on Branscomb's challenge to raise the understanding of some of the many aspects of this new communication medium that is transforming the way we access, manipulate, and distribute information.
This Perspectives focuses on some of the far-reaching impacts on society and information provision by looking at ''Internet Issues.'' The articles here examine a variety of issues, including: Technological issues, publishing issues, legal issues, human communications issues, and information use issues. The articles are grouped in the sections listed above, which describe the category of ''issues'' covered by those articles placed there. The arrangement is loosely in order from general to specific, that is, from broad topics to more narrowly focused ones.
The first section, ''Technological Issues,'' focuses on software and telecommunications. The articles begin with Clifford Lynch's overview of major infrastructural developments in ''The Evolving Internet: Applications and Network Service Infrastructure.'' Lynch, an internationally recognized expert on information networking, describes the current state of the Internet infrastructure and what we can expect in the near-term future. He looks at the broad picture of coming changes that will have an impact on what role the Internet is likely to play in the next decade, and some of the advances in applications and hardware devices on the horizon. Major research initiatives, such as Internet 2 and the Next Generation Internet program, together with commercial interests that foster some advances in telecommunications and applications, will provide an environment where innovation can flourish.
Candy Schwartz provides a state-of-the-art overview of ''Web Search Engines.'' The evolution of Web finding tools has been swift, necessitated by the continuing explosive growth of Web sites. Now we are faced with a concomitant explosion of Web search engines. The developers of each look for a better way to index and provide access to Web resources; each has some unique properties, yet they have many things in common. No one search engine dominates our attention for long, as the search for a better way continues.
Schwartz examines the growing body of literature that evaluates the efficacy of Web search engines, provides a helpful cataloging of search features that are available in today's engines, and speculates on improvements for the future.
Rigorous and compelling telecommunications infra-