Overview#
Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) is a client–server text searching system that uses the ANSI Standard Z39.50 Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specifications for Library Applications" (Z39.50:1988) to search index databases on remote computers.Wide Area Information Server was developed in the late 1980s as a project of Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick.
Wide Area Information Server did not adhere to either the standard or its OSI-Model (adopting instead TCP/IP) but created a unique protocol inspired by Z39.50:1988.
