Iranian Journal of Information Science and Technology

Vol 4, No 2, ISSN 1726-8125, 2006

THE COMPARISON OF HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF SUBJECT DIRECTORIES YAHOO, THE OPEN DIRECTORY & LOOKSMART WITH DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION IN 10 SELECTIVE SUBJECTS

Z. HAYATI, Ph.D. , Department of Librarianship and Information Science , Shiraz University, I. R. of Iran

P. TAJER, M.S. , Islamic Azad University – Marvdasht Branch , Marvdasht, I. R. of Iran

Abstract

This survey is aimed to compare the hierarchical structure of subject directories, including Yahoo, The Open Directory and Looksmart with Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) in 10 selective subjects. Five questions are raised to compare the broadness and the depth of the hierarchical structures in the subject directories and DDC and to study the effectiveness of the usage of DDC in the organization of the Internet resources. The data were collected by counting links and indentions. The results show that the hierarchical structure of Looksmart is broader and deeper than Yahoo, The Open Directory and DDC. This characteristic decreases its effectiveness as a classification scheme. This study also shows that subdivisions are rather evenly distributed in different hierarchical levels of DDC in comparison to subject directories. These features in addition to their general nature make DDC a suitable instrument for organizing Internet resources.

Keywords - Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Internet Resources Organization, Subject Directories, Hierarchical Structure, Information Retrieval.

email: zhayati@rose.shirazu.ac.ir

email: pegtaj@yahoo.com