Internet forum

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An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics.

Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards) fora (proper latin plural) or simply forums.

History
Early Internet forums could be described as web versions of newsgroups or electronic mailing lists; allowing people to post messages and comment on other messages. Later developments emulated the different newsgroups or individual lists, providing more than one forum, dedicated to a particular topic. At first, Internet forums had the same structure as a guestbook or mailing list, but the Ultimate Bulletin Board software, created in 1996, invented a table-based layout that evolved into the designs used in modern software such as vBulletin and phpBB. In Japan, 2channel's style had a similar effect on the layouts of other Japanese boards.

As of late, forum software developers have actively encouraged the creation of open source plugins which can be integrated with the software as a means of expansion. Generally, these plugins provide more interaction for users and may add special features to the forum software.

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Culture

Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are GameFAQs, Gaia Online, and IGN. Other countries such as China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums. Some countries such as Finland and Sweden do not have many prevalent forums despite having open and easily available Internet access. As of yet no study has been done on the prevalence of forums in countries around the world.

Small forums are often based around a single subject. Usually there is an "off-topic" forum where users can post any items they find interesting (in Japanese, neta) or play "forum games". Larger Internet forums are in general more subject to public conflicts between users, catchphrases, and private jokes. Depending on the level of moderation there may also be conflicts between users and administrators.

Like other forms of online communication, Internet forums are home to many heated exchanges and rivalries. Often, administrators ask users to conform to netiquette; if they leave a forum unmoderated it may degenerate and become useless for discussion.

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Activity Any kind of task which the learner is required to undertake, either on or off-line

Aims The summary of the intended Learning Outcomes for a module.


Assessment Either in-module or at the termination of any module.

Case Study A Case Study (sometimes showcase) is an illustrated example from the world of work which is used to work though particular principles and assist the learner in understanding and achieving specific learning outcomes. See showcase.

Chat An area where electronic exchange is encouraged between tutors and learners and among learners. See eGroup.
Content Content is the specific learning material, produced by a content provider and comprising all activities which the learner must cover in any module.
Content Provider An individual or agency which offers content into the Net_Quality learning space. The content and format must meet the nquk module production guidelines and will be validated by nquk prior to release into the Net_Quality learning space.
Courseware Courseware is a term used to describe specific software used to mediate or support a course or module.

Credit Credit rating is the process of allocating a 'worth' to a module. Credits indicate the 'size' or learner time budget for a module and the 'value' of the module. It is proposed that the 'value' for a single module is 1 Credit for 1 Module (10 hours of learner time).

Discussion Group see Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum This is any area used within either modules or generally within the Net_Quality space to facilitate collaborative working among Trainers and Learners - see eGroup

Duration
eGroup This is a publicly available service which is being used by nquk as an electronic forum set up to facilitate the exchange of views and of information among nquk learners. The eGroup will also be the main means of interacting with the module tutor. At the moment e.g. the UK Partners are using Yahoo Groups as a public domain eGroup service.

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Example This term has been used in a confusing way with showcase and case study. Suggest that it is only used literally - here is an example.....


Evaluation Again this term is confused with monitoring and other terms - we need clarification of whether we are talking about the assessment of a module? An approach? Of the learner?
Exercises Is this assessment? Perhaps the easiest definition is to regard this as LEARNER ACTIVITY
Forum This is the collaborative workspace used by those involved in developing and testing Net_Quality modules and support materials
Instructor Suggest that we use Trainer as the collective term for Tutors i.e. Module Tutors and Subject Tutors


Learner Activity Any activity where the learner is required to interact with the material - sometimes this will be a non-assessed exercise and sometimes it will be an assessment.

Learner's Handbook This document is available in both print and on-line form for all learners in the Net_Quality space and describes the approach, the tools and the terms used in Net_Quality.

Learning Links This area of nquk.com is a general resource area designed to provide the learner with access to learning support provided by a variety of agencies. These will primarily be in the form of web sites or email addresses, but where appropriate other contact information may be provided.
Learning Outcomes The specific capabilities the learner should achieve at the end of the module
Links Cross-referenced material - usually hyperlinks to support material. For example some links may be to web sites which demonstrate particular aspects of the module aims or may be links to other module material.

