Managing Web Resources

Bookmarks/Favorites

Bookmarks or Favorites? Note: The Internet Skills Checklist uses the term Bookmarks to describe this very useful feature of web resource management. That was the term that was used with the first web browsers that became available. When they developed Internet Explorer, Microsoft decided to use the term Favorites. The two terms both describe an identical feature.

What are Bookmarks/Favorites?

It is one thing to find useful resources on the web. It is entirely a different matter to find your way back to useful resources on the web. Before the arrival of web browsers, finding one’s way back to a file on a distant computer connected to the internet usually involved memorizing or recording a long, esoteric path name. Moving a file from a distant computer to your computer involved a complicated FTP (file transfer protocol) process that drove many early internet users to distraction. The web browser changed all of that.

The Bookmarks/Favorites List found on all current web browsers makes it possible to easily "bookmark" a location on the web for future reference. The Bookmarks/Favorites list is readily accessible in the Menu Bar and can often be opened as a panel on the left side of the browser window. Clicking on an item that has been saved to the Bookmarks/Favorites list is all that is required to return to the exact location of the desired webpage. Navigation on the web couldn’t be any easier.

However, if you are like most web users, your bookmarks can quickly degenerate into an disorganized mess unless you regularly edit them. Fortunately, all of the web browsers offer Bookmarks/Favorites editing features that make managing your web resources a relatively simple matter.

Editing Bookmarks/Favorites

The exact procedures for editing your Bookmarks/Favorites varies from one web browser to another. Again, the browser's Help files will be the best source of specific information on how to do this. Take a minute to review the Bookmarks/Favorites section in your web browser's Help files. You may find it helpful to print a copy of the help files for future reference.

Open the Bookmarks/Favorites Window

Before you can edit your Bookmarks/Favorites, you will need to open the Bookmarks/Favorites window. Look for this option in the Bookmarks/Favorites menu. It will be called something like Organize Bookmarks, Organize Favorites or Show All Bookmarks. A new window will open as a new window or as a side bar.

Removing the Default Bookmarks/Favorites

Your current list of Bookmarks/Favorites will be visible. Web browsers, computer manufacturers and/or internet service providers often install long lists of Bookmarks/Favorites to promote partner sites. You will probably not want to keep all of these. Select the Bookmarks/Favorites that you do not need and delete them. You can often do this by clicking on the Delete key on your keyboard or there may be a Delete button available somewhere on the Bookmarks/Favorites window.

Creating Folders Within Your Bookmarks/Favorites

You could just throw all of your bookmarks into one long list but that will quickly become so long that it is difficult to navigate. Creating folders within your bookmarks / favorites folder and moving relevant bookmarks / favorites into these folders can make finding them in the future much easier.

Spend a few minutes setting up some folders in your Bookmarks/Favorites. Again, if this option is not obvious, your browser's Help files will provide details.

Don’t worry about experimenting with editing your bookmarks. You can always go back into the bookmark window and use the edit features to rearrange the changes you have made.

Adding New Bookmarks/Favorites

Close the Bookmarks/Favorites window and practice adding and filing some new Bookmarks/Favorites to the folders that you created. You will find a Bookmark This Page, Add to Favorites or Add Bookmark option in the Bookmarks/Favorites menu. You will also be able to do this with a keyboard shortcut. Check the Bookmarks/Favorites menu to find the shortcuts available on your web browser.

Moving Bookmarks/Favorites

Return to the Bookmarks/Favorites edit or organize screen and practice moving your Bookmarks/Favorites into and out of your folders. Explore the Menu Bar items for additional options that might be available. You can delete these practice items after you are comfortable with the process.

Renaming Bookmarks/Favorites

Bookmarks/Favorites are saved with the page title that was assigned to the web page by its creator. Often these titles are less than useful in describing the contents of the page. You can adjust the name of the bookmark/favorite that appears in your bookmark/favorites list from the edit or organize screens. There will typically be a Rename button available on the edit or organize screen for that purpose. Select the entry that you want to rename, click the Rename button and practice changing the name.
You may also see a Properties option which makes it possible for you to add metadata (additional comments) that will make your Bookmarks/Favorites even more useful.

Exporting Bookmarks

The only problem with the very useful Bookmarks/Favorites feature is that they are saved on the computer that you happen to be working on at the time. If you use multiple computers, you may end up with Bookmarks/Favorites that are not all in one place. Fortunately, it is possible to export your Bookmarks/Favorites an move them from one computer to another.

All of the current web browsers have made it very easy to export and import bookmarks. The exact location of this feature varies from one web browser to the next so it is a good idea to check the browser's Help files for details.

On Internet Explorer, a Import/Export Wizard is available in the File menu that will assist with the process. On Firefox, Export and Import are options that appear in the File menu when the Organize Bookmarks window is active. On Safari, Export Bookmarks and Import Bookmarks appear in the File menu when the Show All Bookmarks screen is active. Do you see a pattern?

When you export your Bookmarks/Favorites, it is always a good idea to save them to the desktop and to change the file name from the default bookmarks.htm file name to something a bit more unique. Your first or last name will work just fine but be sure to leave the .htm suffix as it is.

