Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

One way to view the Web is as a massive storehouse of information-the largest library in the world. Unfortunately, this library is not indexed and cataloged like traditional libraries. One solution is the Web search engine. Search engine Web sites have become some of the most popular sites on the Web. Most portals now include search engines and topical references, which are lists of topics that you "drill down" into to find specific information. This is a good way to find Web pages and documents on the Internet.

One way a search engine works is to go out and scan documents on the Internet and compile lists of keywords in those documents, and then create index files from those lists that users can search. While this technique takes advantage of computer technology (scan and index documents at high speed), the method is not superior to the techniques that have been used for years to catalog books in libraries. What the Web needs is a way to create information about documents using standard formats that any application can access and search. This is metadata-information about data. Searching metadata files is discussed here and in the separate topic "Metadata."

White pages directory services are another category of search service that can help people find other people on the Internet by name or by related information (e-mail address, telephone number, and so on).

There are a number of related topics you may also want to refer to, including

• Service Advertising and Discovery    Describes methods for advertising services and for users to find those services. Most of the methods are designed for enterprise networks.


• Name Services    Describes name services that resolve resource names into network addresses, allowing people to access services using familiar names.


• Directory Services    Describes hierarchical directory systems for storing white pages and yellow pages information about people and resources on networks and the Internet.