Islamabad Club (Web Portal)

Abstract

Within the invisible walls of cyberspace lies a maze of letters, numbers, symbols, and dotcorns. Aptly named, the Internet was coined the information superhighway, but to diagram the possible pathways would be a mapmaker' s nightmare. Attempting to merge onto the correct lane of information requires much more than a supersonic engine. This is why navigators choose to view the passing landscape through a window known as a portal. The term Web portal implies a doorway to all the wondrous bounty of the World Wide Web. This portal concept is not only found on personal computers, but corporations also want their employees and partners viewing business through a paneled window. Portals, as most Internet users are aware, began as search engines with features such as email, chat rooms, and shopping. Some examples are Yahoo! America Online, and Excite. Users typed keywords to search, and sifted through 10,000 hits of supposed relevant information. The real challenge as the information pool grew was indexing all that was available. The search and retrieval process became more refined as more portals popped up and competition in the market grew. Eventually, a portal became a destination site.