Can Yahoo! Directories Help Me?

By bryblumbryblum (1222206446|%a, %b %e at %I:%M%p)

Can Yahoo! Directories Help Me?

So I currently have 3 things to do on my "BIT 330 To Do List". They are:

  • Blog Entry on "Web Directories" due Wednesday
  • Come up with a term project topic for Thursday's meeting with Professor Moore
  • Search Tool Analysis due next Monday

What am I going to do? Kill two birds with one stone. I'm going to use Yahoo! Directories to help me zero in on a term project topic. Way to think outside the box, Bryan. Oops, I apologize for that seemingly vain self-compliment. But isn't that what blogs are for? Honest, stream-of-consciousness sort of thoughts put into words? Alright, getting off-topic, my bad.

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In class on Monday, we were introduced to web directories and their uses. My initial thought was that web directories are merely the predecessors of today's search engines, and that they aren't very useful these days. However, we were told that web directories are useful in exploration-type situations, where you aren't exactly sure what you are looking for. This sounds perfect for this situation, since I have no idea what topic I want to pursue for my term project.

Here is how my experience went:

  • Well, I started out at the main Yahoo! Directory Page.
  • I have no idea what topic I want to do. But, great(!), there is a list of very broad topics to choose from.
  • Let's see…
    • Health? Nah, my mom is a nutritionist, I'm sick of that.
    • Government? Eh, too much going on right now with the elections, and I'm not really into politics.
    • Education? No way, I'm almost done with education. Plus, I deal with it enough on a day-to-day basis.
    • Business & Economy? Hmm. Alright, now we're cooking. I'm in the business school. I'm an avid follower of the economy and related business news. Alright, let's go with it!
  • So I'm set on Business & Economy, but that is WAY too broad for a project topic. I need to narrow it down. After clicking on this broad topic, I'm given a more specific list: finance, marketing, trade, etc.
  • A few clicks later (Business & Economy —> Finance & Investment —> Banking), and I had an idea for my topic! Thanks Yahoo! Directories.

So, much to my dismay, a "primative" web directory helped. Or did it? Well, I'll outline a few pros and cons that I have noticed:

Pros Cons
well-organized not very useful if searching for specific information
many topics and sub-topics once zeroed in on a topic, there are very few resources available, as compared to a search engine
many levels
good for exploratory searching

Conclusion: Yahoo! Directories definitely helped me in this situation, but I can't see it being very helpful in other situations. I'm sticking with regular old search engines.

Alriiiight. I love crossing items off of a to-do list.

  • Blog Entry on "Web Directories" due Wednesday
  • Come up with a term project topic for Thursday's meeting with Professor Moore
  • Search Tool Analysis due next Monday
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