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Material Used interchangeably with Content
Module The Module is the basic learning building block in Net_Quality and will conform to the general approach and philosophy adopted throughout Net_Quality. Modules address specific topics and introduce the learner to specific problem solving approaches and collaborative learning with other engaged in the same module. The basic time budget is 10 hours of learner effort per module. Some modules are 'double' modules - in other words their are designed around 20 hours of learner effort. There will in due course be a link between credits, volume of learner effort and modules e.g. a 10hr module = 10 credits, 30hr = 30 credits and so on.
Module Tutor The module tutor is the person with overall responsibility for the learning experience on any module and the primary contact for the learner. A number of tutors may be involved with a module depending on the range of specialisms involved.
Objective These are derived from the learning outcomes and are expressed in terms of behaviour (what the learner will do) and level of performance (to what standard or level)

Phase As part of the general reference guidelines for module production - module production guidelines, each module must be broken into five separate phases each dealing with a different aspect of the problem area, In some partner areas, these may be referred to as sections.


Pre-course Questionnaire An assessment at the start of any module designed to assess your readiness to undertake the learning outcomes of the module and their appropriateness for you.
Pre-requisite Something required before you may commence work on a module - usually either a hardware specification or satisfactory completion of a prior module.
Problem This is a learner activity where the learner is required to solve a problem - it may be either an assessed or a non-assessed exercise.
Progress Checking Progress checking is an indication for the learner of their progress on a module and will be derived from assessment of some form.

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Project Work The Partners use this in a variety of ways ranging from individual working to working in groups. It is also applicable to collaborative working.
Resources Material/Content and Links provided for the Learner




Section The term Section has been used interchangeably with Phase in some modules: See Phase

Showcase See case study.

SME Small to Medium-sized Enterprise
SMHE Small to Medium-sized Hospitality Enterprise
SMTE Small to Medium-sized Tourism Enterprise

Step Used in some documentation as module or unit or phase. The uniform terminology is to use phase for individual steps within a module.

Sub Phase Self-explanatory - it is a component of a phase.
Subject Tutor The individual tutor or tutors specific expertise within any module. Your tutor is the person who facilitates your learning time in Net_Quality and may be someone you actually meet during a workshop or group exercise at one of the learning centres or may only contact on-line, depending on the type of module you are taking at the time.


Tests An assessment. We need to agree a form of words - suggest diagnostic (how are you doing?), summative (how have you done)

Topic Basically the title of the module deriving from the application area
Trainer Any type of Tutor
Training Provider The agencies responsible for fulfilling the Net_Quality delivery - providing
Training Provider Notes Support materials available to Training Providers to guide their approach to participating in Net_Quality

Tutor The Tutor is in effect the module manager and
Tutor Notes Support materials available to tutors to assist in managing a module - there will be a set of Tutor Notes for each module.
Unit Used interchangeably with module and course
Validation The process through which material offered into the Net_Quality learning space by a Training Provider is quality assured for conformance with style and presentation guidelines and also assessed and accorded a level and credit rating.

