This thesis presents an investigation into web information in publicly accessible academic domains. It attempts to define and characterise web' information as a measurable variable through the use of its attributes. Web information attributes are used to measure, among others, web information change and growth, in an academic domain. In order to apply this research to real-life academic domains, three studies are utilised. These include a pilot, a main comparativ~ and a validation study. The data collected for the three studies forms the basis for the proposed measurement and analysis of web information in academic domains. The results of the studies conducted for this research show that the approach is practical, and that the measurement framework is consistent and robust. Using simple measures, based on web information attributes, a great degree of confidence on reliable, repeatable and objective results are obtained. The coherence of the approach, with empirically observed web information attributes, provides additional confidence in the results and the analysis of those results. The methodology adopted is restricted by definition to academic domains. However, great effort has been placed in ensuring that the theoretical foundation, data collection instruments, measurement framework, and web information attribute selection process, are transferable to other domain types. Emphasis has been given to simplicity and interoperability, allowing for the implementation and application of this research in a wide range of environments (domain, programming language, web server, etc.).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:485443 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Kotsidis, Petros |
| Publisher | University of Sunderland |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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