The Cole Digest, June 7, 1995

Gentle Reader,

This is the third and final part of a description by Dan Woods, formerly of the Raleigh News & Observer (now with Time Inc.), of how the newspaper implemented an electronic library system using the free WAIS software:

WAIS also holds promise as a photo archive. Its multityping feature allows text information to be linked to files in other formats. We have used this feature to create a prototype photo database that allows binary photos to be searched and delivered through WAIS.

The best part of implementing WAIS has been the rapid improvement of the skills of our staff. We have discovered many tools and techniques, and we have become masters of manipulating our library.

With the library in Sybase, we can now deliver it in a number of forms -- for example, to the World-Wide Web or to CD-ROMs -- with relative ease.

What I have described is the freeware version of WAIS, known as freeWais Version 1.0. It comes as a package of source code, which means you have to know a lot about UNIX to make it work.

Not everyone has, or will want to develop, the UNIX muscles necessary to follow in our footsteps. For a fee, WAIS Inc. will be glad to help. Brewster Kahle, president of WAIS Inc., sells a commercial version for $15,000. For another $10,000 he will set up your database and train your staff. (WAIS Inc. was acquired last week by American Online and is now a stand-alone division of the on-line giant.)

The commercial version solves some of the problems mentioned above. The indexes are more compact and can be as large as your disks can hold. Data can be stored in other databases like Sybase.

Date searching, and improved Boolean and field searching, are supported. And, unlike the freeware version, full documentation and technical support is available.

The freeware WAIS, though clearly behind the commercial version, is thriving and developing rapidly. We are dedicated to making improvements and sharing them with others, and so are hundreds of developers throughout the world.

WAIS Inc. also is committed to helping the freeware thrive. Kahle said that he sees WAIS moving forward both as a commercial and a freeware product.

For the price, its impossible to beat freeWais as a library solution. It must be considered a viable alternative in any effort to find a text archive.

In our view, the difficulties of the search engine are a small price to pay for the connectivity and ease of integration into the Internet.

Implementing WAIS does require a large amount of UNIX programming knowledge. But in the future UNIX-centered world, we think that it pays to have lots of that knowledge and the flexibility it brings rather than relying on the ability of third parties to deliver solutions to news research problems.

In any event, third-party solutions frequently present themselves as toolkits that allow the construction of a custom library solution. If we have to build the solution ourselves, we figured we would use a set of tools that's available for free.

Onward.

\dmc

[THE COLE DIGEST is written by consultant David M. Cole, editor and publisher of the industry newsletter THE COLE PAPERS. The DIGEST is made available to PressLink subscribers every Wednesday at no extra charge. Send comments by e-mail to cole@plink.geis.com. The COLE DIGEST is the property of The Cole Group, a California sole proprietorship. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The Cole Group is prohibited. Copyright (C) 1995, The Cole Group. Opinions expressed are those of The Cole Group, unless otherwise noted.

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