5 Sites That Use The Human Touch To Organize The Web

Sometimes using a search engine can feel a bit impersonal. After all, a computer program, not a person, reviews the thousands or even millions of sites included in the search results of your query. What if you crave the human touch when conducting a web search? Any options? You might want to try what is known as a human-edited search directory.

Typically, human-edited search directories only include sites in their listings that are first reviewed by either a volunteer or an expert. If a human hasn't personally looked at a site, it won't appear in the directory.

Here are a few notable human-edited web site directories you might want to visit:

• The Internet Public Library - An index of over 40,000 sites it was started by The University Of Michigan's School of Information and is now run by Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology.
• About.com - 500 guides who are experts in their fields point the way to authoritative web sites.
• The Open Directory Project - Relying on volunteer editors the site bills itself as "the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the Web."
• The WWW Virtual Library - Started by Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Web, this site calling itself "the oldest catalogue of the Web" is also run by volunteers.
• Librarians' Internet index - Over 20,000 sites are included in this directory edited by librarians.

Human-edited directories can be an important search tool. Don't overlook this valuable resource!