Before efining what is a directory service one must understand what is meant by a directory. Fundamentally, a directory is like a dictionary; it allows one to look up a name and retrieve items of information associated with that name. Just like a word in a dictionary may have multiple definitions, multiple different pieces of information may be associated with a given name. And just like a word may have different parts of speech, with different definitions associated, a name in a directory may also have many different types of data.