Abstract: A method and apparatus for retrieving information from a computer network such as the Internet includes a pre-selected and focused subset of all existing web sites that is searchable by the intended user. The invention preferably monitors the changes in content to the web sites in its database and notifies the user of such changes. A preferred embodiment allows the user to organize and index the search results according to various criteria selected by the user. A particularly preferred embodiment stores both current and historical web sites in its database and utilizes existing sites to find new sites to add to the database.