Directories & Guides

Yahoo | LookSmart | Open Project Directory| WWW Virtual Library |
Argus Clearinghouse Internet Scout | Internet Public Library
Magellan | Select Surf | Infomine | THOR+ | Specialized Directories

Directories and guides are collections of Web sites that have been gathered, reviewed and organized by human indexers and researchers.  The best known is Yahoo, but there are many others that have been created and made available on the Web.  On this page you'll find a list of recommended sites that contain a vast number of resouces in a multitude of subject areas.  For a more comprehensive search of the Web try one of the Search Engines or Metasearch Engines.  For more help, an excellent tutorial on using and searching the Web can be found at the U of California-Berkeley Teaching Library.

Yahoo
Although most people think of it as a search engine, Yahoo is actually an index of over 1.2 million web sites selected and categorized with human intervention into a directory that can be browsed or searched.  Yahoo's engine only searches this index of select sites rather than the entire Web.  You can browse through the directory by category or conduct a search in the entire database or within a specific category.  If nothing is found, your search is defaulted to Google, a powerful search engine that does index and search the Web.  Yahoo has many specialized databases that can be searched including maps, stock quotes, weather, and news.

The WWW Virtual Library
An extensive catalog of Web sites in over 250 subject areas, maintained by a number of different individuals.  A great to place to start any search for the most relevant Web sites in a particular subject.  Sites are arranged by broad subject categories, similar to Yahoo.  You can also view a list of subjects arranged alphabetically.

The Argus Clearinghouse
Overseen by professional librarians, The Argus Clearinghouse is a selective directory of the best Web topical guides in a multitude of subject areas.  Each guide is reviewed and rated according to five criteria.  You can navigate the site by browsing through the subjects by category and subcategory, or by searching the entire site.  A great resource if you're interested in finding the best lists of Web sites on a particular topic compiled by a specialist in that subject area.

Internet Scout
The Scout site contains a number of helpful tools to assist in finding information on the Internet. The Scout Report is published weekly and contains reviews of sites of interest to educators, researchers, and anyone interested in finding useful, high quality information on the Web.  You can use Signpost to search or browse through sites compiled from The Scout Report. Other resources include Net-Happenings, daily announcements of newly discovered Net resources.

Internet Public Library
The IPL is organized and directed by librarians and serves to provide some sense of order to the chaos of the Internet.  It doesn't have an extensive subject directory, but it's strengths include a very large selection of Ready Reference sources and lists of online texts, newspapers, and periodicals.

LookSmart 
This is a rival to Yahoo and contains links to approximately 1.2 million web sites.  Keywords that are not found within Looksmart's categories and list of titles are referred to Inktomi, a large, powerful web search engine.

Magellan
Operated by the folks at Excite (a very popular search engine), Magellan is a directory of Web sites that have been collected, annotated, and arranged into subject categories.  Some sites have been reviewed and you have the option of limiting your search to this select group of approximately 60,000 reviewed sites.  You can also choose to search "The Entire Web" which includes their entire database of over 50 million Web sites, including reviewed sites.

Open Project Directory
This directory is larger than that of Yahoo or Looksmart, having links to over  2 million web sites.  Over 28,000 volunteers work in selecting the sites that are entered under its categories and sub-categories.  Users can either browse the categories or type in keywords to uncover relevant web sites.    Searching of keywords only searches within the Open Project Directory categories and the list of titles within.

Select Surf
Offers access to over 10,000 of 'the best sites' on the Internet.  Sites are arranged by broad subject categories, referred to as channels.

Infomine
With an ever expanding collection of over 11,000 sites, Infomine is one of the most extensive subject directories geared specifically to scholars and researchers.  It contains a rich and varied collection of scholarly, high quality sites.  Maintained by librarians at the University of California-Riverside.

THOR+: The Virtual Reference Desk
Maintained by librarians at Purdue University, THOR is an extensive directory of online reference resources.