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Application Binary Interface (ABI)
A protocol which defines the binary calling conventions and data structure interfaces of a service, allowing one or more compiled applications or libraries to interact.
Application Programming Interface (API)
A set of routines and data structures for building software applications that can function within a specified environment. These applications can then reference these routines in order to access the supporting system services.
availability
A term used to indicate the probability of a system or capability of a system to remain operable and service requests. Availability takes into account the operating time of the system or system capability and the time required for repairs or maintenance. It is typically expressed in terms the percentage of time the system remains in service (99.999% or 99.9999%, implying a downtime of 5 minutes or 30 seconds per year).
carrier grade
A term that implies a system that is designed to have increased availability and timeliness to meet the requirements of a modern communications network element.
Carrier Grade Linux Working Group (CGL-WG)
A working body comprised of openly enrolled open source software developers and equipment suppliers, and is chartered to gather requirements, establish roadmaps, publish specifications, define architectures, and sponsor the open source projects needed to achieve a true, carrier-grade Linux.
CGL Proof of Concept subgroup (PoC-sg)
A technical working subgroup of the CGL-WG chartered with of the proof of concept implementations of Carrier Grade Linux enhancements as defined the CGL-WG architecture and requirements specifications.
CGL Requirements subgroup (Reqs-sg)
A working subgroup of the Carrier Grade Linux Working Group chartered with defining a set of technical requirements that lead to enhancements in the Linux OS that are useful for carrier-grade implementations and applications.
CGL Technical Board
The technical decisions making body of the Carrier Grade Working Group.
cluster
A cluster is a group of separate computers that are connected together and are used as a single computing entity to provide a service or run an application for the purposes of scalability, load balancing, and distribution of tasks.
compliance
Whether a software or hardware component fulfills the requirements of a given standard.
control plane
Part of PSTN network traffic used to setup, maintain and terminate connections.
event
An occurrence or happening, usually significant to the performance of a function, operation, or task.
exception list
The differences between a standard and an implementation.
event log
A permanent repository of system data that holds recorded notifications of system events that occur over time as system is active and servicing requests.
failover
An operational mode where the function of a system component is assumed by a standby component when the primary system component becomes unavailable because of failure or scheduled down time.
gateway
A network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocol technologies and performs the required protocol translations, such as translating from a PSTN time division multiplexed (TDM) network to an IP-based packet switched network.
hardened driver
Device driver enhanced to support continuous system operation in the event of a hardware malfunction. Hardened drivers must also be capable of detecting and reporting their failures so that the applications utilizing their services will remain available.
hard real-time
A hard real-time computer system is one where the system components can guarantee a specific response time.
heartbeat
A mechanism by which one component determines whether another component is functioning.
hardware platform
The underlying hardware, firmware, and minimum required set of devices (and their interfaces) to support a Carrier Grade Linux operating system.
Internet Protocol Security (IPSec)
IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) is a set of protocols developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force IETF) to support secure exchange of packets at the IPv6 layer.
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6), also been called ''IPng'' (IP Next Generation), is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP). IPv6 is a set of specifications from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that as designed as an evolutionary set of improvements to the current IP Version 4.
kernel mode
The privileged mode of the operating system where the kernel runs. This mode gives the kernel complete access to the computer.
Linux kernel
The essential part of Linux, responsible for resource allocation, low-level hardware interfaces, security, simple communications, and basic file system management.
Linux OS
The Linux kernel and associated packages that provide a complete set of software to allow functional use of a computer system.
Linux Standard Base (LSB)
The Linux Standard Base (LSB), working under the Free Standards Group (FSG), develops and promotes a set of standards with the goal to increase compatibility among Linux distributions and to enable software applications to run on any LSB-compliant Linux system.
live software upgrade
An upgrade of a software package that is performed while the system is active and serving requests.

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Abstract A brief summary outlining the main content of a journal article or other document.
Adobe Acrobat A computer program used for displaying PDF files.
Article A piece of writing on a specific topic, by one or more authors, that forms an independent part of a periodical publication such as a journal or serial, magazine, or newspaper.
Bibliography A list at the end of your assignment that includes works for background or further reading as well as those you have referred to in the text.
Bookmark A method of storing links to individual web pages or web locations on your computer. Bookmark is the term used by Netscape; Favorites is the Internet Explorer term.
Boolean Operators A means of combining searches to broaden or narrow search results. The operator and narrows a search; the operator or broadens a search.
Broaden To alter a search in order to retrieve more references. Using the Boolean Operator "or" broadens a search.
Browser Software used to view and interact with resources available on the World Wide Web. The most common browsers are Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Call number A set of numeric and alphabetical symbols that identifies an item in a library collection and indicates its physical location (usually on a library shelf), eg.Clin RJ 50 .C87 1993 or
Ltn 610.73 B897t 1990
Catalogue Lists material held (both print and electronic) at all branches of the University of Tasmania Library
Catalogue record Details that identify a particular title, including bibliographic details, catalogue access points and physical location.

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Definition of open ebook forum on the Web:

The Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) is an organisation whose purpose is to develop a specification for electronic content, based on existing HTML and XML standards, that allows electronic book content to be viewed on various devices and all platforms.

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The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD format. It was initially known as the DVD Consortium when it was founded in 1995.

Mission
The DVD Forum was created to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas about the DVD format, and to enable it to grow through technical improvement and innovation. The organization hopes to promote worldwide acceptance of DVD for entertainment, consumer electronics and information technology applications. Membership in the DVD Forum is open to any company or organization involved in DVD research, development, or manufacturing; software firms and other DVD users interested in developing the format are also encouraged to join. Forum members can support other formats in addition to DVD.

What it does
The DVD Forum is responsible for the official DVD format specification. The group handles licensing of the DVD format and logo through the DVD Format and Logo Licensing Corporation (DVD FLLC), which also publishes the official specifications in book form. Reference materials and newsletters are published for DVD Forum members.