Web terminology

[Martin Courtois]

I guess I've seen the "portal" movement as a push by search engines to
become your default home page, the page that opens automatically when you
start your browser.  By offering a range of popular services beyond
searching, search enginges can increase the amount of traffic at their
site, which should help to attract advertisers.

But, just as I was starting to understand "portals," it seems the trend
may subsiding.  An article in the June 1 issue of _Internet World_ talks
about a "search engine revival," with search engines (Excite and InfoSeek
specifically) returning to their "search roots" after becoming portals.
The article, "Two Engines Return to Search Roots," is on the front page of
the print issue, and is also online at

http://www.iw.com/print/current/news/19980601-bettersearch.html

Marty

***********************************************************
Martin Courtois
Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Reference Librarian
Gelman Library
George Washington University
2130 H St., N.W.
Washington DC 20052
Phone: (202) 994-0684
FAX: (202) 994-1340
E-mail: courtois at gwu.edu

On Fri, 5 Jun 1998, Jian Liu wrote:

> Another term, popping up more and more frequently, on the commercial
> side of the web at least, is "Portal", referring mainly to the big
> search engine sites, which have added other popular subject directories,
> free email, chat room, and other shopping opportunities. There is
> a recent article in PC Magazine Online that discusses Netscape's NetCenter
> as being one of the portals.
> 
> Any comment on the use of the word, or this portal trend?
> 
> Jian
> Indiana University Libraries
> 
> > 
> > 
> > I have a (probably dumb) question about terminology.....
> > 
> > What do you call those sites that basically consist of
> > links to other useful sites? They can be annotated (like
> > the Librarians' Index to the Internet), or simply lists of
> > unannotated links.
> > 
> > I tend to think of them as meta sites, but I was wondering
> > if there is another term that's commonly used........
> > 
> > Thanks!
> > 
> > Bernie Sloan
> > Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
> > University of Illinois Office for Planning & Budgeting
> > 338 Henry Administration Building
> > 506 S. Wright Street
> > Urbana, IL  61801
> > Phone: (217) 333-4895  
> > Fax: (217) 333-6355
> > Email: bernies at uillinois.edu
> > 
>