Name for Subject Sites

[Byron C. Mayes]

On Mon, 2 Jun 1997, Bennett, Roy - Library wrote:

> * In particular, I am looking for a word or short phrase to describe 
> sites like Yahoo.  Currently, we call this kind of site a "Subject 
> Tree" on our "Internet Search" page.  However, I'm looking for 
> something that does not have the word "subject" in it so that our 
> patrons will not be confused with the subject lists (e.g., business, 
> education, etc.) that we have on a separate "Internet Resources" 
> page.

I made reference to these in a recent paper (presented at National Online) 
which, amongst other things, had to make just such a distinction. I called
them "Internet Indexing Services" (I gave the subject lists the name
"Istographies", coined as a parallel to the word "bibliography"..."istos, in
Greek, means "web").

I realize that they don't actually fit the standard library definition of
"index" but it was clear to the audience that I was differentiating between,
for example, Yahoo (Index/Indexing Service to which anyone can submit any
site under any practically category) and INFOMINE (Istography [actually a
collection of same] created by subject specialists).

Byron C. Mayes
Juilliard School Library

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