Supporting discovery in virtual libraries

It is well known that selectivity leaves a lot to be desired in searching for information resources on the Internet with existing search systems (Desai, 1995c). This has prompted a number of researchers to turn their attention to the development and implementation of models for indexing and searching information resources on the Internet. In this article,(1) we examine briefly the results of a simple query on a number of existing search systems and then discuss two proposed index metadata structures for indexing and supporting search and discovery: The Dublin Core Elements List and the Semantic Header. We also present an indexing and discovery system based on the Semantic Header.