Showing papers in "Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology in 2007"
TL;DR: Experiments on large coauthorship networks suggest that information about future interactions can be extracted from network topology alone, and that fairly subtle measures for detecting node proximity can outperform more direct measures.
Abstract: Given a snapshot of a social network, can we infer which new interactions among its members are likely to occur in the near future? We formalize this question as the link-prediction problem, and we develop approaches to link prediction based on measures for analyzing the “proximity” of nodes in a network. Experiments on large coauthorship networks suggest that information about future interactions can be extracted from network topology alone, and that fairly subtle measures for detecting node proximity can outperform more direct measures. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
4,181 citations
TL;DR: One of recommendation of the book that you need to read is shown, which is a kind of precious book written by an experienced author and the reasonable reasons why you should read this book are shown.
Abstract: Any books that you read, no matter how you got the sentences that have been read from the books, surely they will give you goodness. But, we will show you one of recommendation of the book that you need to read. This trec experiment and evaluation in information retrieval is what we surely mean. We will show you the reasonable reasons why you need to read this book. This book is a kind of precious book written by an experienced author.
987 citations
TL;DR: Results show that Scopus significantly alters the relative ranking of those scholars that appear in the middle of the rankings and that GS stands out in its coverage of conference proceedings as well as international, non-English language journals.
Abstract: The Institute for Scientific Information's (ISI, now Thomson Scientific, Philadelphia, PA) citation databases have been used for decades as a starting point and often as the only tools for locating citations andsor conducting citation analyses. The ISI databases (or Web of Science [WoS]), however, may no longer be sufficient because new databases and tools that allow citation searching are now available. Using citations to the work of 25 library and information science (LIS) faculty members as a case study, the authors examine the effects of using Scopus and Google Scholar (GS) on the citation counts and rankings of scholars as measured by WoS. Overall, more than 10,000 citing and purportedly citing documents were examined. Results show that Scopus significantly alters the relative ranking of those scholars that appear in the middle of the rankings and that GS stands out in its coverage of conference proceedings as well as international, non-English language journals. The use of Scopus and GS, in addition to WoS, helps reveal a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the scholarly impact of authors. The WoS data took about 100 hours of collecting and processing time, Scopus consumed 200 hours, and GS a grueling 3,000 hours. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
784 citations
TL;DR: This article summarizes much of what is known from the communication and information literacy fields about the skills that Internet users need to assess the credibility of online information to assist users in locating reliable information online.
Abstract: This article summarizes much of what is known from the communication and information literacy fields about the skills that Internet users need to assess the credibility of online information. The article reviews current recommendations for credibility assessment, empirical research on how users determine the credibility of Internet information, and describes several cognitive models of online information evaluation. Based on the literature review and critique of existing models of credibility assessment, recommendations for future online credibility education and practice are provided to assist users in locating reliable information online. The article concludes by offering ideas for research and theory development on this topic in an effort to advance knowledge in the area of credibility assessment of Internet-based information. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
716 citations
TL;DR: This article documents 130 definitions of data, information, and knowledge formulated by 45 scholars, and maps the major conceptual approaches for defining these three key concepts.
Abstract: The field of Information Science is constantly changing. Therefore, information scientists are required to regularly review-and if necessary-redefine its fundamental building blocks. This article is one of a group of four articles, which resulted from a Critical Delphi study conducted in 2003-2005. The study, "Knowledge Map of Information Science," was aimed at exploring the foundations of information science. The international panel was composed of 57 leading scholars from 16 countries, who represent (almost) all the major subfields and important aspects of the field. This particular article documents 130 definitions of data, information, and knowledge formulated by 45 scholars, and maps the major conceptual approaches for defining these three key concepts.
642 citations
TL;DR: The advantages and disadvantages of the h index are described and the studies on the convergent validity of this index are summarized and corrections and complements as well as single-number alternatives are introduced.
