1. A computer system for facilitating querying of historical network information, the system comprising: a processor; and a storage device storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to execute a method performed by a requesting entity of the computer system, the method comprising: generating a query for historical information associated with interest packets and corresponding content object packets, wherein a name or a name prefix for an interest packet is a hierarchically structured variable length identifier (HSVLI) that includes contiguous name components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level, wherein the generated query includes contiguous name components comprising a routable name prefix which includes one or more contiguous name components beginning from the most general level, a type for the query, and a random nonce; transmitting the query to a responding entity; and in response to receiving the historical information from the responding entity, performing an operation that increases network efficiency based on the historical information, thereby facilitating a protocol for querying the historical information to increase network efficiency, wherein the operation is one or more of: setting or changing a transmission window size, setting or changing a rate of transmission for re-transmitted interest packets, and setting or changing a rate of transmission for original interest packets, wherein an original interest packet is not a re-transmitted interest packet.