1999 - Volume 2 - Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics

The Nonwoven Web
THE
NONWOVEN WEB
ORIGINAL PAPER/PEER REVIEWED
For the nonwoven scientist and technologist, the Internet has become a virtually unlimited source of
information. Imagine having access to the memory and storage facilities of several million computers all tied
together. While the potential is extraordinary, the process of finding a specific piece of information can be
difficult, tedious and frustrating.
It's a little bit like stepping into the middle of a very large library, looking around at the books and resource
materials and then trying to find the needed information without the help of a librarian or a catalog system. As
one specialist has put it, "It can seem like a library catalogued by a madman."
Fortunately, there is some help available. One of the most common and best known is the "search engine."
These are computer programs and systems designed to be given an assignment, and then go out throughout the
web and retrieve the needed information. Unfortunately, even the most popular search engines can cover only
a fraction of the indexable web. One fairly recent study (Lawrence S.; Giles, C. L.; "Searching the worldwide
web," Science, 1998, pp. 280-98) concluded that popular search engines cover less than one-third of the
indexable web. Since that study was made in 1998, the web has grown even larger; consequently, that figure is
undoubtedly too optimistic.
So what does the Internet user do to take full advantage of the potential? The best approach appears to be to
understand the system and the tools, and then to select the appropriate tool and methodology for the particular
search or query. This can look like a daunting task, but it is manageable. Not everything has to be learned at
once and use of the facility does provide greater understanding and appreciation of what is available and a
knowledge of the most effective ways to procure the information desired.
Also, as a practicality, it is not necessary to understand and gain experience on all aspects of the web. By
focusing on those resources that are pertinent to the nonwovens industry, the task becomes more manageable
and reasonable in scope.
What follows may be of some help.
The Internet is basically a great number of computers linked together. These computers are called "servers."
When you ask your computer (called the "client") to go get information from another computer, the client
sends out a request over your modem or net connection to a server. What it finds and brings back depends on
what you asked for, what application or system you used to form the request, and the search system utilized.
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