New Web Service Provides Search Tool for Usenet and More

September 10th, 2007

Ever need to get your hands on a useful bit of information you once read during a visit to a newsgroup, but can’t remember exactly which group you visited?

With InReference’s new Web site search service, you can search for information posted somewhere in the hundreds of thousands of messages individuals send each day to international forums such as Usenet newsgroups, e-mail list forums, and other Web discussion groups.

Reference.com, an advertiser-supported service that debuted last week, targets people who want to find out more about their favorite topics, such as music, scientific developments, movies, or technology. Business readers can track discussions of their company’s latest product or technology.

For example, once you type a keyword, an author name, company name, or date or forum name, you can browse or reply to any hyperlinked posting that appears on the list. In that posting you may find tips, news, suggested URLs, and gossip about that particular topic.

Reference.com makes available a database of 150,000 archived Internet discussion forums and current Web-based discussion forums including 20,000 Usenet topics such as comp.sys.handhelds, alt.politics. datahighway, or comp.multimedia.

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