Unit 1 - Glossary

Accuracy: degree of freedom from errors measured from zero; usually expressed as one error, two errors, and so forth
Arrow Keys: keys on a keyboard that move the cursor left, right, up or down
Backspace Key: moves the cursor to the left one space at a time
Caps Lock: key on the keyboard that is used to key all capital letters without holding the shift key
Centering: placing text so that half of the text is on each side of the center point
Cursor: lighted point on a display screen where the next character of space can be entered
Default: preset condition in software that controls margin, line spacing, and tab settings. Operators may override default settings.
Delete Key: a key used to erase characters once they are highlighted
Document: text, especially formatted, such as a numbered list, memo, letter, report, outline, title page, or reference page
Editing: arranging, changing, and correcting existing text; editing includes proofreading but is not limited to it.
Enter: ends a line or paragraph
Error: any misstroke of a key; also any variation between source copy and displayed or printed copy; departure from acceptable format.
ESC key: key on the keyboard that is used to exit a program
Function Keys: set of keys (F1, F2, etc.) used alone or with Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys to issue software commands
GWAM (Gross Words a Minute): measure of the rate of keying speed; GWAM = total standard five-stroke words keyed divided by the time required to key those words
Home Row Keys: the keys A S D F J K L; designated as the keys from which all keystrokes are made
Key: to strike buttons for printing or displaying copy; also called “enter,” “keyboard,” “input,” and “type”
Keyboard: arrangement of keys on a device attached to a computer or typewriter; also the act of keying or typing
Letter Keys: keys on the keyboard which contain the letters of the alphabet
Numeric Keypad: arrangement of figure keys and special keys, such as +, -, and =, on the right side of most keyboards; used for keying all number copy
Proofreading: process of comparing copy on a display screen or paper to the original copy and correcting (or marking for correction) errors; one of the editing steps
QWERTY Keyboard: the most common keyboard arrangement, named for the first letters across the top row
Rate: speed of doing a task; see gross words a minute (GWAM) and net-production rate a minute (N-PRAM)
Return: software feature that moves the cursor to the left margin of the next line; inserted automatically (soft) when text exceeds the line length, and inserted manually (hard) to force software to begin a new line
Shift Keys: keys that make occasional capital letters or allow you to get the character on the top of a key
Space Bar: key on the keyboard that spaces the cursor forward one space at a time and produces a blank space when pressed
Tab: causes the cursor (or print point) to skip across the display screen (or paper) to a place set by the operator or the default tab settings
Technique: keyboard operator’s form or keying style
Word Wrap: text automatically moves to the next line when it reaches the right margin
Address Bar: normally located near the top of your web browser window; displays the Web address (or URL) of the page you are currently viewing and contains an edit field where you enter the Web address that you are trying to reach
Attachment: a file sent "attached" to an e‐mail message; may be a picture, text file, audio, video, or executable program. Attachments should be checked for viruses with virus detection software.
Back Button: sends your browser to the last page that you viewed.
Browser: a software program with a graphical user interface that is used to access the World Wide Web. Browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, and Opera, to name a few.
Download: the process of transferring files from another computer to another via a modem or local network.
E-mail (electronic mail): the process of sending messages via a computer network. Most e‐mail software programs use IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) to send and receive e‐mail from and to an e-mail server.
Favorites or Bookmarks: a listing in your browser that displays websites that have been saved for future visits
Forward Button: available only after using the Back button; will send browser forward one page.
History: a record of Web pages that you have visited in the past. Most web browsers allow you to view and manage your history from within the browser itself.
Home Button: will send the browser directly to the designated homepage
Homepage: the web page that opens up when you start your browser, or the “opening” Web page of a Web site.
Hyperlink: hypertext which, when clicked, connects you to another web page. The web page can be on the same site or a different site.
Hypertext: text on an HTML document that has been organized to provide links between other elements of the same document or other documents on the Web. Selecting a hypertext link (usually by clicking the mouse pointer on the text itself) will display the linked information.
Internet: the vast collection of interconnected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 1960s and early 1970s—a worldwide network of computer networks.
IP address: a computer’s unique Internet address, which usually looks like this: 128.223.142.14. Most computers also have a “domain name” assigned to them, which represents cryptic IP addresses with easier‐to‐remember words.
Print Button: will let you print the Web page that you are currently viewing
Refresh/Reload Button: forces the browser to download the latest copy of the page or to restart the downloading process
Ribbon: the area at the top of an application window that houses all of the tools that can be used in that application
Search Box: located at the top of most browsers; allows you to search the internet by typing in keywords and pressing Enter
Search Engine: provides the ability for users to search the Web by typing in a search terms. Results can include pages, documents, or images.
Stop Button: will stop the browser during the process of downloading a page
Tab: an area on the ribbon that houses a related set of tools that can be used in a particular application
URL (Uniform Resource Locator): the address for a specific file (page or site) on the Web
Window: a section of a display screen that can be created for viewing information from another part of a file or from another file
World Wide Web (WWW or the Web): the interactive portion of the Internet, an information protocol that is used to send and receive information. Information on the Web includes multimedia (movies, pictures, sounds, etc.), hypertext (links to other internet resources), or text (documents, files, etc.).
Domain: the part of an internet address naming convention that consists of a sequence of characters separated by dots.

The original six domain abbreviations (last three characters in URL or address) are:

.edu – educational institutions

.com – commercial businesses

.gov – U. S. government

.mil – U. S. military

.org – other organizations

.net – network/internet service providers ISP