Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Wide Area Information Servers
     
         (WAIS) A distributed
        information retrieval system.  WAIS is supported by {Apple
        Computer}, {Thinking Machines} and Dow Jones.  {Client}s are
        able to retrieve documents using keywords.  The search returns
        a list of documents, ranked according to the frequency of
        occurrence of the keyword(s) used in the search.  The client
        can retrieve text or {multimedia} documents stored on the
        {server}.  WAIS offers simple {natural language} input,
        indexed searching for fast retrieval, and a "relevance
        feedback" mechanism which allows the results of initial
        searches to influence future searches.  It uses the {ANSI
        Z39.50} service.  {Public domain} implementations are
        available.
     
        Other information retrieval systems include {archie},
        {Gopher}, {Prospero}, and {World-Wide Web}.
     
        {Usenet} newsgroup: {news:comp.infosystems.wais}.
     
        {Telnet (telnet://sunsite.unc.edu)}.
     
        (1995-03-13)