Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com

Yahoo is the web's oldest "directory," a place where human editors organize web sites into categories. However, in October 2002, Yahoo made a giant shift to crawler-based listings for its main results. These came from Google until February 2004. Now, Yahoo uses its own search technology.

In addition to excellent search results, you can use tabs above the search box on the Yahoo home page to seek images, Yellow Page listings or use Yahoo's excellent shopping search engine. Or visit the Yahoo Search home page, where even more specialized search options are offered.

The Yahoo Directory still survives. You'll notice "category" links below some of the sites lists in response to a keyword search. When offered, these will take you to a list of web sites that have been reviewed and approved by a human editor.

It's also possible to do a pure search of just the human-compiled Yahoo Directory, which is how the old or "classic" Yahoo used to work. To do this, search from the Yahoo Directory home page, as opposed to the regular Yahoo.com home page. Then you'll get both directory category links ("Related Directory Categories") and "Directory Results," which are the top web site matches drawn from all categories of the Yahoo Directory.

Sites pay a fee to be included in the Yahoo Directory's commercial listings, though they must meet editor approval before being accepted. Non-commercial content is accepted for free. Yahoo's content acquisition program also offers paid inclusion, where sites can also pay to be included in Yahoo's crawler-based results. This doesn't guarantee ranking, Yahoo promises. The CAP program also bring in content from non-profit organizations for free.

Like Google, Yahoo sells paid placement advertising links that appear on its own site and which are distributed to others. These are sold through Overture. Yahoo purchased Overture in a company Yahoo purchased in October 2003.

Overture was formerly called GoTo until late 2001. More about it can be found on the Paid Listings Search Engines page. Overture purchased AllTheWeb in March 2003 and acquired AltaVista in April 2003. Now Yahoo owns these, gained as from its purchase of Overture.

Technology AltaVista and AllTheWeb was combined with that of Inktomi, a crawler-based search engine that grew out UC Berkeley and then launched as its own company in 1996, to make the current Yahoo crawler. Yahoo purchased Inktomi in March 2003.

LookSmart
http://www.looksmart.com

LookSmart is primarily a human-compiled directory of web sites. It gathers its listings in two ways. Commercial sites pay to be listed in its commercial categories, making the service very much like an electronic "Yellow Pages." However, volunteer editors at the LookSmart-owned Zeal directory also catalog sites into non-commercial categories for free. Though Zeal is a separate web site, its listings are integrated into LookSmart's results.

LookSmart launched independently in October 1996, was backed by Reader's Digest for about a year, and then company executives bought back control of the service.

LookSmart also bought the WiseNut crawler-based search engine in April 2002. WiseNut's are offered through the LookSmart via its Web tab above the search box. Unlike its competitors, the WiseNut crawler has often been out of date, sometimes for months at a time.

Finally, the real gem at LookSmart can be found via its Articles tab. That provides access to content from thousands of periodicals.

Open Directory
http://dmoz.org/

The Open Directory uses volunteer editors to catalog the web. Formerly known as NewHoo, it was launched in June 1998. It was acquired by AOL Time Warner-owned Netscape in November 1998, and the company pledged that anyone would be able to use information from the directory through an open license arrangement.

While you can search at the Open Directory site itself, this is not recommended. The site has no "backup" results that kick in should there not be a match in the human-compiled database. In addition, the ranking of sites during keyword searching is poor, while alphabetical ordering is used when you choose to "browse" categories by topic.

Instead, to scan the valuable information compiled by the Open Directory, consider using the version offered by Google, the Google Directory. Here, keyword searching uses Google's refined relevancy algorithms and makes use of link analysis to better propel good pages from the human database to the top. In addition, when viewing sites by category, they will be listed in PageRank order, which means the most popular sites based on analyzing links from across the web will be listed first.

Joeant
http://www.joeant.com

JoeAnt.com is about providing a directory of quality sites for Internet users. The goal is to list the best sites for a wide variety of topics giving our users the most relevant results for their searches.

