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Directories
A directory is a collection of Web pages that have
been selected and organized into subject categories by people.
Because directories are compiled by humans, they tend to
be much smaller than search engines. Directories also organize
the Web pages and sites into subject categories which may
differ from one directory to another. Directories can be
used in two ways; they can be searched or browsed.
Searching a directory. Directories can be searched
in much the same way as a search engine. Here is Yahoo!,
one of the most popular directories with a search query
for puppies entered in the text field:
Once you have entered a query, you click on the "Search"
button or hit the "Enter" key on the keyboard.
The Yahoo! results page looks very similar to the Google
results page:
The difference between the results here at Yahoo! and the
results you saw at Google are that the sites in Yahoo!'s
results include only sites that have already been selected
and categorized by people into the Yahoo! directory. That
means, you are not searching the whole Web, only the Yahoo!
directory.
Browsing a directory. The major difference in using
a directory over a search engine is the browse function.
Here is another look at the Yahoo! home page:
Directories organize Web pages and sites into subject categories.
You can locate resources by making decisions about which
subject category might contain the necessary information.
If you are browsing for information on puppies, you might
begin by clicking on the "Science" category. You
are then presented with more choices to narrow your topic.
Here are the sub-categories for the "Science"
category:
From the sub-categories, you would probably choose "Animals,
Insects, and Pets." Here are the sub-categories for
this category:
From these sub-categories, you can choose "Pets."
Here is the results page for "Pets":
At this point, you have many options. You can choose to
select another category such as "By Animal" or
select a Web link from the Site listings for this category.
In addition to Yahoo!, there are many other directories
on the Web you may wish to try, including:
There are also some directories designed just for kids,
including:
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