It is estimated that there are over two billion Web pages, and thousands of newsgroups and forums, on the Internet - covering virtually every topic imaginable. However, many users find that searching the Internet can be a time consuming and tedious process.

This has driven the development of improved search and information retrieval systems. However, we now need ... to present the user only with the information they need, rather than a large set of relevant documents to read.

... community Web sites could help ... just by adopting the current generation of knowledge management systems ...

Metadata has useful role ... but it has limitations ... [XML is a] key opportunity ... good user-friendly, and "intelligent", tools will be critical ...

The success of Internet based knowledge management, and the Semantic Web, will require the development and integration of various data standards, ontology definitions, and knowledge management and agent technologies. It will take a concerted and significant effort to get there. The likely longer-term benefits are much more effective Internet searches and smart information extraction services, which present the user with concise relevant extracts.