Abstract: Jorge Hirsch (2005a, 2005b) recently proposed the h index to quantify the research output of individual scientists. The new index has attracted a lot of attention in the scientific community. The claim that the h index in a single number provides a good representation of the scientific lifetime achievement of a scientist as well as the (supposed) simple calculation of the h index using common literature databases lead to the danger of improper use of the index. We describe the advantages and disadvantages of the h index and summarize the studies on the convergent validity of this index. We also introduce corrections and complements as well as single-number alternatives to the h index.
577 citations
TL;DR: Betweenness centrality is shown to be an indicator of the interdisciplinarity of journals, but only in local citation environments and after normalization; otherwise, the influence of degree centrality (size) overshadows the betweenness-centrality measure.
Abstract: In addition to science citation indicators of journals like impact and immediacy, social network analysis provides a set of centrality measures like degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality. These measures are first analyzed for the entire set of 7,379 journals included in the Journal Citation Reports of the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citation Index 2004 (Thomson ISI, Philadelphia, PA), and then also in relation to local citation environments that can be considered as proxies of specialties and disciplines. Betweenness centrality is shown to be an indicator of the interdisciplinarity of journals, but only in local citation environments and after normalization; otherwise, the influence of degree centrality (size) overshadows the betweenness-centrality measure. The indicator is applied to a variety of citation environments, including policy-relevant ones like biotechnology and nanotechnology. The values of the indicator remain sensitive to the delineations of the set because of the indicator's local character. Maps showing interdisciplinarity of journals in terms of betweenness centrality can be drawn using information about journal citation environments, which is available online.
518 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the development and validation of three short Internet-administered scales measuring privacy-related attitudes (Privacy Concern) and behaviors (General Caution and Technical Protection).
Abstract: As the Internet grows in importance, concerns about online privacy have arisen. The authors describe the development and validation of three short Internet-administered scales measuring privacy-related attitudes (Privacy Concern) and behaviors (General Caution and Technical Protection). In Study 1, 515 people completed an 82-item questionnaire from which the three scales were derived. In Study 2, scale validity was examined by comparing scores of individuals drawn from groups considered likely to differ in privacy-protective behaviors. In Study 3, correlations between the scores on the current scales and two established measures of privacy concern were examined. The authors conclude that these scales are reliable and valid instruments suitable for administration via the Internet, and present them for use in online privacy research. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
415 citations
TL;DR: The data presented here suggest that creativity is expressed in different ways, at different times, and with different intensities in academic information science.
Abstract: Relevant: Having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.
A version of this article has been published in 2006 as a chapter in E.G. Abels & D.A. Nitecki (Eds.), Advances in Librarianship (Vol. 30, pp. 3–71). San Diego: Academic Press. (Saracevic, 2006).
Relevance: The ability as of an information retrieval system to retrieve material that satisfies the needs of the user.
—Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2005
Relevance is a, if not even the, key notion in information science in general and information retrieval in particular. This two-part critical review traces and synthesizes the scholarship on relevance over the past 30 years and provides an updated framework within which the still widely dissonant ideas and works about relevance might be interpreted and related. It is a continuation and update of a similar review that appeared in 1975 under the same title, considered here as being Part I. The present review is organized into two parts: Part II addresses the questions related to nature and manifestations of relevance, and Part III addresses questions related to relevance behavior and effects. In Part II, the nature of relevance is discussed in terms of meaning ascribed to relevance, theories used or proposed, and models that have been developed. The manifestations of relevance are classified as to several kinds of relevance that form an interdependent system of relevances. In Part III, relevance behavior and effects are synthesized using experimental and observational works that incorporate data. In both parts, each section concludes with a summary that in effect provides an interpretation and synthesis of contemporary thinking on the topic treated or suggests hypotheses for future research. Analyses of some of the major trends that shape relevance work are offered in conclusions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
395 citations
TL;DR: This article proposes a general IQ assessment framework that consists of comprehensive typologies of IQ problems, related activities, and a taxonomy of IQ dimensions organized in a systematic way based on sound theories and practices.
