Understanding Search Engines and Directories
If everything in the world eventually finds its way onto the Internet, how do you find any one thing? It's like finding a needle in a haystack. You know that what you want is there, but it's buried amid millions of different Web pages, hidden in plain site yet virtually inaccessible-that is, unless you have a tool to effectively and efficiently search for it.
There are two types of tools on the Web to help you search for information: search engines and directories. A search engine searches the Web for particular information. Most search engines, such as Netscape Search, have cataloged millions of Web pages for your searching pleasure. But search engines don't record a lot of information about each page. So you get a big list of results, but very little information on any particular "hit."
A directory is a handpicked list of Web sites. Most directories, such as the Netscape Open Directory, organize their lists of titles by topic and provide some sort of commentary about the sites. Because directories either use their own staff to add new pages to their lists or rely on user submissions, your search results are not as exhaustive as what you get from a search engine. You do, however, know more about each of the "hits" that result from your search request, and each hit is better qualified.
Which type of search tool you use depends on what you're looking for and how much you know. If you want a comprehensive list of sites both directly and indirectly related to a given topic, use Netscape Search. If you're looking for a short list of the best sites on a given topic, use Netscape Open Directory. The choice is yours!