Former Go.com volunteer guides who wanted to keep their community alive by creating a new directory founded JoeAnt.com. It is a community where every editor has the opportunity to make a difference by finding and adding the best sites in their chosen topics.

JoeAnt.com was originally launched in the spring of 2001. In August 2002 with changes which included a fully spiderable index, faster results in searches, and better tools for our editors.

If you want to be a part of Joeant, become a JoeAnt editor.

Gimpsy
http://www.gimpsy.com

Gimpsy is an Internet directory that categorizes sites in a new and unique way. Unlike other Internet directories, which categorize sites according to their subject , Gimpsy is concerned first and foremost with the service that a site provides.

SXWO Directory
http://www.sxwo.com

The free comprehensive human-reviewed directory of the web in China.

WebSavvy Directory
http://www.websavvy.cc

WebSavvy Directory provides an index of high quality, family friendly, child safe resources, which are human edited and reviewed prior to inclusion into the Directory. WebSavvy is a PICS labeled Directory and Search Engine which accepts websites that follow either the ICRA or SafeSurf standards.

WebSavvy Directory is owned and operated by WebSavvy Incorporated, a privately held Corporation located in Springfield, IL. USA.

GoGuides Directory
http://www.goguides.org

directory continues to grow each and every day as more and more sites are reviewed and rated by our human GoGuides. No robot searches here!

Skaffe
http://www.skaffe.com

Skaffe.com is a volunteer edited directory of the best family safe websites on the World Wide Web. Skaffe, is a Nordic word for find, procure and obtain. Skaffe do not list low quality sites, spam or content not suitable for children. As a reliable resource for high quality websites suitable for family viewing. Skaffe apply professional and uniform standards for reviewing and listing sites. Skaffe marketS services worldwide, and include multingual versions for the benefit of users.

IllumiRate
http://www.illumirate.com

IllumiRate is an internet directory and search engine created by a group of volunteer editors from around the world.

IllumiRate editors personally review and rate sites based on a number of criteria, including presentation, ease of use, and reliability of information offered.

Illumirate is headquartered at the Head of the Chesapeake Bay in the sleepy little community of Elkton, Maryland (previous claim to fame being the marriage capital of the Mid-Atlantic region).

Qango
http://www.qango.com

One mission
http://www.onemission.com

Siteranking
http://www.siteranking.com

Directory-search
http://www.directory-search.org

Mavicanet
http://www.mavicanet.com

Click4choice
http://www.click4choice.com

Web-cmn
http://www.web-cmn.com

Moshix2
http://www.moshix2.net

Thisisouryear
http://www.thisisouryear.com

Stpt
http://www.stpt.com

Webworldindex
http://www.webworldindex.com

Somuch
http://www.somuch.com

Surfsafely
http://www.surfsafely.com

Yam
http://www.yam.com

ElecDir
http://www.elecdir.com

Electronics and Electrical Web Directory

The Resource Discovery Network (RDN)
http://www.rdn.ac.uk

There are eight of these subject gateways in total:(http://www.xxx.ac.uk)

* Altis (Hospitality, Sports, Leisure and Tourism)
* Artifact (Arts and Creative Industries)
* BIOME (Health and Life Sciences)
* EEVL (Engineering, Mathematics and Computing)
* GEsource (Geography and the Environment)
* Humbul (Humanities)
* PSIgate (Physical sciences)
* SOSIG (Social sciences)

As a result of a detailed planning and consultation process, the RDN service is currently undergoing extensive re-structuring and re-branding. The purpose of this exercise is to create a new more consolidated service with closer integration of subject areas, and to provide a single interface for users.

The current eight subject gateways will be re-organised to create 4 major subject groups:

* Arts and Humanities (bringing together Artifact and Humbul)
* Science, Engineering, Technology (bringing together EEVL, GEsource and PSIgate)
* Health and Life Sciences (BIOME)
* Social Sciences (Bringing together Altis and SOSIG)

The new RDN service will be called Intute. More information on the new service name and the new subject group names can be found here: Intute

The Internet Resource Catalogues currently available via the separate subject gateways will still be fully and freely accessible as before.

