SUBJECT DIRECTORIES 

Students may become frustrated by the overwhelming array of resources available to them when they first attempt to locate information.  The Internet in particular provides access to a staggering number of resources with no guarantee that the information provided is either relevant, impartial or even accurate.  Students experiencing this problem may be more successful using a subject directory that consists of evaluated resources when they begin their information search. These directories are compiled according to content by humans rather than "spiders" or "web crawlers", and are therefore usually more structured than a list of web sites generated by entering keywords into a search box.

Subject directories that organize information hierarchically in the structure of a tree with branches (hierarchical or whimsical) are particularly helpful to students. The tree format allows for the creation of an external structure and branching in a topical direction. Using a subject tree also provides students with the opportunity to find related or contextual information that might not otherwise have been found.  Yahoo  and Yahooligans  are examples of Internet  search engines that rely on subject directories compiled by humans.