Abstract: One cannot manage information quality (IQ) without first being able to measure it meaningfully and establishing a causal connection between the source of IQ change, the IQ problem types, the types of activities affected, and their implications. In this article we propose a general IQ assessment framework. In contrast to context-specific IQ assessment models, which usually focus on a few variables determined by local needs, our framework consists of comprehensive typologies of IQ problems, related activities, and a taxonomy of IQ dimensions organized in a systematic way based on sound theories and practices. The framework can be used as a knowledge resource and as a guide for developing IQ measurement models for many different settings. The framework was validated and refined by developing specific IQ measurement models for two large-scale collections of two large classes of information objects: Simple Dublin Core records and online encyclopedia articles. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
374 citations
TL;DR: This article investigates the psychological significance of news leads by positing that the information scent transmitted by each cue triggers a distinct heuristic that tends to influence online users' perceptions of a given news item, with implications for their assessment of the item's relevance to their information needs and interests.
Abstract: Google News and other newsbots have automated the process of news selection, providing Internet users with a virtually limitless array of news and public information dynamically culled from thousands of news organizations all over the world. In order to help users cope with the resultant overload of information, news leads are typically accompanied by three cues: (a) the name of the primary source from which the headline and lead were borrowed, (b) the time elapsed since the story broke, and (c) the number of related articles written about this story by other news organizations tracked by the newsbot. This article investigates the psychological significance of these cues by positing that the information scent transmitted by each cue triggers a distinct heuristic (mental shortcut) that tends to influence online users' perceptions of a given news item, with implications for their assessment of the item's relevance to their information needs and interests. A large 2 × 3 × 6 within-subjects online experiment (N = 523) systematically varied two levels of the source credibility cue, three levels of the upload recency cue and six levels of the number-of-related-articles cue in an effort to investigate their effects upon perceived message credibility, newsworthiness, and likelihood of clicking on the news lead. Results showed evidence for source primacy effect, and some indication of a cue-cumulation effect when source credibility is low. Findings are discussed in the context of machine and bandwagon heuristics.
TL;DR: Fact Finding and Information Gathering tasks were the most complex; participants spent more time completing this task, viewed more pages, and used the Web browser functions most heavily during this task.
Abstract: Previous studies have examined various aspects of user behavior on the Web, including general information-seeking patterns, search engine use, and revisitation habits. Little research has been conducted to study how users navigate and interact with their Web browser across different information-seeking tasks. We have conducted a field study of 21 participants, in which we logged detailed Web usage and asked participants to provide task categorizations of their Web usage based on the following categories: Fact Finding, Information Gathering, Browsing, and Transactions. We used implicit measures logged during each task session to provide usage measures such as dwell time, number of pages viewed, and the use of specific browser navigation mechanisms. We also report on differences in how participants interacted with their Web browser across the range of information-seeking tasks. Within each type of task, we found several distinguishing characteristics. In particular, Information Gathering tasks were the most complex; participants spent more time completing this task, viewed more pages, and used the Web browser functions most heavily during this task. The results of this analysis have been used to provide implications for future support of information seeking on the Web as well as direction for future research in this area. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared traditional and Web-based citation patterns across multiple disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics, computing, sociology, economics, psychology, and education) based upon a sample of 1,650 articles from 108 open access (OA) journals published in 2001.
