A directory is a way of finding information associated with a name. In the paper phone book, for example, people find telephone numbers by looking up the relevant persons name. Electronic directories work in the same way. The directory consists of a set of structured names that map to entries in the database. Like the paper directory these names can be used to retrieve their associated information. Where the electronic version differs is that names can be automatically searched for and that many different types of information can be stored. This means that the database is rich in content and the data is easily accessible. A number of different types of directory probably already exist in your organization. The internal phone book is one. Others are the human resources database and possibly electronic address books used by your e-mail system. In other words many different types of organizational data are already available, and are accessible in different ways. Electronic directories act to unify organizational data. They provide a focus and a single access point for the information. In addition to making directory data available to local users, electronic directories can be distributed so that the information of multiple organizations can be shared. The long term aim of directory strategists is to see a single, unified, global, directory. Database updates are made directly over the network. Because updates made in this way modify the source database the scope for data integrity is much greater. This contrasts with paper, where corrections can only be made available each time the directory is published. In addition this means data management responsibilities can be assigned in a more meaningful way. System managers can maintain e-mail information, switchboard staff can keep telephone data up to date and users can maintain their own personal information. This flexibility is the key to the directories ability to provide consistently useful service in a rapidly changing information framework.