Scirus
http://www.scirus.com

Scirus is the most comprehensive science-specific search engine on the Internet. Driven by the latest search engine technology, Scirus searches over 250 million science-specific Web pages.

E-Print ArXiv
http://www.arXiv.org

is a fully automated electronic archive and distribution server for research papers. It covers areas such as physics and related disciplines, mathematics, non-linear sciences, and computer science.

The e-prints on E-Print ArXiv are freely accessible for everyone. The E-Print ArXiv data in Scirus are retrieved through the Open Archives Initiative .

BioMed Central
http://www.biomedcentral.com

is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate free access to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes.

Caltech CODA
http://library.caltech.edu/digital

The Caltech Collection of Open Digital Archives (Caltech CODA) is the institutional repository of the California Institute of Technology. It contains the broad spectrum of Caltech research results, such as theses, technical reports, preprints, and self-archived journal articles and conference papers. In addition, the Caltech CODA contains Caltech-related material such as oral histories of faculty and administrators and issues of Engineering and Science (a magazine published by Caltech). As the digital information environment evolves, other kinds of content will be added. The Caltech CODA is managed to be a reliable long-term archive.

CogPrints
http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk

is a free, full-text e-print archive of published, peer-reviewed journal postprints plus prepublication unrefereed preprints in the cognitive sciences, covering psychology, behavioral biology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy and related disciplines.
CogPrints runs on free Open Archives Initiative (OAI) compliant e-prints software provided by http://www.eprints.org . The CogPrints data in Scirus are retrieved through the OAI .

Crystallography Journals Online
http://journals.iucr.org

is the electronic journals service from the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). The IUCr publishes seven primary research journals in crystallography, and an eighth covering the technology, instrumentation and uses of synchrotron radiation. The IUCr is a not-for-profit organisation that, in addition to publication of primary research articles in structural science, aims to promote international cooperation and to contribute to the advancement of all aspects of crystallography.

CURATOR
http://mitizane.ll.chiba-u.jp/curator/index_e.html

Chiba University's Repository for Access to Outcomes from Research captures, preserves and makes publicly available intellectual digital materials from research activities on Chiba University campuses, including peer-reviewed articles, theses, preprints, statistical and experimental data, course materials and software. CURATOR is intended to function as the portal for the outcomes from Chiba University's research activities. The University Library is responsible for building and operating CURATOR under the guidance of the Faculty Committee for Improved Scholarly Information Availability, which is commissioned by the Library Board of Faculty Representatives to systematically promote and arrange disseminative activities by the University.

DiVA
http://www.diva-portal.org

the Academic Archive Online (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet in Swedish) is a collaborative effort of a number of universities in Scandinavia, which offers both publishing services and technical solutions for local repositories. The DiVA system, originally developed at Uppsala University, Sweden, supports workflows for both electronic publishing and printing. An archive of fulltext documents published at the participating universities has been created and metadata records are disseminated to other information services. In cooperation with the National Library of Sweden long-term preservation is guaranteed as well as access in the long-term. Today it is mainly doctoral theses and undergraduate theses and research reports that are published through DiVA, but it is also possible to publish articles and chapters of books. An increasing number of monographs have been published through DiVA as well.

Project Euclid
http://projecteuclid.org

is a user-centered initiative to create an environment for the effective and affordable distribution of serial literature in mathematics and statistics. Project Euclid is designed to address the unique needs of independent and society journals through a collaborative partnership with scholarly publishers, professional societies, and academic libraries. Project Euclid was launched by the Cornell University Library.

The HKUST Institutional Repository
http://repository.ust.hk/dspace

at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology collects, makes available, and preserves the scholarly output created by the HKUST community in digital format. It contains journal articles (published, post-refereed and pre-refereed versions), conference papers, preprints, theses and dissertations, research and technical reports, working papers, and presentations.

Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP)
http://www.iop.org/

is a learned society publisher specialising in physics and related subjects. In addition to current titles, an archive dating back to 1874 is available online at journals.iop.org . Full text access to papers is granted to institutional subscribers but all abstracts are freely available and many IOP journals offer free access to featured articles and letters, and to newly published papers for 30 days. Papers can also be purchased online.

