The history of directories and searching services is a fast-moving one. Since 1994, when Yahoo! was only a list of its founders' favorite Web site bookmarks arranged into categories, directories and search engines have continued to be introduced
(or reintroduced) with larger databases, more searching options, and more "intuitive" software and searching algorithms.
Fortunately, the same Web you search is the place where improvements, new partnerships, and new technology in searching are announced, discussed, and reviewed.
Searching Search - Services
Here are some resources you can use to stay current long after you complete this course. You may want to bookmark them (or add to Favorites) for future reference.
No matter how many search services are included in this course, some have been left out. You may find a new favorite among those that did not appear. Here are several sites where you can view and try out other directories, search engines, and metasearch engines:
- Start Page
- Search Engine Watch
If you are the type of searcher who wants to take advantage of every searching "trick" and technique, the following Web sites maintain links
to articles on just this topic, as well as other articles related to overall search strategies, such as which search service is best for
finding particular categories of information:
- The InFoPeople Project
Determining which directory or search engine is "the best" is difficult to do, and depends on who you ask and what you ask about, especially if you ask each of the major searching services.
You can rank them by the size of the database, numbers of pages visited or indexed, or daily
number of searches performed. If you'd like to know how your favorite rates against the others, either of these sites can give you some statistics:
- Search Engine Watch's Ratings, Reviews and Tests