Search engines allow you to search for websites using any subject and specific 'terms' and 'phrases'.
Web Directories hold listings of websites organised by category / sub category. If you know exactly what category the information you're looking for fits into then a Web Directory would probably be the best place to look due to it's ridgid category structure. However if you are uncertain which category you would look under a Good Search Engine will return the best web sites fitting the information you are searching for.

This section lists many search engines on the internet. A lot of the Search Engines also provide large directories and will also be listed under general in our directory. We have segregated the Search Engines listed here as their main purpose is to provide a search facility.