Searching the Internet:
Recommended Sites and Search Techniques

Introduction

This tutorial explores a variety of search tools to help you gain skills in conducting research on the Internet. For a broader view of the Internet as a research tool, see Conducting Research on the Internet.

This tutorial covers three basic types of tools:

Subject Directories
Search engines, primarily first generation services that have been around for quite a while. More recent innovators are covered in Second Generation Searching on the Web.
The so-called "deep" or "invisible" Web, information that is stored in databases as well as multimedia and other files. Search engines cannot or will not index this content, so it is "invisible" to them. Both directories and search engines are good places to find deep Web content, since many databases have their own searchable Web sites that can come up in your search results.

Why cover directories, engines and the deep Web in one tutorial? A few reasons:

Many people use search engines without considering the usefulness of subject directories for their topics
The difference between these types of tools is often poorly understood
Yahoo has such a popular directory that more selective and higher quality directories are often overlooked
The deep Web is growing at a phenomenal rate, so its content is becoming increasingly important to researchers
All of these tools can complement each other in the research process
The lines are blurring between sites that offer either one resource or the other; for example, it is common to find directories and specialized searches (i.e., deep Web) at many search engine sites

Only a few examples of subject directories and search engines are covered in this tutorial.

For a more comprehensive list of subject directories, see: Internet Subject Directories
For a more comprehensive list of search engines, including those that give access to the deep Web, see: Internet Search Engines

Index to this tutorial

Remember...

The Internet is a self-publishing medium. Your visits to subject directories and search engines will yield content with a wide range of quality from a variety of sources. Be sure to evaluate everything you encounter. For more information, see Evaluating Internet Resources.
Try out multiple sites when you are investigating a topic. Subject directories and search engines vary in their contents, features, selectivity, accuracy, and retrieval technologies.
The world of subject directories and search engines is a highly volatile one. Don't be dismayed if you visit a site and discover that things have changed. This is par for the course. Many of these sites are commercial enterprises and competition is keen. When changes occur, they are often for the better as the service attempts to keep ahead of the pack. Enjoy the ride!

A disclaimer about search results...

Some directories and search engines load the top of their results pages with paid listings. These are usually listings of sites whose owners pay for high placement. In other words, they are advertisements.

Not all search services do this, and some are more clear than others about what has been paid for and what has not. A good overview of this phenomenon can be found in the article, "Buying Your Way In: Search Engine Advertising Chart" by Danny Sulliven of Search Engine Watch. If you're interested, connect to the story and read on.

Quick Tip!
When should I use a subject directory? When you have a broad topic or idea to research When you want to see a list of sites on your topic often recommended and annotated by experts When you want to look around in a controlled environment When you want to retrieve a list of sites relevant to your topic, rather than numerous individual pages contained within these sites When you want to search for the site title, annotation and (if available) assigned keywords to retrieve relevant material rather than the full text of a document When you want to avoid viewing low-content documents that often turn up on search engines When should I use a search engine? When you have a narrow or obscure topic or idea to research When you are looking for a specific site When you want to search the full text of millions of pages When you want to retrieve a large number of documents on your topic When you want to search for particular types of documents, file types, source locations, languages, date last modified, etc. When you want to take advantage of newer retrieval technologies such as concept clustering, ranking by popularity, link ranking, and so on When should I use the deep Web? When you want dynamically changing content such as the latest news, job postings, available airline flights, etc. When you want to find information that is normally stored in a database, such as a phone book listing, listings of lawyers, doctors, plants etc., searchable collections of laws, geographical and company data, and so on.

Quick Tip!

When should I use a subject directory?

When you have a broad topic or idea to research
When you want to see a list of sites on your topic often recommended and annotated by experts
When you want to look around in a controlled environment
When you want to retrieve a list of sites relevant to your topic, rather than numerous individual pages contained within these sites
When you want to search for the site title, annotation and (if available) assigned keywords to retrieve relevant material rather than the full text of a document
When you want to avoid viewing low-content documents that often turn up on search engines

When should I use a search engine?

When you have a narrow or obscure topic or idea to research
When you are looking for a specific site
When you want to search the full text of millions of pages
When you want to retrieve a large number of documents on your topic
When you want to search for particular types of documents, file types, source locations, languages, date last modified, etc.
When you want to take advantage of newer retrieval technologies such as concept clustering, ranking by popularity, link ranking, and so on

When should I use the deep Web?

When you want dynamically changing content such as the latest news, job postings, available airline flights, etc.
When you want to find information that is normally stored in a database, such as a phone book listing, listings of lawyers, doctors, plants etc., searchable collections of laws, geographical and company data, and so on.

Here are sample topics and the tools you should use to retrieve information about them. This rule is not absolute, but should give you some general guidelines about how to approach subject directories and search engines as research tools.

Begin with a Subject Directory	Begin with a Search Engine
Disabilities	Americans With Disabilities Act
Civil War	Battle of Appomattox
Space exploration	Mars Pathfinder
British literature	Charles Dickens

For a more extensive list of query types and the search tools that support them, see Getting Started: Selecting a Tool for Your Search.

Now, let's move on to the topic of Subject Directories. >>

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Searching the Internet: Recommended Sites and Search Techniques

Introduction

Index to this tutorial

Remember...

A disclaimer about search results...

Searching the Internet:
Recommended Sites and Search Techniques