The two main tools for finding information on the Web are subject directories and search engines. Users find information by choosing a category, and sometimes a subcategory as well, and then browsing through a collection of links. Subject directories can be very useful for finding general information on specific topics, and they are also good starting points for browsing. Popular subject directories are Yahoo and Magellan .
Search engines are preferable to subject directories for finding specific pieces of information.
Users enter keywords that describe the data they are looking for, and the search engine retrieves documents containing those keywords. All search engines work a little bit differently, and it is very unlikely that any two would retrieve the same set of data from the same search strategy. For this reason, it is wise to try your search on more than one search engine. More and more search tools are offering both a search engine and a subject directory from one gateway location. The more familiar you become with a search engine's capabilities, the better your searching will be.