Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Machines Corp., and KPMG Peat Marwick cre-
ated a prototype system to address the problem
of allowing busy corporate lay-persons to access
the huge amounts of information stored on the
internet without the need to learn a complex query
language. In any database, there is often too much
information, and WAIS provided feedback on the
relevance of the hits and ranked them as well.
Ranking places items that are closest to the words
used in the query near the top while relevance
feedback helps refine the search. Based upon
the relevance (ranking) of the articles found, one
could refine or expand the search by asking for
similar articles. In many ways, WAIS represents
yet another step in the ancestry of the search
engines and indexes of today.
WebCrawler, released in 1994, was one of
the first to allow users to define search criteria, a
feature common to all major browsers today. In
many ways, it was like WAIS. LYCOS was also
released in 1994, and represented one of the first
commercial search applications. Others followed,
and some spurred on the dot-com boom by selling
space to advertisers who would pay to have their
sites come up in the top ten, or as 'sponsored links'.
Today, there are hundreds if not thousands of
search engines, many of which are dedicated to
specialized subjects, or limit the scope of their
search to specific sites or even geographic regions.
Advanced searches can often be used to narrow
down the number of returned hits. It is important to
use BOOLEAN terms to limit searches to specific
words or phrases. This improves the efficacy of
the search, and saves time for the user.
Search engines, Indexes,
and Spiders
OTHeR PROTOCOLS AND TOOLS
Most of us are familiar with various search vehi-
cles, all of which stem from the original ideas, and
serve three essential functions: crawl, index, and
search. Yahoo, Google, Ask.com, and others are
popular sites for users of all ages and skill levels.
Prior to the first real search engines, there was a
database of all known web servers, however with
rapid proliferation; it soon became too difficult
to remain up to date. Some early search engines
relied on web administrators to maintain and
grow their databases. AltaVista, Excite, Magellan,
and Infoseek are early notable examples but they
represent only a few of general search engines.
The first real search engine was ARCHIE,
which was followed by Gopher, both discussed
above. Archie did not create or retain an index
of its searches. In 1993, the first web 'robot'
'wandered' the web and created an index of all
servers. Developed by Matthew Gray of MIT, the
Perl-based “World Wide Web Wanderer” began to
literally measure the size of the web and store it
in a master index known as 'Wandex'. Wanderer
was an effective tool for a short time however;
by 1995 it had become part of history.
The web and search engines, although probably the
most familiar parts of the internet, were still static
entry points. As more complex and sophisticated
computer hardware and software were developed,
there was still a certain lack of spontaneity, and
although accessing information repositories
proved to be a significant boon to computer users
everywhere, synchronous and real-time commu-
nication-similar to that of the telephone-took
some time to emerge and be implemented. Some
of the technology discussed below is seen as de
rigeur today, but the first steps certainly did pave
the way for more modern interactivity.
Chat
“Talk” and “FTalk” were early applications or
protocols that allowed two online users to engage
in synchronous text-based communication. While
using these as a separate application, each user
could see what their other was typing in real time.
If the other person made a typo and then back-
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