Gerald Boyd has spent much time learning the internal syntax of web search engines. He has made the fruits of his labor available at an ftp site. Interested Internauts can download FAQs on how to query fifteen generic and eight specialty search engines by email. Included are Alta Vista, Excite, Inktomi, Yahoo, Infoseek, OKRA, Open Text, SwitchBoard, TheList, and others. Also included is a FAQ...

The Works provides a comprehensive collection of network tools organized under the categories of resource discovery, learning, publishing, and understanding the significance of the online world. Links to information about dozens of types of Internet tools are offered, from the basics of telnet and FTP to the latest in Web plug-ins. Navigation through the many links offered is aided by the use of...

A previously reviewed nettool recently announced the release of its final version. Google (see the June 4, 1999 Scout Report), a search engine originally developed at the Stanford University Computer Science Department, rates the relevance of a Webpage to a particular search query in part by examining how many other Webpages link to it. While maintaining the valuable feature Uncle Sam, an index...

The Internet Engineering Curriculum Repository Web site attempts to "coordinate and make available on the web a 'distributed living curriculum' in network engineering." At present, it contains sections on Infrastructure Support, Developing Protocols, Applications, Social, Code Development, and Imminent Technologies. Each of these categories is further subdivided; these subcategories point to...

The Internet Domain Survey is published on a biannual basis and has been conducted since 1987. Sponsored by the Internet Software Consortium, the survey "attempts to discover every host on the Internet by doing a complete search of the Domain Name System." In doing so, it serves as a key indicator of the growth of the Internet. This Web site provides results from each iteration of the survey....

By mid-1998, Netscape finished remaking its site from a browser information center into an Internet portal. After over nine months of development, the new Netcenter provides (discussed in the September 5, 1997 Scout Report) a directory (originally provided by Excite!), annotated links organized into categories, along with continually updated news features. For those still interested in the...

Initially facilitating a shared database of library holdings, NOBLE was founded to improve library service by streamlining the identification and sharing of needed library resources among member libraries. In addition to managing and adding value to a shared library automation system, services have grown to include shared electronic resources — online periodical databases, downloadable audiobooks...

Savetz's Unofficial Internet Public Domain Index" contains pointers to works that are in the public domain. As clarified by Mr. Savetz: "Public domain doesn't mean 'shareware.' It isn't a work that is owned by somebody else, who allows you to use it for free. It isn't software distributed under the "GNU Public License," or a copyrighted book that the author has put online. Public domain means that...

This massive metasite should keep even the most hardcore search engine junkie busy, with over 2,200 briefly annotated links to search engines, portals, directories, and indexes. The links are organized under twelve subject headings, such as Arts, Business, Reference, Social Science, and Government, which are further broken down by topic. What's New, What's Cool, and Top 10 lists are also provided....

SuperPages.com (formerly provided by NYNEX Information Technologies), is a U.S. national yellow pages phone directory of businesses. The user can search by city, state, address, business category, and business name. Results provide name, address, and phone number.