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Discusses the changing concept of the virtual library. The global village library; Web pages; Internet Public Library; Web site from various libraries including the Milton Public Library in Milton, Massachusetts, the Boulder Public Library of Boulder, Colorado, the Torrance Public Library of Torrance, California; Additional Web projects; Legislative issues; Growth of the virtual library.

This article highlights advances in machine processing and document analysis which make the application of automated categorization tools to organize content possible. Full-text searching was once seen as the ultimate in addressing the challenge of finding the right information. Full-text searching has an important place within content and information management. However, full-text searching can be a frustrating experience for the end user. Content that is organized can more easily be navigated for information discovery. The metadata extracted from document sets can be used both to create browseable lists and for searching. As many experts in information science have shown, browsing is more successful in locating relevant content and preferred by most users. Many products address either full-text search or classified information retrieval but rarely offer anything in the middle. Full-text searching offers the advantages of ease of use and implementation but with the disadvantages related to information discovery. Classification of an organization's documents and content provides powerful and precise searching, enabling better information discovery but with a much larger investment in cost, complexity and expertise.