World Wide Web literacy, hereafter referred to as Web literacy, can be thought of as a subset of information literacy where the need for information is identified, located, evaluated. As computer literacy has increased throughout the educational system, Web literacy has increased as well and has shifted from one stage to another in a logical procession. Computer literacy is the knowledge of how to use a computer. It does not refer to the information that can be gleaned and extracted from the computer (Farah, 1995). Basically, it is a working knowledge of how to turn the computer on and off, effective keyboarding skills, word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications, and so forth. Web literacy on the other hand, refers specifically to skills and knowledge that is gained from the use of the Web.

Several authors (Carrigan, 1997; Descy, 1996; Farah, 1995) have described the progression of Internet literacy in relation to Web literacy. In summary, those progressive steps can be categorized into three stages. The first stage of Internet literacy is learning protocols, history, and navigation of the Internet. During this stage, students do not necessarily become comfortable with the Internet, but become aware of its existence and potential in information seeking. It is during the second stage of the Internet literacy that students become more comfortable with their search skills, refining the search strategies for navigating through the various databases and Web sites online. Currently, many educators and professionals believe that Internet literacy is in its third stage. In this stage, becoming knowledgeable users is at the forefront of this progression where a critical eye is turned on information found online and how that information is evaluated.