proper setup

["Jon P. Sellers" <jsellers@manatee.brev.lib.fl.us>]

I apologize for the newbie question and I hope this is the correct list.
If I search my OpenLDAP ldap server without specifying the search base,
I get a "no object found" error. Specifying the search base, I get the
expected response. However, I can search ldap.bigfoot.com without
specifying a search base. Is this an issue with OpenLDAP or just my
setup?
example:

$ ldapsearch "cn=se*"
returns "No such object"

$ ldapsearch -b "o=myorg, c=us" "cn=se*"
returns expected attributes

$ ldapsearch -h ldap.bigfoot.com "cn=se*"
returns lots of stuff

Does bigfoot's ldap server implement some functionallity that OpenLDAP
lacks, or is it my setup? Thanks for the help.

Jon Sellers