Customized metadata for Internet information

Several search engines, catalogs, and filtering services aim to help users of the Internet deal with a growing information "overload". However, these tools typically are either generic in scope, or limited to the needs of a particular user without regard for reuse in some related context. We propose an approach and architecture for customized filtering and cataloging which bridges these two extremes. We allow users to create and maintain a metadatabase of information gathered over time by using modular filters created for specific needs or drawn from a standard library. This metadatabase, which may be regarded as a database view of the Internet, can then be accessed to locate information relevant to specific or more generic tasks. Potentially, our approach achieves greater flexibility and specificity as compared to currently available tools. We describe our preliminary design, implementation, and experimentation for our proof of concept prototypical effort.