One of the wonderful things about the World Wide Web is the availability of information from all over the world. Information is stored on computers from Argentina to New Zealand.

File locations or "Where in the world is this information stored?" is a common query. It is not always possible to determine a location but there are some clues in the URLs which are visible on the "Location" line near the top of the www browser screen.

URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator. It is the address of the file on a computer on the Internet. Every computer has unique identification and every file on that computer has its unique name or identification. Even when the source is not clearly stated, or stated at all on the file, it may be possible to determine the location.

Most of the URLs found on the World Wide Web are hypertext transfer protocols (http). All these addresses begin with http://.  Http files are graphical files which look typeset and may contain color graphics. Each part of the URL is a convention. For example, the URL for this file is:    http://www.mtmercy.edu/lib/note33.htm

The second element (sometimes first) is a code for the name of the institution or business. The mtmercy stands for Mount Mercy College.

The third element in our URL is the domain, sometimes called first level domain. Educational and research institutions usually are in the edu domain. Other common domains are com for commercial or business sites; org for professional and other organizations; gov for government agencies; mil for military agencies and net for major network support centers.

There are sometimes other elements in this part of the address. For example, many public libraries and state and local governments in the United States have a state code and country code as part of this address. The URL for the State of Iowa web server is:   http://www.state.ia.us/

Most URLs outside the US include the country code as part of the address. If there is no country code indicated, it is likely to be a computer in the USA. A list of country codes is on the back.

The next segments of a URL, separated by slashes, are the directories and file designations. Using the example (http://www.mtmercy.edu/lib/note33.htm), the file is note33.htm. It is located in the lib directory.

The htm extension on the file name stands for hypertext markup language (html). This is the formating code which produces an attractive font and layout and allows for the inclusion of graphics. The more graphics there are linked to a file, the longer it takes for these to "load" so they may be seen on your computer monitor.

Even though the file may not be "signed" or the person or institution identified on it, the elements in the URL can help trace the source. Sometimes files have links back to related files. Following these can sometimes lead to the source.  It is important to be skeptical and put effort into verifying the authority and authenticity of information found on the World Wide Web.

For a guide to citing files found on the WWW, see NOTE #26. Always write down the complete URL of a file you are printing because the complete URL may not print at the top of the paper if it is quite long.

Afghanistan AF; Albania L; Algeria DZ; American Samoa AS; Andorra AD; Angola AO; Anguilla AI; Antarctica AQ; Antigua & Barbuda AG; Argentina AR Armenia AM; Aruba AW; Australia AU; Austria AT; Azerbaijan AZ;

Bahamas BS; Bahrain BH; Bangladesh BD; Barbados BB; Belarus BY; Belgium BE; Belize BZ; Benin BJ; Bermuda BM; Bhutan BT; Bolivia BO; Bosnia & Herzegovina BA; Botswana BW; Bouvet Island BV; Brazil BR; British Indian Ocean Territory IO; Brunei Darussalam BN; Bulgaria BG; Burkino Fasa BF; Barundi BI;

Cambodia KH; Cameroon CM; Canada CA; Cape Verde CV; Cayman Islands KY; Central African Republic CF; Chad TD; Chile CL; China CN; Christmas Island CX;

Cocos (Keeling) Islands CC; Colombia CO; Comoros KM; Congo CG; Cook Islands CK; Costa Rica CR; Cote D'Ivoire CI; Croatia (Hrvatska) HR; Cuba CU; Cyprus CY; Czech Republic CZ;

Denmark DK; Djibouti DJ; Dominica DM; Dominican Republic DO;

East Timor TP; Ecuador EC; Egypt EG; El Salvador SV; Equatorial Guinea GQ; Eritrea ER; Estonia EE; Ethiopia ET;

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FK; Faroe Islands FO; Fiji FJ; Finland FI; France FR; France, Metropolitan FX; French Guiana GF; French Polynesia PF; French Southern Territories TF;

Gabon GA; Gambia GM; Georgia GE; Germany DE; Ghana GH; Gibralter GI; Greece GR; Greenland GL; Grenada GD; Guadaloupe GP; Guam GU; Guatemala GT; Guinea GN; Guinea-Bissau GW; Guyana GY;

Haiti HT; Heard and McDonald Islands HM; Honduras HN; Hong Kong HK; Hungary HK;

Iceland IS; India IN; Indonesia ID; Iran (Islamic Republic of) IR; Iraq IQ; Ireland IE; Israel IL; Italy IT;

Jamaica JM; Japan JP; Jordan JO;

Kazakhstan KZ; Kenya KE; Kirabati KI; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of KP; Korea, Republic of KR; Kuwait KW; Kygyrzstan KG;

Lao People's Democratic Republic LA; Latvia LV; Lebanon LB; Lesotho LS; Liberia LR; Libyan Arab Jama-hirya LY; Liechtenstein LI; Lithuania LT; Luxembourg LU;

Macau MO; Macedonian,The Former Yugoslav Republic of MK; Madagascar MG; Malawi MW; Maldives MV; Mala ML; Malta MT; Marshall Islands MH; Martinique MQ; Mauritania MR; Mauritius MU; Mayotte YT; Mexico MX; Micronesia, Federated States of FM; Moldova, Republic of MD; Monaco MC; Mongolia MN; Monteserrat MS; Morocco MA; Mozambique MZ;

Myanmar (Burma) MM;

Namibia NA; Nauru NR; Nepal NP; Netherlands NL; Netherlands Antilles AN; New Caledonia NC; New Zealand NZ Nicaragua NI; Niger NE; Niue NU; Norfolk Island NF; Northern Mariana Islands MP; Norway NO;

Oman OM;

Pakistan PK; Palau PW; Panama PA; Papua New Guinea PG; Paraquay PY; Peru PE; Philipines PH; Pitcairn PN; Poland PL; Portugal PT; Puerto Rico PR;

Qatar QA;

Reunion RE; Romania RO; Russian Federation RU; Rwanda RW;

Saint Kitts and Nevis KN; Saint Lucia LC; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC; Samoa WS; San Marino SM; Sao Tome and Principe ST; Saudi Arabia SA; Senegal SN; Seychelles SC; Sierra Leone SL; Singapore SG; Slovakia (Slovak Republic) SK; Slovenia SI; Solomon Islands SB; Somalia SO; South Africa ZA; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GS; Spain ES; Sri Lanka LK;

St. Helena SH; St. Pierre and Mique-lon PM; Sudan SD; Surinam SR; Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands SJ; Swaziland SZ; Sweden SE; Switzerland CH; Syrian Arab Republic SY;

Taiwan, Province of China TW; Tajikistan TJ; Tanzania, United Republic of TZ; Thailand TH; Togo TG; Tokelau TK; Tonga TO; Trinidad and Tobago TT; Tunisia TN; Turkey TR; Turkmenistan TM; Turks and Caicos Istands TC; Tuvalu TV;

Uganda UG; Ukraine UA; United Arab Emirates AE; United Kingdom GB; United States US; United States Minor Outlying Islands UM Uruguay UY; Uzbekistan UZ;

Vanuatu VU; Vatican City State (Holy See) VA; Venezuela VE; Viet Nam VN; Virgin Islands (British) VG; Virgin Islands (U.S.) VI;

Wallis and Futuna Islands WF; Western Sahara EH;

Yemen YE; Yugoslavia YU;