Abstract: A facility for exposing an index of private documents is described. In a private network, the facility (1) identifies electronic versions of documents that are available inside the private network, including a distinguished document; (2) constructs an index covering the identified electronic versions of documents; and (3) exports the constructed index from the private network to an index publication server. At the index publication server, the facility (1) receives the exported index; (2) receives a query via a public network; and (3) uses an index, based upon the received index, to generate a query result for the received query that contains the distinguished document.