Abstract: We use a new data gathering method, “WebsURL citation,” WebsURL and Google Scholar to compare traditional and Web-based citation patterns across multiple disciplines (biology, chemistry, physics, computing, sociology, economics, psychology, and education) based upon a sample of 1,650 articles from 108 open access (OA) journals published in 2001. A WebsURL citation of an online journal article is a Web mention of its title, URL, or both. For each discipline, except psychology, we found significant correlations between Thomson Scientific (formerly Thomson ISI, here: ISI) citations and both Google Scholar and Google WebsURL citations. Google Scholar citations correlated more highly with ISI citations than did Google WebsURL citations, indicating that the WebsURL method measures a broader type of citation phenomenon. Google Scholar citations were more numerous than ISI citations in computer science and the four social science disciplines, suggesting that Google Scholar is more comprehensive for social sciences and perhaps also when conference articles are valued and published online. We also found large disciplinary differences in the percentage overlap between ISI and Google Scholar citation sources. Finally, although we found many significant trends, there were also numerous exceptions, suggesting that replacing traditional citation sources with the Web or Google Scholar for research impact calculations would be problematic. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: Hasselt Univ, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Abstract: Hasselt Univ, B-3590 Diepenbeek, BelgiumEGGHE, L, Hasselt Univ, Campus Diepenbeek Agorolaan, B-3590 Diepenbeek, Belgiumleoegghe@uhasseltbe
TL;DR: To demonstrate and evaluate the proposed opinion mining algorithms, news and bloggers' articles are adopted and positive and negative sentiment words and their weights are mined on the basis of Chinese word structures.
Abstract: Documents discussing public affairs, common themes, interesting products, and so on, are reported and distributed on the Web. Positive and negative opinions embedded in documents are useful references and feedbacks for governments to improve their services, for companies to market their products, and for customers to purchase their objects. Web opinion mining aims to extract, summarize, and track various aspects of subjective information on the Web. Mining subjective information enables traditional information retrieval (IR) systems to retrieve more data from human viewpoints and provide information with finer granularity. Opinion extraction identifies opinion holders, extracts the relevant opinion sentences, and decides their polarities. Opinion summarization recognizes the major events embedded in documents and summarizes the supportive and the nonsupportive evidence. Opinion tracking captures subjective information from various genres and monitors the developments of opinions from spatial and temporal dimensions. To demonstrate and evaluate the proposed opinion mining algorithms, news and bloggers' articles are adopted. Documents in the evaluation corpora are tagged in different granularities from words, sentences to documents. In the experiments, positive and negative sentiment words and their weights are mined on the basis of Chinese word structures. The f-measure is 73.18p and 63.75p for verbs and nouns, respectively. Utilizing the sentiment words mined together with topical words, we achieve f-measure 62.16p at the sentence level and 74.37p at the document level. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: This article develops a new type of lexical feature for use in stylistic text classification, based on taxonomies of various semantic functions of certain choice words or phrases, and demonstrates the usefulness of such features for the stylisticText classification tasks of determining author identity and nationality, the gender of literary characters, a text’s sentiment, and the rhetorical character of scientific journal articles.
Abstract: Most text analysis and retrieval work to date has focused on the topic of a text; that is, what it is about. However, a text also contains much useful information in its style, or how it is written. This includes information about its author, its purpose, feelings it is meant to evoke, and more. This article develops a new type of lexical feature for use in stylistic text classification, based on taxonomies of various semantic functions of certain choice words or phrases. We demonstrate the usefulness of such features for the stylistic text classification tasks of determining author identity and nationality, the gender of literary characters, a text’s sentiment (positive/ negative evaluation), and the rhetorical character of scientific journal articles. We further show how the use of functional features aids in gaining insight about stylistic differences among different kinds of texts.
TL;DR: The information seeking behavior of academic scientists is being transformed by the availability of electronic resources for searching, retrieving, and reading scholarly materials as discussed by the authors, and significant changes in information seeking behaviour were found, including increased reliance on web based resources, fewer visits to the library, and almost entirely electronic communication of information.
Abstract: The information seeking behavior of academic scientists is being transformed by the availability of electronic resources for searching, retrieving, and reading scholarly materials. A census survey was conducted of academic science researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to capture their current information seeking behavior. Nine hundred two subjects (26%) completed responses to a 15-minute Web-based survey. The survey questions were designed to quantify the transition to electronic communications and how this affects different aspects of information seeking. Significant changes in information seeking behavior were found, including increased reliance on web based resources, fewer visits to the library, and almost entirely electronic communication of information. The results can guide libraries and other information service organizations as they adapt to meet the needs of today's information searchers. Simple descriptive statistics are reported for the individual questions. Additionally, analysis of results is broken out by basic science and medical science departments. The survey tool and protocol used in this study have been adopted for use in a nationwide survey of the information seeking behavior of academic scientists. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: Evidence is provided that ArXiv accelerates citation due to the fact that Ar Xiv makes papers available earlier rather than makes them freely available, and there is in a sample of six condensed matter physics journals studied in detail no sign of a general “open access advantage” of papers deposited in ArXv.
