Directories

Details - Frequently Asked Questions - Anecdotes - Links to other sites


Definition: A World Wide Web directory is a Web Site that is used to locate other web sites and web pages in predefined areas of interest. For each of these predefined areas the directory provides a set of links to all the Web pages that fall within that area of interest.
Discussion: The best known example of a directory is Yahoo which includes links to all the Web pages that Yahoo have added to their site. It has fourteen major categories ranging from "business and economy" to "recreation and sport". If you select any one of these categories you will be presented with a number of subcategories and so on until you end up with a list of links to web pages on your chosen subject, such as "Business and Economy - Finance and Investment - Magazines". In addition to working your way through the categories many directories provide a search facility to allow you to find the links you want based on key words you type in. Some also allow you to limit the access to specified geographic regions.
: There are also directories dedicated to specific subject areas.
See Also: Search Engines. This is the other popular mechanism for locating information on the Internet.
More Details (sometimes Technical): Nothing yet
Frequently Asked Questions: What is the difference between a directory and a search engine? A directory only includes links to Web pages which have been screened and categorised by human beings. Search engines include as many links as they can find. Thus in a directory the links should all be relevant to the category that contains them. When you locate pages in a search engine the pages are located according to how they were categorised by a computer program. This is imprecise, so although you will usually end up with a lot more matches, many will be irrelevant.
Anecdotes: None yet
Links to other sites: Here are a cross section of directories

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Terms A-Z

Yahoo	Covers all subjects by choosing category, then subcategory, etc or by searching.
Metaplus	Covers a wide area of categories, with all links on one (big) page.
My Virtual Reference Desk	Covers a wide area of categories including some that you would not have ever thought of.
Yell	Directory of UK Web sites