How to search the Internet

It's still a big mess.

One of the worst things about the Internet is the lack of a simple search program. You still need to know what you're looking for, and have a general idea of where to find it. But things are improving; here is a list of some dedicated search tools.

If you want to find:

  • Hypertext try the WebCrawler
  • Files try ArchiePlex
  • Databases try gopher's Veronica or WAIS's directory of servers
  • Software try Vince Cate's ftpable-READMEs database
  • Netnews try Stanford's Netnews Filtering service
  • Computer Vision Papers try searching the Rosenfeld bibliography
  • People try the NetFind database

    • For more up-to-date search tools, please check listings at CMU and Phillips

    If you want to see a particular institution's Home Page, find an Internet host at that institution and try replacing the prefix with www. For instance, if you knew 
    	ius5.ius.cs.cmu.edu
    was a valid hostname, you might try: 
    	http://www.ius.cs.cmu.edu/		doesn't work (Yet!)
	http://www.cs.cmu.edu/			works!
	http://www.cmu.edu/			works!
    VASC'94 Retreat -- mwm@cmu.edu