Abstract: This article statistically analyzes how the citation impact of articles deposited in the Condensed Matter section of the preprint server ArXiv (hosted by Cornell University), and subsequently published in a scientific journal, compares to that of articles in the same journal that were not deposited in the archive. Its principal aim is to further illustrate and roughly estimate the effect of two factors, “early view” and “quality bias,” on differences in citation impact between these two sets of papers, using citation data from Thomson Scientific's Web of Science. It presents estimates for a number of journals in the field of condensed matter physics. To discriminate between an “open access” effect and an early view effect, longitudinal citation data were analyzed covering a time period as long as 7 years. Quality bias was measured by calculating ArXiv citation impact differentials at the level of individual authors publishing in a journal, taking into account coauthorship. The analysis provided evidence of a strong quality bias and early view effect. Correcting for these effects, there is in a sample of six condensed matter physics journals studied in detail no sign of a general “open access advantage” of papers deposited in ArXiv. The study does provide evidence that ArXiv accelerates citation due to the fact that ArXiv makes papers available earlier rather than makes them freely available. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: The h-index (Hirsch, 2005) is robust, remaining relatively unaffected by errors in the long tails of the citations-rank distribution, such as typographic errors that short-change frequently cited articles and create bogus additional records.
Abstract: The h-index (Hirsch, 2005) is robust, remaining relatively unaffected by errors in the long tails of the citations-rank distribution, such as typographic errors that short-change frequently cited articles and create bogus additional records. This robustness, and the ease with which h-indices can be verified, support the use of a Hirsch-type index over alternatives such as the journal impact factor. These merits of the h-index apply both to individuals and to journals.
TL;DR: A revised model, linking self-efficacy with psychological need for privacy and indicating indirect influences of Internet experience and fluency on online privacy concerns about privacy through beliefs in privacy rights, was supported by the data.
Abstract: With the rapid diffusion of the Internet, researchers, policy makers, and users have raised concerns about online privacy, although few studies have integrated aspects of usage with psychological and attitudinal aspects of privacy. This study develops a model involving gender, generalized self-efficacy, psychological need for privacy, Internet use experience, Internet use fluency, and beliefs in privacy rights as potential influences on online privacy concerns. Survey responses from 413 college students were analyzed by bivariate correlations, hierarchical regression, and structural equation modeling. Regression results showed that beliefs in privacy rights and a psychological need for privacy were the main influences on online privacy concerns. The proposed structural model was not well supported by the data, but a revised model, linking self-efficacy with psychological need for privacy and indicating indirect influences of Internet experience and fluency on online privacy concerns about privacy through beliefs in privacy rights, was supported by the data. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the patterns of motivators and barriers of knowledge sharing across three online environments pertaining to the following professional practices: advanced nursing practice, web development, and literacy education.
Abstract: This study expands the perspective of knowledge sharing by categorizing the different types of knowledge that individuals shared with one another and examining the patterns of motivators and barriers of knowledge sharing across three online environments pertaining to the following professional practices—advanced nursing practice, Web development, and literacy education. The patterns indicate the different possible combinations of motivators or barriers that may exist in individuals. Data were gathered through online observations and semistructured interviews with 54 participants. The cross-case analysis shows that the most common type of knowledge shared across all three environments was practical knowledge. Overall, seven motivators were found. Analysis also suggests that the most common combination of motivators for knowledge sharing was collectivism and reciprocity. A total of eight barriers were identified. The most common combination of barriers varied in each online environment. Discussions as to how the types of professional practices may contribute to the different results are provided, along with implications and future possible research directions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: This study documents 50 definitions of information science, maps the major theoretical issues relevant to the formulation of a systematic conception, formulates six different conceptions of the field, and discusses their implications.
