SUBJECT DIRECTORIES

 

by Rowena Namoca, Nancy Willis, and Craig Cunningham

  Final Activity
  Conducting your search Glossary
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SUBJECT DIRECTORIES

Unlike search engines that are maintained by machines, subject directories are created and maintained by human editors. The editors' job is to review and select sites that will be included in their directories.

Subject directories can be searched in a logical, "manual" fashion by clicking on categories, and then on sub-categories, etc. This process is known as "drilling down."

Directories (also known as subject trees). Directories provide categorized listings of web sites, usually arranged in a hierarchy of topics and subtopics. The most famous example of this is the Yahooä web site. Yahoo allegedly stands for " Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle" and it originally provided only listing of sites according to categories. Web sites are listed after being reviewed for content and suitability. Sites are listed in one or more categories, and are reached by "drilling down" into the directory. Drilling down is the process of choosing a top-level category, then choosing a second-level category, and so on until one finds what one needs.

For example, on Yahoo, when first entering the site, one sees a list of categories including: Arts and Humanities; Business and Economy, Computers and Internet, Education, Entertainment, Government, Health, News and Media, Recreation and Sports, Reference, Regional, Science, Social Science, and Society and Culture.

If you want to find the home page of the National Air and Space Museum, you could find it by choosing the category Government > US Government > Agencies > Independent > Smithsonian Institution, where you'll find the National Air and Space Museum.

While drilling down is the original means of finding what you want in a directory or subject tree, it is also possible to search the directory (categories, listings, and/or descriptions of listed web sites) by keyword. Some directories will also allow you to use their search engine to search an index of the entire web. (Yahoo, for example, includes the results of AltaVistaä web searches along with the results of searching Yahoo's directory.)

When you conduct a search using subject directories, the directory attempts to match your keywords and phrases with those stored in its databases.

Subject directories divide their web page into subject categories and sub-categories. This may seem cumbersome at times because you will find that you have to click several times before you get to the final search results. On the other hand, this method allows you to separate web pages that contain irrelevant information on what you're looking for.

When do you use subject directories?

If you simply wanted to get a listing of independent agencies of the US Government (that is, those that are neither in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches), drilling down in a directory is a great way to find want you want. When you find a directory page that is relevant to your specific interests, it's a good idea to bookmark that page to avoid having to click so many times next time you visit.

Directories list only a fraction of all web pages, and generally include only the established home pages (or signification sections) of organizations likely to remain in business for a long time. Some directories only include sites that are reliable as determined by subject-matter specialists, or only those meeting certain criteria for quality

By looking at the categories used on Yahoo or other directories, one can see a sort of "map" of the World Wide Web, showing the kinds of resources one is likely to find. Other directories use different categories. See curriculumwebs.com for links to a number of online directories, including Yahoo.

Subject directories are ideal for when you are browsing and for searches of a more general nature. You can get the most out of subject directories when you are looking for sources with information on popular topics, organizations, commercial sites and products.

Examples of subject directories:

To see how subject directories work, complete this Subject Directories Activity.

 

Other types of Search Tools:

 

 
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