An online subject directory is a database of websites that have been collected and organised by people. Imagine a bookshop where the books are shelved according to their subject. Each subject - like sport - is broken down and organised into smaller more specific subjects - like cricket or swimming. A subject directory does the same thing with websites, and this makes them very useful for browsing. The great strength of subject directories is that people, not computers, choose and evaluate the websites in the directory. The main disadvantage of a Directory is their relatively small size. You may have several thousand websites to search through, rather than the tens of millions that a search engine can offer.
Infomine (http://infomine.ucr.edu) is such a directory. Don your hard-hats for an underground tour of this gem of a website.
Infomine is a collection of web resources mostly collected and organised by librarians, the original information experts. Although Infomine is aimed at an academic audience, it contains resources of use and interest to most people. Secondary students will find it great for homework help! Web resources listed in Infomine have a short description or review about the content of online resources. This alone saves valuable minutes while searching, as you don’t have to check every resource to see if it’s useful or not.
One the greatest strengths of Infomine, after its contents, is the many ways you can search through those contents. Try browsing through the list of broad topics, such as Biological, Agricultural and Medical Sciences, Business and Economics, Government Info, Visual and Performing Arts and more. You can also enter your search words into a search box, and then manipulate and refine the results using the “Modify Search” button.
Visit the “Advanced Search” page for more search options, including the ability to browse by Author and Title. This is particularly useful considering Infomine has a good collection of electronic journals, textbooks and conference proceedings.
Finally, make sure you check out the “Search Tips” page, available from the homepage. It’s very clear and easy to use. Simple but effective tips include using a truncation at the end of a search word. For example, entering “industr*” with a star at the end, the will retrieve results with the words industry, industries, industrial and industrialisation.
Need help searching the web? Contact your local Citi library branch:
Citi Library Aitkenvale 4727 8312
Citi Library Flinders Mall 4727 9665
Citi Library Thuringowa 4773 8601 or infodesk@townsville.qld.gov.au
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Searchlight is a weekly column written by CityLibraries Townsville. It is published in the Townsville Bulletin newspaper and on this 'blog every Monday. Searchlight aims to make your internet searching more effective, efficient and fun by reviewing search tools, providing searching hints and tips, and helping with tricky search topics.
