Web Directories will help you get through the vast number of Internet resources and to your subject fast! These directories are compilations of links to resource sites, arranged by subject and indexed so that they can be searched using keywords.
Advantages: Good for starting with relatively general subjects and getting an overview of what is available on the Web.
Disadvantages: Searches vary greatly in number of returns, no review of quality, little descriptive information provided for sites
Web Directories include key word and sometimes heirarchical searching. (next section)
There are two types of Web Directories
| 1 | General Subject Directories are automated indexes and include pages that have never been reviewed by a human-being (The pages may or may not have been written by an authority on the subject). |
General Subject Directories (such as Yahoo! or Excite) are general subject indexes to all types of Web sites and other Internet documents. Each site included in a directory is listed under one or more subject categories, as determined by the directory's indexers. The listing for each site usually includes a brief description of the site. Whenever using a subject directory that is not "selected" , you will need to evaluate the information returned. See Evaluation Criteria for Webpages in this lesson.
| Yahoo | |
| Excite |
| 2 | Selected Subject Directories include pages which are hand-picked by a group or committee and included only after they have met certain criteria proving them to be worthy of inclusion. Included web pages are "authoritative", written by authorities on specific subjects. |
Selective Subject Directories are indexes of pre-evaluated sites or best sites. Selective directories often provide many links to other specialized sites which, in turn, provide links or search engines leading to more specific high-quality documents in a particular subject area. These directories provide links to resources with "authority", meaning the information is written or supplied by knowlegeable, reliable professionals.
Recommended Selective Directories: (Links will open in new windows to preserve this course window.)
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Librarians Index to the Internet http://www.lii.org "Information You Can Trust. The Librarians' Index to the Internet (lii.org) is a searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 10,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries. lii.org is used by both librarians and the general public as a reliable and efficient guide to Internet resources."
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All subjects |
InfoMine http://infomine.ucr.edu/ "A Virtual Library of Internet resources" useful to the student, researcher and general community. It contains databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library catalogs, articles, and so on. It is an "information cooperative" created by librarians in UC, Cal State, and other Universities. One disadvantage is that some resources are fee-based or available only to students of those institutions. You can select "free" resources however.
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Academic Info All subjects |
Academic Info http://www.academicinfo.net "The mission of Academic Info is to be the premier educational gateway to online high school, college and research level Internet resources. Academic Info selects, organizes, and reviews quality educational Web sites to make the increasing avalanche of information on the Internet accessible to students in an easy to use online directory." Since 1998; nonprofit
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XRefer http://www.xrefer.com/ "Xreferplus is a giant online reference library that provides you with access to 120 reference books. Xreferplus includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, as well as a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy and literature to law."
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Literature, Reference & Verse |
Bartleby.com http://www.bartleby.com
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Magportal http://www.magportal.com Find individual articles from over 100 free magazines by browsing the categories or using the search engine. this full-text periodical web site operateslike the fee-based WilsonWeb, First Search and EbscoHost. Browseable by category or by search words. A "real find"! The only drawback is the database begins in 1999.
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 Science and Social Sciences |
Scientific American http://www.sciam.com "Scientific American puts its magazine online with issues going back to 1996. Not all articles are free in full-text format, but many are. This site features "Ask the Experts", Bookmarks, readers' favorite articles and polls. Excellent for research in science and social sciences. Interactive pages make this "Even better than reading the magazine!"
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History, Political Science, Sociology |
University of Michigan Documents Center "Documents in the News" http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/docnews.html This resource compiles news and current events documents for researchers to use for reference and instruction. "This website is not just a list of links to web sites of dubious qualty - but refers to actual documents and /or official web postings ad press releases from government (domestic and foreign) official bodies, business corporations, news agencies, law agencies and individuals in the news."(1) Especially, useful for students of history, political science and sociology. The site includes an index of articles from 1995 to present and it is searchable.
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Life Sciences, Physical Sciences Computer Science |
Scout Report Archives http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/archives "The Scout Report Archives is a searchable and browseable database to over seven years' worth of the Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports. It contains 13790 critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites and mailing lists. ."
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All Subjects |
About.com http://www.about.com About.com is like an online encylclopedia."The sites cover more than 50,000 subjects with over 1 million links to the best resources on the Net and the fastest-growing archive of high quality original content." "Each site in our unique network is run by a professional Guide who is carefully screened and trained by About. Guides build a comprehensive environment around each of their specific topics, including the best new content, relevant links, How-To's, Forums, and answers to just about any question."The site is indexed by 'subject' and searchable. Good for an overview of a subject and includes an amazing number of links when details are desired. |
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All Subjects |
"The VL is the oldest catalog of the web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the web itself. Unlike commercial catalogs, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the web, the VL pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the web." The site is indexed by 'subject' and searchable.
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All Subjects |
BUBL Link 5:15 http://bubl.ac.uk/link BUBL LINK is the name of a catalogue of selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas and catalogued according to DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification). All items are selected, evaluated, catalogued and described. Links are checked and fixed each month. LINK stands for Libraries of Networked Knowledge. Link 5:15 indicates resources are listed by 'Subject'
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All Subjects
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Carrie http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/ A Full-Text Electronic Library - an extensive link resource, listing texts archived at various locations all across the Internet. Also has a searchable database feature. |
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Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/ An authoritative resource that includes: Reference Center, Reading Room, Youth Resources, Subject Collections and Special collections. Offers a catalog of over 20,000 online books. |
