A site that provides a starting point or a gateway to other resources on the Internet or an intranet. (If necessary, remind students that an intranet is a private computer

network that uses Internet Protocol to securely share an organization’s information or network operating system within the organization.)

• news

• informational

• search engine

• web portal

A site that is used to search for information on the World Wide Web. These sites index all the information that is on other websites and usually display the search results in a list.

• search engine

• web portal

• informational

• news

A site that contains content that is intended to inform visitors, but not necessarily for commercial purposes, such as http://www.irs.gov/. Most government, educational, and nonprofit institutions have an informational site.

• search engine

• commercial

• informational

• news

A similar to an informational site, but dedicated to dispensing news, political viewpoints, and commentary.

• news

• commercial

• educational

• web portal

A site for selling or purchasing goods, promoting a business or service (or e-commerce). This is the original use of .com.

• web portal

• website

• news

• commercial

A site that intends to teach/educate students and practitioners on specific subjects or provide information about an educational establishment

• news

• educational

• entertainment

• web portal

A site that amuses, pleases, or diverts.

• commercial

• entertainment

• advocacy

• news

A site dedicated to providing up-to-date information to raise social awareness on important issues.

• entertainment

• news

• web blog

• advocacy

A site generally used to post online diaries, which may include discussion forums.

• web blog

• personal

• commercial

• entertainment

A site run by an individual or a small group (such as a family) that contains information or any content that the individual wishes to include; these are usually uploaded using a web hosting service.

• web portal

• entertainment

• personal

• news