Metasearch Engines search various databases at the same time from a single site thus providing you with a quick list(s) of results from multiple databases. This can assist you in finding out which search engine would best meet your immediate needs. Metasearchers are fast and provide you with quick results but they do not offer as many results as search engines. One example of a metasearcher is: dogpile. Subject Directories are not search engines. Instead of using "spiders" to maintain their pages, they employ human editors. Subject directories can run individually, partner up with one another, or partner up with a search engine (Gigablast). Since the selection of resources is reviewed by humans, a higher quality of content is provided through subject directories. Updating resources is a thougher job when carried out by humans, therefore, more dead links appear under subject directories than in search engines. One example of a subject directory is: looksmart.
Reading this made me think, "Do we really need anything else aside from search engines?" I don't think we NEED other things but I think that they are beneficial to have. We usually conduct searches for different purposes such as for pleasure, work, and academic reasons. Therefore, we need various methods of meeting those different needs. If we are conducting research for an academic reason then maybe we should stick with search engines to provide us with a broad choice of resources. However, if we want to narrow our search and find more reliable material then we can turn to a subject directory. If we are just browsing for a subject of interest such as health or education, then maybe it would be less time consuming to browse using a subject directory instead of an entire search engine.
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