So, let's unpack a URL from the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
<aside> ✏️ Using the following URL, properly label each part of the URL. https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4866/shrine-head-ancient-yoruba
</aside>
Shrine head, Ancient Yoruba ^ Minneapolis Institute of Art
The web is not a neutral place for information gathering. Often, URLs will include information that allow people to track how you left one website and arrived at another. For example, a review of a web camera by the New York Times Wirecutter site included a URL to buy camera being reviewed. The link looks like this:
All that information before "https://www.adorama.com/logc920s.html" helps track you both at the NY Times and at the Adorama website. Often this tracking will be on the end of a link and will include dozens of nonsense characters , such as "7C7fa18441a32e4aaac06d08d81e1411c6%7C5011c7c60ab446ab9ef4fae74a921a7f%7C0%7C0%7C637292419087622483&sdata=JTKmw%2FhXcBzOjm81RJstDPqLmu7QNsMZtayH46uIDVk%3D&reserved=0" Your college may also use this type of tracking link in URLs it sends you.
You can decide what level of tracking you are comfortable with, though it is almost impossible to avoid some level of URL tracking.
✏️ Question: Have you seen a tracking URL? Between what two sources was the link? Did you find the tracking to be a legitimate practice or something you found invaded your privacy?
Unpacking a URL will allow you to trouble shoot URL issues as you experience them, and will make your questions to your professor or other college staff better informed. One of the most common emails from students to faculty is "the web page is broken," which can mean many different things. By understanding how URLs are made, students can often "fix" broken links by finding the error or locating the correct page through the domain and paths.
➡️ Did you know?
You can often fix a "broken link" for yourself faster than contacting whomever posted the link? One of the most common emails from students to faculty is "the web page is broken," which can mean many different things. By understanding how URLs are made, students can often "fix" broken links by finding the error or locating the correct page through the domain and paths. Please, still inform whomever posted the link of the error. There may be an actual problem with the page, and your fellow students will experience the same problem you had. URL errors are like road detours for a car crash: we need to address the crash and help people get where they need to go.
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