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Annotated Directories

eBlast
Lycos Top 5%
Magellan

Included here are services that annotate a large percentage of the resources in their directory, as opposed to Subject Catalogs, which simply gather links to pages on a certain subject. The annotations are usually written by staff writers. Users can read about a given resource before choosing to follow the link to the site. In some cases a rating of the resource is done by staff editors based on established criteria. These services provide a high level of human intervention in resource discovery.

eBlast
http://www.eBLAST.com/
Provider: Encyclopedia Britannica
Browsable index: Yes
Search capabilities: Yes
Item submission method: Human
Selection of Resources/Who Selects? Yes/Encyclopedia Britannica editors.
Annotated: Yes, by Encyclopedia Britannica editors.
Intended Audience General
FAQ: Yes, for the product. Yes for the searching system.
Encyclopedia Britannica provides this eBLAST (Encyclopedia Britannica Links and Search Tool) Internet guide. The site includes searchable and browseable reviews and ratings of thousands of sites in nineteen subject areas from arts and literature to world geography and culture. Sites are rated from "Noteworthy" (one star) to "Best of the Web" (five stars) by EB editors. Users can "drill down" from the broad categories to progressively more precise sub-categories, or they can view the expanded outline of sites from one page. In addition, several features such as Bookmarks of the Smart & Famous, a Guest Column, and a Net Events section highlight noteworthy Websites or specific aspects of the Web.
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Lycos Top 5%
http://point.lycos.com/categories/
Provider: Lycos, Inc.
Browsable index: Yes
Search capabilities: Yes
Item submission method: Human
Selection of Resources/Who Selects? Yes/Lycos editors.
Annotated: Yes, by Lycos editors.
Intended Audience General
FAQ: Yes, for the product. No for the searching system.
Provided by Lycos, Inc., this service provides annotation and evaluation for sites that are discovered by their reviewers or submitted by site owners. Evaluation is based on content, presentation and experience. Sixteen major subject sites can be browsed.
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Magellan
http://www.mckinley.com/
Provider: Excite, Inc.
Browsable index: Yes
Search capabilities: Yes
Item submission method: Human and robot
Selection of Resources/Who Selects? Yes, Magellan editors
Annotated: Yes, by Magellan editors.
Intended Audience General
FAQ: No, for the product. Yes, for the searching system.
The Magellan database of online resources is populated by submission and robot. A percentage of the resources are annotated in 15 major categories and rated with one to four stars. The search engine can be queried for the rated as well as unrated sites. Boolean AND/OR/NOT searching is available.
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