Search Directories For the Invisible Web - Sample Search Directories: Where to Look for Information
(Page 3 of 4 )
I would like to say one more time that search directories are not the fastest way to retrieve information. Often one will have to browse endless pages of link collections, and there is no guarantee that you will find what you need. In some cases you will be more successful when looking in all-purpose directories, while in other cases a topical directory will be a better choice. While all-purpose search directories in general contain many links to all kinds of sites on the Internet, topical search directories are targeted to a specific area –- academic research, news, sites from/about particular countries or regions, medical, educational, financial information, and so on.
It is not possible to visit all search directories on the Internet, but it is also hardly necessary. Depending on what kind of information you are looking for, you can start your search with the most established all-purpose directories, such as:
The Open Directory Project (DMOZ – http://www.dmoz.org) is probably the biggest and best-known search directory on the Internet. It has more than 600,000 categories (just imagine the number of sites there!) that cover even items you may have never thought could exist. There is a good chance that you will find what you are looking for in this directory.
The Invisible Web Directory (http://www.invisible-web.net) is another directory listing that classifies many sites in categories and subcategories.
The official directory of the sites in the world (http://www.123world.com/) contains a vast amount of links in different categories. It also does not include absolutely everything you might think of (for example, there are many countries not listed in the Countries category) but it is another good starting point.
The Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org) is more of a reference source than a general search directory, but it contains many links covering different subjects, organized in many categories and subcategories.
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org) is also one of the big search directories on the Web. Since it is compiled by librarians, it has the advantage of human-maintained directories in respect to content quality.
About.com (http://www.about.com) is an old but golden source of reliable information. About.com has many categories and subcategories, complemented with articles by its journalists and external authors.
The Scout Report (http://scout.wisc.edu) contains about 17,000 cataloged sites. It allows users to browse a catalog by using Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Many university libraries have vast collections of resources, which often are not strictly academic but cover a wide range of topics. Often these resources are publicly available on the Web and can also be used for searching the Invisible Web. Such a resource is the Best Information on the Net site (http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/) and the above mentioned Scout Report.
Two of the major search engines – Yahoo (http://dir.yahoo.com/) and Google (http://directory.google.com/) maintain large directory listings of sites, although most of them are accessible via their search engines as well, so these cannot be qualified exactly as Invisible Web search directories.
Next: Topical Directories >>
More Search Optimization Articles
More By Tsvetanka Stoyanova
