A '''knowbot''' is a kind of [[Internet bot|bot]] that automatically collects certain specified information from [[web sites]].

KNOWBOT is the acronym for Knowledge-Based Object Technology. This term, used as early as 1988<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/kahn-cerf-88.pdf|title=THE DIGITAL LIBRARY PROJECT VOLUME 1: The World of Knowbots (DRAFT) - An open architecture for a digital library system and a plan for its development}}</ref> and known to have been implemented by December 1989 at the latest<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Internet-documents/matrix/services/KIS-id.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084329/http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Internet-documents/matrix/services/KIS-id.txt |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> describes computer-based objects developed for collecting and storing specific information, to use that information to accomplish a particular task, and to enable sharing that information with other objects or processes. An early use of knowbots was to provide a computerized assistant to users to complete redundant detailed tasks without a need to train the user in computer technology.

==See also== * [[Knowbot Information Service]] * [[Web crawler]], a program that visits Web sites and gathers information according to some ''generalized'' criteria (as opposed to user-specified criteria) and subsequently indexes it<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/knowbot|title=What is knowbot? - Definition from WhatIs.com|access-date=2015-11-04|archive-date=2015-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119062214/http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/knowbot|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Internet bots]] [[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1988]]

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