The conferencing information system (CIS) described in this paper is d
eveloped to provide timely information about ongoing computer-supporte
d conferences throughout the Internet. CIS consists of three major com
ponents: the information server (S), the conference announcer ((A) and
the conference querier (Q). A advertises a conference, S maintains th
e conference information, while Q retrieves the current conference inf
ormation from S and assists the user in joining any of the existing co
nferences. Availability of the service is achieved by running multiple
Ss throughout the lnternet. Responsiveness is improved by requiring e
ach autonomous domain to run a local daemon D that acts as a mediator
between Qs and Ss and as a backup server for local conferences.