LexisNexis®
http://www.lexisnexis.com/

is a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. LexisNexis® is a member of Reed Elsevier Group plc [NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK] . Patents in Scirus are obtained via a partnership with LexisNexis and include those from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Full-text information for recent USPTO, EPO and WIPO's PCT patents is searchable on Scirus, as well as bibliographical information in English for JPO patents. For more in-depth searching through patents, visit LexisNexis .

MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW)
http://ocw.mit.edu

, available online at http://ocw.mit.edu , makes the MIT Faculty's course materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT's undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. MIT OCW can be considered a large-scale, Web-based publication of educational materials. Educators in the U.S. and the developing world utilize the materials for curriculum development, while students and self-learners around the globe draw upon the materials for self-study or supplementary use. With 915 courses now available, MIT OCW is delivering on the promise of open sharing of knowledge.

NDLTD
http://www.ndltd.org

is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination and preservation of electronic analogues to the traditional paper-based theses and dissertations. It offers the world's largest digital library of theses and dissertations of academic institutions worldwide. It aims to cover all significant graduate research results, in all areas, all nations, and all languages.

Organic Eprints
http://www.orgprints.org

The international open access archive Organic Eprints contains electronic full-text papers, abstracts and bibliographic information related to research in organic agriculture. The Organic Eprints archive was developed in 2002 by the Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF). The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) was the first international partner to join Organic Eprints in 2003. The aim of the Organic Eprints archive is to facilitate further research in organic agriculture.

PsyDok
http://psydok.sulb.uni-saarland.de

is a disciplinary Open Access repository for psychological documents. PsyDok is run by Saarland University and State Library (SULB) which also hosts the special subject collection psychology and the virtual library psychology. PsyDok is a free, full-text eprint archive of published, peer-reviewed journal postprints plus prepublications, unrefereed preprints, reports, manuals, grey literature, books, journals, proceedings, dissertations and similar document types.

MEDLINE ®
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/medline.html

is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains approximately 13 million references since the mid-1960s to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine. MEDLINE® is the primary component of PubMed ®, provided by NLM's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

In addition to MEDLINE citations, retrieval may include other records in PubMed, including approximately 1.7 million pre-1966 OLDMEDLINE ® citations, in-process citations, and citations from MEDLINE journals that are out-of-scope for MEDLINE or that precede the date the journal was selected for MEDLINE.

PubMed Central
http://www.pubmedcentral.org

is a digital archive of life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), developed and managed by NIH's National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the National Library of Medicine (NLM). With PubMed Central, NLM is taking the lead in preserving and maintaining unrestricted access to the electronic literature, just as it has done for decades with the printed biomedical literature. PubMed Central aims to fill the role of a world class library in the digital age.

RePEc (Research Papers in Economics)
http://repec.org/docs/RePEcIntro.html

is a collaborative effort of over 100 volunteers in 44 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, journal articles and software components. All RePEc material is freely available.

ScienceDirect Online
http://www.sciencedirect.com

is a subscription information source for scientific, technical and medical research published by Elsevier. It offers access to millions of articles from over 2,000 journals, covering all fields of science, in most cases from volume 1, no. 1 to the present. Users at an institute with a subscription to ScienceDirect will have seamless access to the ScienceDirect articles that the institute is entitled to receive.

Scitation
http://www.scitation.org

is the online hosting service of the American Institute of Physics. In addition to the cross-publisher series, Virtual Journals in Science and Technology, Scitation hosts the e-journals and conference proceedings of AIP, selected English language publications from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and many other physical science and engineering publishers. Institutional or individual subscribers will automatically have access to full text of their subscribed journals via links from Scirus.

The T-Space repository
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca

is a partnership between University of Toronto communities and Libraries. T-Space content consists of collections produced, submitted or sponsored by University of Toronto communities, which are managed, preserved and distributed by University of Toronto Libraries through T-Space.