Searching the Internet Effectively:
Directories
Searching directories
Most directories offer two ways of searching:
- navigating through subject categories to a specific topic
- searching for keywords:
- in the category headings
- in the names and descriptions of the web sites
- in a search engine database associated with the directory
In searching a directory, you are looking for a site that may contain your
answer, rather than a specific page that contains your answer. So don't search
for too specific a topic; search for sites that are likely to contain detailed
information about your topic..
Look on LII for a site that would help you find
a copy of the constitution of Chile.
Selected Directories
http://lii.org/
Selected, annotated resources. Browse through a hierarchical index, or
search titles, index terms, or descriptions.
Look for information on "the dates of Easter in future years" in the Librarians'
Index to the Internet
http://dir.yahoo.com/
This was the original Web directory, but has now combined a number of functions
to become a "portal". Has geographically based "offshoots", e.g. Australia and New Zealand, and a special
subsite for children, Yahoo!Kids .
Yahoo! started as a directory service, but has been increasingly emphasising its
search engine.
Try looking for the consitution of Chile in Yahoo!
http://webdirectory.natlib.govt.nz/
First stop for NZ enquiries. Hierarchy, but includes the ability to search
across descriptions. Based on Ara Nui, a directory of NZ web resources created
at Lincoln University, but now run by the National Library of New Zealand.
Look in the subject breakdown, "General and Reference" , subheading "Internet directories" for other NZ Web directories.
Try searching for "the website of an organisation promoting NZ education
overseas" in Te Puna Web Directory
http://www.dmoz.org/
The Open Directory Project is created cooperatively by volunteer editors,
and is the basis for Google's directory service.
http://vlib.org/
The original WWW directory. Distributed structure, created by volunteers,
so can have uneven coverage. Tends to have long uncategorised lists. But
some good sections.
Look at the range of resources under "Regional Studies" in the WWWVL.
http://bubl.ac.uk/
Has a research focus, and a European orientation. Browse by Dewey Decimal
Classification.
Look for information on "a UK clearing house for biodiversity" in BUBL/Link
This gives access to scholarly resources and annotations.
Look for maps of South Pacific countries on Infomine.
Resource Guides
Internet "bibliographies", where selection and annotation of
resources in a particular subject area has been done. Resource Guides may
or may not be up-to-date, however since search engines will never cover
the whole of the Web, specialised guides will increasingly be recognised
as the way to carry out efficient searching in a subject domain.
INTUTE is an example of a collection of resource guides in
Search Engines
Last updated 19 june 2009 by Alastair Smith