education" will match pages with the exact phrase, not pages that match the Boolean expression for both Fehrenbach and Education..

• The Not operator can only be used after an And operator in content queries; it can only be used to exclude pages that match a previous content restriction.

• Queries are case-insensitive: you can type your query in uppercase or lowercase.

• You may search for any word except for those in the exception list (for English, this includes a, an,  as, and other common words) which are ignored during a search. Words in the exception list are treated as placeholders in phrase and proximity queries such as and, not, or near.

• Punctuation marks such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon (;), and comma (,) are ignored during a search. Commas only help separate words like a space.

Top 10 List of Tips from Margaret J. Fehrenbach, RDH, MS (from her past Internet Seminars)

1. View sites in text-only mode by turning off the graphics. To speed things up, turn off the images in your web browser. If you are using Netscape Navigator, de-select Auto Load Images under the Options menu. With Internet Explorer, select Internet Options under the View menu, then click the Advanced tab. Now uncheck Show Pictures.
 2. Use the Stop button. If you get tired of waiting, click the Stop button to view the files that have already been downloaded. Then you can decide if you want to continue. If you do, click the Reload or Refresh button. 
3. Use History Icon to Revisit Sites Use the History icon to revisit old sites and save yourself from remembering long URL’s or where you were five minutes ago!  HINTS   To see a list of all Internet addresses you have typed during this session, click the small down arrow at the right end of the Address bar. This can be cleared when you clear History under Tools and Internet Options.
4. Save keystrokes by using Favorites. Web addresses or URLs can be unwieldy. Worse, if you type it wrong, you will get an error message. To avoid these problems, save the addresses of sites you want to revisit.   If you are using Explorer, go the Favorites menu and select Organize Favorites. Now you can click on the folder icon to create a new folder, then drag the appropriate bookmarks into the folder.
Sometimes the names of the bookmarks aren't clear, so you may want to alter them. With Explorer, select Organize Favorites, then click on the bookmark you want to change, then click the Rename button. Now you can type a new name. After you're done organizing your bookmarks, close the window to return to your browser. The next time you select the Bookmarks or Favorites menu, you will see all the topic names with arrows next to them. By holding your cursor over a topic, you will get pop-up list of all the related bookmarks. HINTS  When you add a Web page to your Favorites list, you also make it available to read when you're not connected to the Internet. You can send a Web page in email by clicking the File menu, pointing to Send, and then clicking Page By Email.
5. Use the Find feature of your web browser. Once you've downloaded a document, the Find button can quickly locate a particular term in which you are interested.  Why take the time to scroll through the entire document?
6. Pick two search engines and learn how they work. The difficulty of finding specific information is by far the biggest complaint. Although dozens of search engines are available, pick two, then take the time to learn them well. 
7. Choose your own home page and customize it. Both Netscape and Microsoft set their websites as the default home page when you launch your web browser. So now you can change it...HINTS   Web pictures and backgrounds make great desktop wallpaper. Just right-click the picture you want, and then click Set as Wallpaper. You can quickly put a shortcut to any Web page on your Desktop by right-clicking in the page and then clicking Create Shortcut. 
8. Adjust Text Size through View. Different text sizes are available for better viewing for tired dental professional eyes!
9. Surf during off-hours. Most commuters experience rush hour, when highways bog down with traffic. The same phenomenon happens on the Internet, usually in the late afternoon and early evening, when people log on to check Email, chat and play games. If you want to avoid the slowdown, go online in the morning or late at night, when traffic is lighter. Wednesday is the big night of the week! 
10. Get a faster connection. If you are still using a 28.8 modem, it's time to upgrade. Most people these days access the Web at twice that speed. Recently however, new modems offer access at 33.6 Kbps and even 56 Kbps. Before you upgrade, however, make sure your Internet service provider supports 56 Kbps modems. And do not ask me to explain this type of jargon further… it’s like a car, just buy it and turn the key and add gas once and awhile!  Or get DSL or get High Speed Cable.

Notes on Professional Email Correspondence

*** See article in RDH Magazine by Margaret: Professional E-Mailing in the Dental Office

• ' Netiquette'- Learn the rules of communication on the Internet before implementing the technology. For example, using CAPITAL letters in a message is considered yelling. 

• Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Without face to face communications your joke may be viewed as criticism. 

• Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point. When quoting another person, edit out whatever isn't directly applicable to your reply. Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily forwarded. Note: Cc: (stands for "Carbon Copy", which is meaningful if you remember typewriters) This header is sort of an extension of "To:"; it specifies additional recipients. Bcc: (stands for "Blind Carbon Copy") The idea is to be able to send copies of email to persons who might not want to receive replies or to appear in the headers.

• Focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message quickly.

• Set up a signature that includes your dental office name, address, fax, Email, etc. This information will be automatically added to every Email you send, giving your correspondence a professional look.  Program on Signatures .

• Use an automatic spell checker in your Email program to keep your documents looking professional.

• Finally, How to Use Mailing Lists:  Posting and Replying to List Messages.

• Messages stored in the Spam folder should be regularly monitored as real mail may be incorrectly identified as Spam. Once a message is deleted from the Spam folder, it cannot be recovered.

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Updated 3/2008