Search Engines vs. Directories
Use
Search Engines if
you are looking for very specific information or
information on a narrow topic
Advantages
of Search Engines
Users
search by keyword or a combination of keywords, permitting more
precise searching than in a directory
Search
engine databases are much larger than directory databases, so
searches produce many more results
Disadvantages
of Search Engines
Sites
are not evaluated or rated in any way
Since search engine
databases are created by software, material varies greatly
with respect to quality, currency, and type of content.
Because
search engine databases are so large and results lists are created by software,
users can get many false hits (irrelevant results)
Use
Subject Directories if
you are researching a broad topic and want to see what is available
as you break it down.
Advantages
of Directories
They
allow users to drill down to the narrowest subtopics
of a broad topic, so they are useful for getting
a sense of the dimensions of a topic and for narrowing
it
They
are good for finding many sites on a topic in one place.
Disadvantages
of Directories
Searching
them will produce fewer results.
They
are only as good as the people who assemble them. For example,
directories often have dead links because the Web sites on them
that have moved or been removed from the
Web are not removed from the directory.
