Searching the Web

The Internet is like a huge library with millions of books in it. When you want information on a particular topic, you don't know which books you need. It would be impossible to visit every site that holds information on a given topic. What you really want is a way to find only those sites that have information about the topic you are interested in.

If you had a librarian to go and find the information you want and bring it back for you, all you would have to do is say exactly what information you want. On the Internet the librarian is replaced by a search tool.

At one time there were two clear kinds of search tools called directories and search engines, but now most directories double up as search engines and vice versa.

Directories

These are catalogues of resources available on the World Wide Web. You are presented with a list of major categories with some broken down further into sub-categories. You work through each list clicking your choice until you get to what you are looking for. Examples included:

But when you go to these sites you will see that they also have a search option.