Abstract: The field of information science is constantly changing. Therefore, information scientists are required to regularly review—and if necessary—redefine its fundamental building blocks. This article is one of four articles that documents the results of the Critical Delphi study conducted in 2003–2005. The study, “Knowledge Map of Information Science,” was aimed at exploring the foundations of information science. The international panel was composed of 57 leading scholars from 16 countries who represent nearly all the major subfields and important aspects of the field. In this study, the author documents 50 definitions of information science, maps the major theoretical issues relevant to the formulation of a systematic conception, formulates six different conceptions of the field, and discusses their implications.
TL;DR: The text is divided into 12 chapters, each of which begins with a proposed principle of creativity, and introduces terms such as recombinance and pattern-matching, allusions, learning, inference, analogy, musical hierarchy, and influence.
Abstract: Can computer programs effectively model creativity? And can computer programs themselves create? If so, can they create musical works of art? David Cope (University of California, Santa Cruz) asks just such questions in Computer Models of Musical Creativity. He has years of research in musical creativity and computer composition to support his efforts (1991, 1996, 2000, 2001a, 200b), and has been praised by such luminaries as Douglas Hofstadter (1996, 1999) and Raymond Kurzweil (2000). I will briefly outline the structure of Cope’s text, and then dig deeper. Cope begins by surveying research in creativity and musical creativity, and then goes on to describe a number of possible models for computationally modeling the effects of human creativity. The text is divided into 12 chapters, each of which begins with a proposed principle of creativity. Through this winding path, Cope discusses relevant topics in creativity research, and introduces terms such as recombinance (combining existing structures in creative ways to create something new) and pattern-matching, allusions, learning, inference, analogy, musical hierarchy, and influence. He readily admits that the various models he describes only solve problems associated with selective aspects of creativity. What is needed is an integrated model (utilizing an inductive association computational process) in order for computers to effectively model musical creativity. According to Cope, when it comes to musical creativity, meaning is out (music is “ineffable”), and so are other concepts traditionally associated with creativity such as originality, novelty, and invention; musical creativity is a process of connection (and
TL;DR: Markey et al. as discussed by the authors reviewed 25 years of published research findings on end-user searching in online information retrieval (IR) systems, focusing on the following questions: What characterizes the queries that end users submit to online IR systems? What search features do people use? What feature would enable them to improve on the retrievals they have in hand? What features are hardly ever used? What do end users do in response to the system's retrievalls? Are end users satisfied with their online searches?
Abstract: This is the first part of a two-part article that reviews 25 years of published research findings on end-user searching in online information retrieval (IR) systems. In Part 1 [Markey, 2007], the author seeks to answer the following questions: What characterizes the queries that end users submit to online IR systems? What search features do people use? What features would enable them to improve on the retrievals they have in hand? What features are hardly ever used? What do end users do in response to the system's retrievals? Are end users satisfied with their online searches? Summarizing searches of online IR systems by the search features people use everyday makes information retrieval appear to be a very simplistic one-stop event. In Part 2, the author examines current models of the information retrieval process, demonstrating that information retrieval is much more complex and involves changes in cognition, feelings, andsor events during the information seeking process. She poses a host of new research questions that will further our understanding about end-user searching of online IR systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: The future is discussed in terms of LIS dependency on technology, how integration of research areas as well as technical systems can be expected to continue to characterize LIS research, and how webometrics will continue to develop and find applications.