So, what's the point?

Once you have exported your Bookmarks/Favorites, you can easily move them from one computer to another. You can copy them to a USB thumb drive. You can send them as a file attached to an email message.

Since they have been saved as a little web page when they were exported, if you leave them on the desktop or move them to your My Documents or Documents folder on your personal computer, you can even use them as the home page for your web browser or save them to your Bookmarks/Favorites.

You can also easily import your Bookmarks/Favorites to another computer using the Import Bookmarks feature is you may have noticed next to the Export Bookmarks options when you started this process. As is always the case, the web browser's Help files will provide specific details on how to import your Bookmarks/Favorites.

Another Option for Bookmarks Management

Another option that you might want to consider would be using one of those online Bookmarks/Favorites management services. Several are available and are widely used by mobile computer users.

xmarks

Diigo

Pocket

As you find relevant web resources in your online explorations, be sure to add them to your Bookmarks or Favorites (or one of the online bookmarks options mentioned above.

I trust that you will exit the course with a collection of web resources that will be of use long after the course is completed.

Saving Web Resources

It would be possible to just print and archive significant web pages that we have found. In some cases you might want to do that. For many of us "digital immigrants" there is comfort in the printed page. However, these are digital resources and there are other options that might work better.

Printing a Web Page

You can print nearly anything that you find on the web. However, just clicking the Print button can sometimes have unexpected results. The web browser will attempt to print everything in the current browser window including all of the website navigation buttons and links. This often results in a very cluttered page. The web page may also be much longer what what is visible on the screen. We have all had the experience of printing what we thought was a short one or two page article and seen dozens of pages stream out of the computer.

Your first step should always be to look around to see if a "printable" version of the page is available. Many websites will include this feature as a courtesy to users. Typically this page will open in a new window with a header and/or footer and the relevant text. Printing this version of the page can save a lot of paper and ink/laser toner.

Windows users have a distinct advantage when it comes to printing. The Windows print dialog box offers a "Print Selection" option that prints only text that has been selected on the web page.

Mac users have the option of selecting and copying the text and pasting it into a word processor document and printing from that document. The little TextEdit application is perfect for this purpose. Windows users may also want to consider using this option since it allows more control over what comes off the printer. You can add headers and comments and even copy and paste the URL (web address) to the page for future reference.

Save a Web Page / website to Your Computer

There will be times when you want to save an entire web page or website to your computer. This may be advantageous if you need access to a web page or website and are not sure that you will have a reliable internet connection.

Most recent web browsers offer the Web Archive or Web Page, Complete format as one of the options in the File | Save As menu. Selecting this option will save the entire web page including all of the graphics and navigation features and is the preferred option for offline viewing. You can save the web page in the Text or HTML format which will only save the text. Be prepared to experiment a bit to see which format works best for you.

Be aware that viewing a Web Archive or Web Page, Complete file works best with same the web browser that was used to create the archive file. Sometimes a different web browser on a different computer will have difficulty opening and displaying the file.

Copy and Paste Text

As we mentioned above, copying and pasting text from a web page into a word processing document is a viable way to save text. Virtually any word processor will work for that purpose. Just select the text that you want to copy and click on Copy from the Edit menu of the web browser. Then open a word processor document, position the cursor where you want the text to be and select Paste from the Edit menu. You can copy and paste text from multiple web pages into one word processing documents. This method of digital note taking is very effective. When you are finished, you can save the word processing document to your computer or send it as an email attachment.

Copy and Paste Graphics

You can also copy and paste graphics from a web page to a word processing document. You may have noticed that the graphics do not always automatically come along with text when you are copying and pasting. It is always better to specifically copy and paste graphics. You will use a right mouse click shortcut to do this. Mac users hold down the Control key while you click. Right click or Control Click on the image that you want to copy and select Copy Image from the dialog box that appears. This will copy the image to your computer's clipboard (temporary memory). Open a word processing document, position the cursor where you want the image to be displayed and select Paste from the Edit menu. The image will appear on the screen. If you are using a full-featured word processor like Microsoft Word, you will be able to edit the image. Simple text editors can not typically do that.

Copyright, Fair Use, Plagiarism Issues

As educators, we need to continually aware of copyright, fair use and plagiarism issues and model ethical behavior in the classroom. You can find more information on these issues on the web.

The Educator's Guide to Copyright
and Fair Use: Education World

Copyright & Fair Use:
Stanford University Libraries

Downloading Files

You will sometimes run into files that must be downloaded to your computer before they can be viewed. This is often the case with documents that are archived in the .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format if your web browser is not configured to display or automatically open reader software that can display the file. Just follow the instructions that appear in the little dialog box that appears on the screen.

The desktop is a good location to save these files as it is easier to trash them when you are finished reading the document. Of course, you could save the downloaded files if you wish.

Be very careful in downloading software to institutional computers (as well as to your personal computers). You will always want to scan any downloaded files with your anti-virus software to insure that you are not downloading a virus along with the software. Viruses can spread rapidly in a networked environment and you don't want to be the person who brought down the network by introducing a new virus.

Next: Content Standards