Click on the Current Events topic in the main menu or seek out these Full Coverage areas when you look through a Yahoo hit list. Full Coverage sites function as subject guides or pathfinders to the stories students are researching most, such long-running stories as immigration or El Nino or Middle East peace. A Full Coverage area has the most important Web sites grouped with seminal news stories and multimedia resources. The popular search tool has recently added a variety of useful features. Clicking on the Refine button after entering a search lets you focus using related subject terms.
Searchers select among a list of relevant topics and can require, exclude or ignore terms.
AltaVista also has recently added a directory to its search engine, a well-stocked repository for subject browsing. Speaking of subject directories, this year I discovered two that elevate the entire genre. Indexing 65,000 sites, Britannica Internet Guide is one of the most impressive subject directories out there. Sites are selected and rated for depth, accuracy, quality, authority, design, frequency of revision, and quality of media. Mining Company result lists are usually shorter and of far higher quality than those provided by the standard search tools.