8.5  WIDE-AREA INFORMATION SERVERS


Now you know there are hundreds of databases and library catalogs 
you can search through.  But as you look, you begin to realize that each 
seems to have its own unique method for searching.  If you connect to 
several, this can become a pain.  Gophers reduce this problem somewhat.

Wide-area information servers promise another way to zero in on 
information hidden on the Net. In a WAIS, the user sees only one 
interface -- the program worries about how to access information on 
dozens, even hundreds, of different databases.  You tell give a WAIS a 
word and it scours the net looking for places where it's mentioned.  You 
get a menu of documents, each ranked according to how relevant to your 
search the WAIS thinks it is. 

Like gophers, WAIS "client" programs can already be found on many public-
access Internet sites. If your system has a WAIS client, type 
 
     swais
 
at the command prompt and hit enter (the "s" stands for "simple").  If it 
doesn't, telnet to bbs.oit.unc.edu, which is run by the University of 
North Carolina  At the "login:" prompt, type 
 
     bbs
 
and hit enter.  You'll be asked to register and will then get a list of 
"bulletins,'' which are various files explaining how the system works. 
When done with those, hit your Q key and you'll get another menu.  Hit 4 
for the "simple WAIS client," and you'll see something like this: 
 
SWAIS                           Source Selection                   Sources: 23#
               Server                          Source                      Cost
001:   [           archie.au]  aarnet-resource-guide                       Free
002:   [    archive.orst.edu]  aeronautics                                 Free
003:   [nostromo.oes.orst.ed]  agricultural-market-news                    Free
004:   [sun-wais.oit.unc.edu]  alt-sys-sun                                 Free
005:   [    archive.orst.edu]  alt.drugs                                   Free
006:   [    wais.oit.unc.edu]  alt.gopher                                  Free
007:   [sun-wais.oit.unc.edu]  alt.sys.sun                                 Free
008:   [    wais.oit.unc.edu]  alt.wais                                    Free
009:   [    archive.orst.edu]  archie-orst.edu                             Free
010:   [           archie.au]  archie.au-amiga-readmes                     Free
011:   [           archie.au]  archie.au-ls-lRt                            Free
012:   [           archie.au]  archie.au-mac-readmes                       Free
013:   [           archie.au]  archie.au-pc-readmes                        Free
014:   [ pc2.pc.maricopa.edu]  ascd-education                              Free
015:   [           archie.au]  au-directory-of-servers                     Free
016:   [   cirm2.univ-mrs.fr]  bib-cirm                                    Free
017:   [  cmns-sun.think.com]  bible                                       Free
018:   [      zenon.inria.fr]  bibs-zenon-inria-fr                         Free
                                                                               
Keywords:                                                                      
                                                                               
<space> selects, w for keywords, arrows move,  searches, q quits, or ? 
                                         
Each line represents a different database (the .au at the end of some of 
them means they are in Australia; the .fr on the last line represents a 
database in France).  And this is just the first page!  If you type a 
capital K, you'll go to the next page (there are several pages).  
Hitting a capital J will move you back a page. 

The first thing you want to do is tell the WAIS program which databases 
you want searched.  To select a database, move the cursor bar over the 
line you want (using your down and up arrow keys) and hit your space bar.  
An asterisk will appear next to the line number.  Repeat this until 
you've selected all of the databases you want searched.  Then hit your W 
key, after which you'll be prompted for the key words you're looking for.  
You can type in an entire line of these words -- separate each with a 
space, not a comma. 

Hit return, and the search begins.  

Let's say you're utterly fascinated with wheat.  So you might select 
agricultural-market-news to find its current world price.  But you also 
want to see if it has any religious implications, so you choose the Bible 
and the Book of Mormon.  What do you do with the stuff?  Select recipes 
and usenet-cookbook. Are there any recent Supreme Court decisions 
involving the plant? Chose supreme-court.  How about synonyms? Try roget-
thesaurus and just plain thesaurus. 

Now hit w and type in wheat.  Hit enter, and the WAIS program begins its 
search.  As it looks, it tells you whether any of the databases are 
offline, and if so, when they might be ready for a search.  In about a 
minute, the program tells you how many hits it's found.  Then you get a 
new menu, that looks something like this: 
 
 
Keywords:
 
  #    Score     SourceTitleLines
001:   [1000] (roget-thesaurus)       #465. [results of comparison. 1] Di    19
002:   [1000] (roget-thesaurus)       #609. Choice. -- N. choice, option;    36
003:   [1000] (roget-thesaurus)       #465. [results of comparison. 1] Di    19
004:   [1000] (roget-thesaurus)       #609. Choice. -- N. choice, option;    36
005:   [1000] (recipes)          aem@mthvax Re: MONTHLY: Rec.Food.Recipes   425
006:   [1000] ( Book_of_Mormon)  Mosiah  9:96
007:   [1000] ( Book_of_Mormon)  3 Nephi 18:185
008:   [1000] (agricultural-ma)  Re:    JO GR115, WEEKLY GRAIN82
009:   [ 822] (agricultural-ma)  Re:    WA CB351 PROSPECTIVE PLANTINGS      552
010:   [ 800] (        recipes)  kms@apss.a Re: REQUEST: Wheat-free, Suga    35
011:   [ 750] (agricultural-ma)  Re:    WA CB101 CROP PRODUCTION258
012:   [ 643] (agricultural-ma)  Re:    SJ GR850 DAILY NAT GRN SUM72
013:   [ 400] (        recipes)  pat@jaamer Re: VEGAN: Honey Granola63
014:   [ 400] (        recipes)  jrtrint@pa Re: OVO-LACTO: Sourdough/Trit   142
 
Each of these represents an article or citing that contains the word wheat, 
or some related word.  Move the cursor bar (with the down and up arrow 
keys) to the one you want to see, hit enter, and it will begin to appear 
on your screen.  The "score" is a WAIS attempt to gauge how closely the 
citing matches your request.  Doesn't look like the Supreme Court has had 
anything to say about the plant of late!

Now think of how much time you would have spent logging onto various 
databases just to find these relatively trivial examples.