1.2 Create a search strategy to fully satisfy the client's enquiry

Table of Contents

1. Choosing search terms
2. Structuring an Internet search
   1. Search Engines
   2. Differences between search engines
   3. Compound queries
   4. How search engines work
   5. Metacrawlers
   6. Web directories
   7. Differences between directories and search engines
3. Using portals
4. Using bibliographic databases
5. Frequently-used websites
6. Website suffixes

Differences between directories and search engines

One key difference between the directory and the search engine is that the entries in the directory should be compiled 'by hand' and not through automated searching. This may be seen as an advantage if you consider that a human is better at categorising the sites ie spurious sites may be eliminated.

We feel that the really useful directories are the more focused examples, such as http://www.webdirectory.com relating to environmental information. You can also appreciate that browsing through the tree structure of the directory can be time-consuming and will not automatically lead to a result.

An alternative approach is the use of Portals.

Let's have a closer look at Portals...