Matrix, Subject Catalogs: YAHOO!

Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle

YAHOO! is a hierarchical subject-organized catalog of documents on the World Wide Web and the Internet. It is a very powerful public service for locating information on the Web quickly and reliably, and probably the best resource of its kind.

Key Links

URL for Front Page: http://www.yahoo.com/
URL for Top-Level Page: http://www.yahoo.com/
URL for Forms Search Page: http://www.yahoo.com/search.html
URL for FAQ Page: http://www.yahoo.com/faq.html
URL for Help Page: http://www.yahoo.com/docs/info/help.html
URLs for Creators' Pages

David Filo: http://akebono.stanford.edu/~filo/
Jerry Yang: http://akebono.stanford.edu/~jerry/

URL for Sponsors Page: http://www.yahoo.com/docs/pr/credits.html
Home Organization: YAHOO! is now a self-sufficient commercial organization.

Organization

YAHOO! is primarily set up as a subject catalogue with ample cross-references pages. The root level of the hierarchy is divided into 14 major headings, and each subject may contain subheadings over 4 levels deep (more specific). Additional pages are added to the hierarchy as necessary to ease navigation.
YAHOO! also provides basic search capabilities, using custom database and management software.
- Features
  - Multiple Keyword support
  - Primitive Boolean and Proximity Searching
  - Keys can specify complete words or substrings
- Limitations
  - No True Boolean Support
  - No Proximity Searching
  - No Hyphenation or Punctuation Contral
  - No Controlled Vocabulary established
It offers an option to limit matching entries (10, 25, 50, or 100 maximum)
The engine searches across document titles, URLs, and/or comments.

Most features are available to non-forms users, but searching requires a browser with forms support.

The content has no particular focus, but spans numerous fields of interest.

Administration

Documents are gathered for inclusion by user submission as well as automated searches across various "What's New" pages and related newsgroups. Selected links are then evaluated by index administrators and placed into the subject hierarchy as appropriate.
Both the hierarchy of the subject index and the layout of the search page are very simple.
- Yahoo! runs from several SGI Indy's and Pentium-based PCs running UNIX.
- Navigation across the hierarchy is very fast, with a peppy response time. Even the search engine responds in about 10 seconds, but may refuse a search when the load is high (primarily during the day).
Quality of Index
- The collection boasts 370,000 entries, and new links are being added at the rate of almost 2,000 a day!
- There are very few dead links on the server, and the administrators regularly remove links to outdated pages.
- Despite the overwhelming size of the collection, the organization and the layout of the page make for easy navigation.
Additional Services and Features:
- Both a Help and a FAQ page help users learn navigation and answer their questions.
- Each index page provides useful cues to help orientation and navigation.
  - The YAHOO! menubar provides constant access to useful pages, up a level, the top-level, search form, add URL form, and feedback form.
  - The hierarchy indicator shows where you are located in the subject tree (each step is separated by a colon, e.g., Art:Literature:Classics:Shakespeare). Its also a link to step up a level in the tree.
  - Additional levels in the index are indicated by bold entries, with a number indicating how many entries exist on that page or below.
  - The '@' mark indicates a cross-referenced entry leading to another part of the hierarchy.
- The authors compile one of the Internet's best What's New? lists daily, organized by subject with a brief description of the new service. To encourage netsurfing, there are also resources that list What's Popular on YAHOO! and What's cool on the Web?.
- Users are encouraged to recommend pages for addition to the catalog through the Add to YAHOO! form.
- Each list of documents provides a short sentence or paragraph that describes the indicated link, as well as a tag indicating a new or valuable resource.

Matt Slot * fprefect@ambrosiasw.com * 1/27/96