Abstract: Based on articles published in 1990–2004 in 21 library and information science (LIS) journals, a set of cocitation analyses was performed to study changes in research fronts over the last 15 years, where LIS is at now, and to discuss where it is heading. To study research fronts, here defined as current and influential cocited articles, a citations among documents methodology was applied; and to study changes, the analyses were time-sliced into three 5-year periods. The results show a stable structure of two distinct research fields: informetrics and information seeking and retrieval (ISR). However, experimental retrieval research and user oriented research have merged into one ISR field; and IR and informetrics also show signs of coming closer together, sharing research interests and methodologies, making informetrics research more visible in mainstream LIS research. Furthermore, the focus on the Internet, both in ISR research and in informetrics—where webometrics quickly has become a dominating research area—is an important change. The future is discussed in terms of LIS dependency on technology, how integration of research areas as well as technical systems can be expected to continue to characterize LIS research, and how webometrics will continue to develop and find applications. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: An analysis of 2,465,145 interactions from 534,507 users of Dogpile.com shows that defining sessions by query reformulation along with Internet Protocol address and cookie provides the best measure, resulting in an 82% increase in the count of sessions.
Abstract: Detecting query reformulations within a session by a Web searcher is an important area of research for designing more helpful searching systems and targeting content to particular users. Methods explored by other researchers include both qualitative (i.e., the use of human judges to manually analyze query patterns on usually small samples) and nondeterministic algorithms, typically using large amounts of training data to predict query modification during sessions. In this article, we explore three alternative methods for detection of session boundaries. All three methods are computationally straightforward and therefore easily implemented for detection of session changes. We examine 2,465,145 interactions from 534,507 users of Dogpile.com on May 6, 2005. We compare session analysis using (a) Internet Protocol address and cookie; (b) Internet Protocol address, cookie, and a temporal limit on intrasession interactions; and (c) Internet Protocol address, cookie, and query reformulation patterns. Overall, our analysis shows that defining sessions by query reformulation along with Internet Protocol address and cookie provides the best measure, resulting in an 82% increase in the count of sessions. Regardless of the method used, the mean session length was fewer than three queries, and the mean session duration was less than 30 min. Searchers most often modified their query by changing query terms (nearly 23% of all query modifications) rather than adding or deleting terms. Implications are that for measuring searching traffic, unique sessions may be a better indicator than the common metric of unique visitors. This research also sheds light on the more complex aspects of Web searching involving query modifications and may lead to advances in searching tools.
TL;DR: It is shown that ontologies can be better understood if the authors classify the different uses of the term as it appears in the literature, and a differentiation between ontologies of information systems and ontologies for information systems is proposed.
Abstract: In philosophy, Ontology is the basic description of things in the world. In information science, an ontology refers to an engineering artifact, constituted by a specific vocabulary used to describe a certain reality. Ontologies have been proposed for validating both conceptual models and conceptual schemas; however, these roles are quite dissimilar. In this article, we show that ontologies can be better understood if we classify the different uses of the term as it appears in the literature. First, we explain Ontology (upper case O) as used in Philosophy. Then, we propose a differentiation between ontologies of information systems and ontologies for information systems. All three concepts have an important role in information science. We clarify the different meanings and uses of Ontology and ontologies through a comparison of research by Wand and Weber and by Guarino in ontology-driven information systems. The contributions of this article are twofold: (a) It provides a better understanding of what ontologies are, and (b) it explains the double role of ontologies in information science research.
TL;DR: The analysis of the literature produced by senior British-based academics in librarianship and information science for the years from 1992 to October 2005 found that Eugene Garfield, the founder of modern citation studies, has an even higher h-index than Peter Willett.
Abstract: The recently developed h-index has been applied to the literature produced by senior British-based academics in librarianship and information science. The majority of those evaluated currently hold senior positions in UK information science and librarianship departments; however, a small number of staff in other departments and retired "founding fathers" were analyzed as well. The analysis was carried out using the Web of Science (Thomson Scientific, Philadelphia, PA) for the years from 1992 to October 2005, and included both second-authored papers and self-citations. The top-ranking British information scientist, Peter Willett, has an h-index of 31. However, it was found that Eugene Garfield, the founder of modern citation studies, has an even higher h-index of 36. These results support other studies suggesting that the h-index is a useful tool in the armory of bibliometrics.