Search Directories

Directories are usually human-compiled guides to the web, where sites are organized by category. Some directories, such as Encyclopeida Britannica's eBlast or St. Ambrose University's Best Information on the Net, are specialized for academic research. Others, like Yahoo, are very large and inclusive.

Best Information on the Net
Yahoo Directory
Google Directory
Open Directory Project
Librarians' Index to the Internet
InfoMine

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Descriptions of Individual Directories

Best Information on the Net
(St. Ambrose University)http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Default.htm

This directory is compiled for student use by librarians at an academic instituti on. The quality of the links is very good. Look under Important Sites by Major for classification of web sites by academic subject. Don't miss the link to Hot paper topics.

Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com/

Yahoo is the web's most popular search service and has a well-deserved reputation for helping people find information easily. The secret to Yahoo's success is human beings. It is the largest human-compiled guide to the web, employing about 150 editors in an effort to categorize the web. Yahoo has over 1 million sites listed.

Google Directory
http://www.google.com/dirhp

The Google Web Directory integrates Google's sophisticated search technology with Open Directory pages to create the most useful tool for finding information on the web. Key improvements include the following:

• Importance ranking. The Google Web Directory starts with a collection of websites selected by Open Directory volunteer editors. Google then applies its patented PageRank technology to rank the sites based on their importance. Horizontal bars, which are displayed next to each web page, indicate the importance of the page, as determined by PageRank. This distinctive approach to ranking web sites enables the highest quality pages to appear first as top results for any Google directory category.
  
• Smarter search within directory categories. Google uses the advanced technology that powers its regular web search to learn more about each page listed in its directory. This capability enables users to search deeper within categories and produces more relevant results than any other directory search.
  
• Web search integration. Google's innovative classification technique connects regular Google search results with information in the Google Web Directory. This technology gives users one-click access from regular Google search results to the most relevant hand-selected web pages in the Google directory.
  
• Clean, uncluttered user interface. The Google Web Directory uses the same no-nonsense, user-friendly interface design that distinguishes the google.com site from other search engine sites.

Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/

The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.

Librarian's Guide to the Internet
http://lii.org/

Information You Can Trust." Librarians' Index to the Internet (LII) is a searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 14,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of libraries. LII is used by both librarians and students as a reliable and efficient guide to Internet resources. Librarains' Guide to the Internet is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors.

InfoMine - Scholarly Internet Resource Collections
http://infomine.ucr.edu

InfoMine is a virtual library of Internet resources revelant to faculty, students and research staff at the university level. It contains useful Internet resources such as databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers and many other types of information.