A directory, unlike a search engine with its robots and spiders, is created and maintained by humans. The URL's of sites must be submitted and then reviewers organize each URL into a specific category or categories. Learning the boolean commands of your favorite search engines can make your search sessions more productive. For instance, Alta Vista makes it a point of indexing educational web sites or those from academic institutions. A search engine like Web Crawler , on the other hand, indexes pages that pertain more to entertainment and popular culture.
Every search engine explains how it accesses information and what kind of information it accesses.
Reading a search engine's search preferences will save time and produce more effective searches. To access a search engine, you can either type in the url of a particular engine or press the net search button on any web browser which will present you with the option of selecting one of many engines. Search results are ordered from most relevant to least relevant. Alta Vista has helped us find information on education, humanities, and academics. Like Webcrawler, we have found Yahoo to be a particularly good source for information on entertainment, business, government, recreation and sports, and travel.