On the World Wide Web there are an estimated 250,000 sites that have content relating to the subject matter of anthropology. Unfortunately an estimated four-fifths contain little useful information. There are tens of thousands of anthropology sites containing redundant links to other pages that are collections of redundant links. Net cuts through all of this by using advanced search technology to hunt down sites that contain useful content and information relating to anthropology. Net is a unique research engine, which is distinct from search engines and edited directories.
Search engines use mindless robots to scour the web to count keywords on pages.
Edited directories, such as Looksmart, use human editors to categorize the subject matter. The problem with these is that they are ultimately a product of their webmaster's interests, abilities and energy to maintain their pages. Net queries a database of over 40,000 pages from reviewed web sites with anthropological content built by users' interests. The system collects the search terms submitted by its users and uses proprietary software to hunt down internet based journal articles, well developed topical sites and bibliographic references for anthropology, archaeology and the other social sciences. Net uses a spider or robot program to check for outdated and dead links.