WAIS

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. It was developed in 1990[1] as a project of Thinking Machines, Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_information_server Basically a pre-Web search engine of (non-HTML) documents across the internet, esp via Gopher.