How to Find Internet Resources

The Internet contains a vast array of information (and misinformation). It can be difficult to find what you're looking for, whether it's an on-line order form for a pair of Levi's, or a bibliography of Latino authors. There are two different types of tools that can help you navigate the Web: subject directories and search services (also called search engines).

Subject Directories

• Useful if you have a broad idea or topic to research.
• Shows lists of sites often recommended and annotated by experts.
• Helps you avoid low-content documents and false hits that often turn up when you use search services.
• Links are organized into subject categories by humans.
• A selection criteria is used to choose those links that are listed.
• There are two types of directories: Academic/Professional (Argus), and Commercial (About).
• Some directories include search services.
• Examples:
  • About
  • Argus Clearinghouse
  • Britannica.com
  • Infomine
  • Librarians' Index to the Internet

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Search Services (Search Engines)

• Good if you have a narrow or obscure topic or idea to research.
• Helps you look for a specific site.
• Searches the full text of millions of sites.
• Retrieves a large number of hits.
• Hits can be ranked by relevance, popularity, etc.
• Hits are retrieved by machine -- no human selection involved.
• Pages retrieved may not be high quality, trustworthy, or even accurate; you should know how to evaluate a web page.
• No search service includes all pages on the web -- you should check many different search engines, not relying on one exclusively.
• Some search engines search many sites simultaneously; Metacrawler and Dogpile are two instances.
• A few search services, such as Excite and Yahoo, organize information into categories, which makes browsing quite easy. However, just because there is some organization doesn't mean that these are directories.
• Examples:
  • AltaVista
  • Dogpile
  • Excite
  • Google
  • Metacrawler
  • Northern Light
  • Yahoo!

  Caveat: The Internet is an ever-changing landscape; web pages disappear and reappear all the time, and sometimes links mentioned in pages can be incorrect. Even the most conscientious of editors may miss a link or two.

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  Created 31 August, 2000
  Revised 14 February, 2001 by Ayanna Gaines, Assistant Reference Librarian
  A.C. Buehler Library, Elmhurst College