What is a directory?

A directory is a collection of Web sites and pages that have been selected and compiled by humans. Because directories are compiled by librarians or other experts, they tend to be much smaller than search engines. Directories also organize the Web pages and sites into categories which may differ from one directory to another.

As defined by The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, a directory is “a list of persons or organizations, systematically arranged, usually in alphabetic or classed order, giving address, affiliations, etc. for individuals, and address, officers, functions, and similar data for organizations” (Bopp and Smith 331). You probably have a directory in your home: a phone book!

Typically the directories found on the Web are subject directories put in alphabetic order, but directories exist for just about anything, from businesses to schools to libraries world wide. For the purposes of this module, we will focus on using popular subject directories.

Directories can be used in two ways; they can be searched or browsed. Jump to Searching a directory or Browsing a directory.

Searching a directory

Directories can be searched in much the same way as a search engine. The only difference is that when searching a directory, you are only searching a database of pre-selected Web sites and not the Web.

Here is one of the most popular directories, Yahoo!, with a search query entered in the dialog box for the subject "puppies:"

Once a query has been entered into the dialog box, the user clicks on the "Search" button or hits the "Enter" key on the keyboard. The Yahoo! results page looks very similar to the Google results page:

A list of directories will appear to lead you to more resources.

A word to the Web-savvy: Yahoo! displays a list of resources at the top of your results page that are “Sponsored Matches.” These are metatag loaded to appear at the top, and companies pay money to have their resources automatically appear first in the list. Be wary: these are typically not the most relevant! Yahoo! will label these as “sponsored,” as a clue to you.

Browsing a directory

Besides knowing that the returned resources have been selected and approved by experts, the major advantage in using a directory over a search engine is the browse function. Here is another look at the Yahoo! home page:

Commonly, directories organize Web pages and sites into subject categories. Users can locate resources by making decisions about which subject category might contain the necessary information.

If a user is browsing for information on "puppies," he/she might begin by clicking on the "Science" category. The user is then presented with more choices to narrow her/his topic. Here are the sub-categories for the "Science" category:

From the sub-categories, the user would probably choose "Animals, Insects, and Pets." Here are the sub-categories for this category:

From these sub-categories, the user can choose "Pets." Here is the results page for "Pets":

At this point, the user has many options. The user can choose to select another category such as "By Animal" or select a Web link from the site listings for this category.

TRY IT OUT!

Try browsing Yahoo!: http://www.yahoo.com/ on your own. (Note: This link will open a new browser window. Once you are ready to come back to the lesson, simply close the new browser window.)

There are many other good directories on the Web, such as:

About.com: http://www.about.com/
The Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/
Looksmart: http://www.looksmart.com/

There are some directories designed just for kids, also. Some of these directories are:

Yahooligans!: http://www.yahooligans.com/
Ask Jeeves for Kids: http://www.ajkids.com/

Go to Directories Task.