Alternative Academic Search Directories

(May 20 2001) Yahoo!, The Open Directory and LookSmart dominates the Web search directory scene. There are, however, a few other directories searchers should be aware of.

Search directories are catalogs of Web sites -- not Web pages -- gathered by human editors.

They can in no way compete with the spider-based search engines when it comes to coverage. While search engines now cover billions of pages, images and files, large directories like Yahoo!, LookSmart and the ODP (including the Pandia Plus Directory) includes no more than one or two million sites.

The sites that have been included have all been reviewed by a human being, though, which means that the directories provides a quality control the search engines lack. Because of this search directories are good places to start when searching for a particular topic.

There are valuable directories beyond the three major ones, and we will take a look at some of directories targeting an academic audience.

Note that most of these directories let you subscribe to newsletter that inform you of recent additions to the indexes.

The Librarian's Index to the Internet

The Librarian's Index to the Internet or lii.org is a searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 9,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries.

It is based at Berkeley, California, USA, and since October 2000, LII operational funding has been provided by the Library of California.

Librarians are experts in information retrieval, and know how to find expert sites on the Web that may provide general information on a subject, and -- what is even more important -- links to related high quality sites.

In general, LII indexers seek for and enter sites that reflect:

• Unique, important content across the full scope of information
• Contrasting viewpoints on major issues
• An awareness of current affairs
• The information needs of library users
• Local and regional content for California
• The information needs of underserved groups

The directory is searchable and you may browse the very Yahoo!-like category tree. The rather long site descriptions makes it easier to get a relevant impression of what the sites are really about.

In 2001 lii.org received 250,000 requests per week and over 36,000 per day.

InfoMine

InfoMine is a meta-directory providing links to over 20,000 scholarly Internet resource collections.

InfoMine is an information cooperative created through the efforts of over 20 librarians from the University of California, California State University, University of Detroit Mercy and other colleges and universities.

Like in the case of lii.org, the fact that the catalog is run by librarians, means that the sites that are included are selected on the basis of rather strict quality criteria.

The index is searchable, and you may also browse the category structure. The categorization is a bit confusing though, as the main categories are based on information type ("Electronic Journals", "Maps and GIS"), disciplines ("Social Sciences & Humanities") as well as "Instructional "Resources". This probably makes more sense for a university librarian than it does for us.

Each entry is cross-referenced through related terms, and users may add their own comments.

The Resource Discovery Network

The Resource Discovery Network is a free Internet service dedicated to providing effective access to high quality Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community. The service is primarily aimed at Internet users in further and higher education.

The RDN is co-ordinated by the Resource Discovery Network Centre. The RDNC is run jointly by staff from UKOLN - the UK Office for Library and Information Networking (University of Bath) and King's College London.

The site is in fact a collection of several "hubs" or resource gateways focusing on various topics. These are:

• BIOME, Health and Life Sciences
• EEVL, Engineering, Mathematics and Computing
• Humbul, Humanities
• PSIgate, Physical Sciences
• SOSIG, Social Sciences, Business and Law

The sites listed in these directories are selected and described by specialists from within UK academia and affiliated organizations. Again there is a wide array of useful resources, all given informative descriptions.

Academic Info

Another academically oriented search directory is the Washington state based Academic Info, an "educational gateway" to online high school, college and research level Internet resources.

The primary focus of this plain text site is academic sites suitable for students and teachers at the upper high school level or above. A priority is adding digital collections from libraries, museums, and academic organizations and sites offering unique online content.

The directory is searchable and categorized according to disciplines.

SEO

Should you try to get your own site listed in these directories?

They will in no way bring in as much traffic as Yahoo! or LookSmart. On the other hand they are read by very influental people that have sites of their own. If they find your site useful, they may include a link to your site on their own pages, leadning to a lot of relevant inbound links. That will strengthen your position in Google and other search engines.

If you have a purely commercial site of no particular interest to librarians, students and scholars you shouldn't bother. You will just be wasting your own time and the time of the editors.

All these directories have forms or email addresses for suggesting new entries.

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