Cataloging the Internet

[GJENKINS at hbs.harvard.edu]

In an earlier message, someone asked how much of the Internet has been
catalogued?  Since we are all information specialists, some usual information
sources many of us have access to, can provide answers.  For example:

"Number of total Internet sites indexed by Yahoo Corporation, the "Netguide to
cool sites," when it went public in April 1995: 41,000.

Internet sites indexed as of September 1995: 80,000

Number of total sites, including unindexed ones, Yahoo believed were on the
Internet as of September 1995: 101,000."

Source:  Editor & Publisher magazine
         "Strategic Alliances by the numbers" by Mark Fitzgerald
         October 7, 1995
         Page 30

Of course you can always read the FAQ page on any of the home page descriptions
for the Worm, Yaho, Webcrawler or other search engines.  Most provide numbers
of sites indexed.  You can compare this total to the following...

If you want to see HISTORICAL Internet usage statistics (by state, country, 
year, etc.) for the Internet backbone, you can try:

  gopher://nic.merit.edu:7043/1/nsfnet/statistics

The site explains why statistics going forward will no longer be available.
It will provide an idea of the number of nets worldwide.

George Jenkins
GJenkins at hbs.harvard.edu