






                         KIS - Knowbot Information Service


            _A_d_d_r_e_s_s:
               Ralph Droms
               Computer Science Department
               323 Dana Engineering
               Bucknell University
               Lewisburg, PA 17837

            _E_m_a_i_l: droms@bucknell.edu

            _P_h_o_n_e: (717) 523-1271
               FAX: (717) 524-3760


            _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n

            The Knowbot Information Service is  a  white  pages  ``meta-
            service'' that provides a uniform interface to heterogeneous
            white pages services in the  Internet.   Using  the  Knowbot
            Information  Service,  one  can form a single query that can
            search for white pages information from the NIC  WHOIS  ser-
            vice,  the  RIPE  European white pages service and MCI Mail,
            among others, and have the responses displayed in a  single,
            uniform format.

            Inclusion of additional information  about  an  organization
            with  which  a  person is affiliated enables access to addi-
            tional white pages services  including  the  NYSERNet  X.500
            White  Pages  Pilot  project,  and over 200 finger and whois
            services run by individual organizations.   For  example,  a
            query  about  <droms@bucknell>  will return results from the
            NYSERNet White Pages project and from the finger  server  on
            <sol.cs.bucknell.edu>.

            _N_e_t_w_o_r_k _A_c_c_e_s_s

            There are three ways to gain access to the Knowbot  Informa-
            tion Service:


            _________________________
            The information in this section is provided  in  accor-
            dance  with the copyright notice appearing at the front
            of this guide.




            September 1, 1992           NNSC        Section 4.5,  Page 1








            o+    Use the WHOIS frontends to the Knowbot information Ser-
                 vice      on      hosts      <nri.reston.va.us>     and
                 <regulus.cs.bucknell.edu>.  For example,  from  a  UNIX
                 host, use <whois -h nri.reston.va.us cerf@cnri> to look
                 for information about Vint Cerf affiliated with CNRI.

            o+    Telnet to the Knowbot Information Service.   Currently,
                 there  are  servers accessible through a telnet to port
                 185      on      hosts      <nri.reston.va.us>      and
                 <regulus.cs.bucknell.edu>.  From a UNIX host, use <tel-
                 net nri.reston.va.us 185>.  The commands help  and  man
                 summarize the command interface.

            o+    Send mail to userid <netaddress> at one of the  Knowbot
                 Information Service hosts.

            _W_h_o _C_a_n _U_s_e _T_h_e _R_e_s_o_u_r_c_e

            The Knowbot Information Service is available  to  all  users
            through the mechanisms listed above.































            September 1, 1992           NNSC        Section 4.5,  Page 2


