The Ezine Directory (www.ezine-dir.com/) links to hundreds of ezines focusing on a variety of topics, from agriculture to comics to photography to religion. However, navigating the directory is difficult because it is ultimately more interested in advertising than ezines. This resource can, nevertheless, serve as a useful gateway to a fascinating and empowering multiverse, but it is recommended as a point of reference for information professionals rather than directly by users.
The design of the directory is very simple. The home page includes a search area, description of the directory, Featured Ezine section and a list of categories. There is a clear navigation bar at the top, bringing to the user’s attention not only the options to search new, popular or top-rated ezines but also the opportunity to add or modify ezines. But the navigation is distastefully misleading because advertisements are so infused with the directory’s content that it is legitimately difficult to tell where the advertisements end and the directory begins, exacerbated by the very small size of the directory’s text. Confidence recedes further because of a variety of grammar issues in the directory’s descriptions of individual ezines.
The directory should be the threshold to an intricate series of communities, a treasure trove of dynamic discourse, but it does not adequately prepare users for their exploration. Each ezine is as diverse as its creators, which naturally includes an ezine’s browsing experience. For instance, Action Geek Black & White is an ezine that includes both paid and free content, and it is designed to scroll down through thumbnails, whereas Utah Baby Guide contains free content and meets users with a more mainstream structure. As The Ezine Directory only prepares users for the subject matter, the diversity among designs juxtaposed can lead to confusion for users. Yet the directory never altogether leaves the user, always remaining present with a bar at the top of each ezine’s website. The directory could utilize this bar to integrate the user into the world of each ezine. Why not include a description of the experience of each ezine on the bar?
What is ultimately clear is that the focus of The Ezine Directory is the advertisements. A link at the top of the home page emphasizes a VIP service geared at marketers. As a result, this reviewer would not want to sign up for an account nor use any PayPal feature that seems associated with the directory. But the directory could be a helpful point of reference for information professionals serving users interested in ezines.
