Abstract

The concept of "big data" is explained as a system of analyzing large amounts of data to discover trends, patterns, correlations and even causality to generate predictions. This discipline can be adapted to the context of the daily work of the information professional dealing with "small data" and web analytics. Examples are provided of tools that support the management and analysis of huge amounts of publicly available data.

Abstract

The origins, disciplinary relationships and main applications of cybermetrics and webometrics are explained, in order to proceed to a discussion of the current situation regarding the methods used for extracting web information and indicators from publicly available sources. We performed a comparative analysis of three techniques to measure the prestige, impact or visibility of academic institutions, including: 1) the survey, limited by its subjectivity and small sample sizes, 2) citation analysis, also hampered by small populations but which offers more reliability because it relies on peer opinions, and 3) link analysis. Link analysis is considered the cornerstone of webometrics and the large numbers involved is to be appreciated. It can identify patterns despite being the method that is most “noisy” because of the richness and diversity of motivations for linking. The unfortunate demise of Yahoo Site Explorer, the main source of information on links, is reported and its absence will force a rethinking of the techniques and a search for alternative sources of this valuable type of data. Some alternatives are studied, including the use of mentions such as titles, names of institutions or individuals and so-called reference or quote URLs, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. It is noted that this new approach is especially useful for web 2.0 tools.

Abstract

In the 2012 edition of the Ranking web of world universities there has been a major change in methodology, forced by changes in the source for obtaining external links to university websites. Following the closure of Yahoo site explorer, the new tool currently in use is MajesticSEO. The main services and products that offer data links and their suitability for use in cybermetric analysis are discussed. We conclude that there is a need for tools created specifically for cybermetric analysis, given the evolution of search engines and the limitations of other products aimed mainly at search engine optimization rather than at informetric analysis.

Abstract

The analysis of web usage information is an important cybermetric tool for describing the visits and visitors to a website, and their navigation behaviour, which can help in designing the structure and contents of the webpages. The paper describes the main concepts (log file, session, user) and introduces both manual and automated techniques to study the log files. Finally, the counters and trackers are described, paying special attention to the statistics offered by two systems: Google Analytics and StatCounter.

Abstract

One of the most popular services in web 2.0 is the social promotion of news. Digg and Menéame –the second one in Spain and Latin America–, are very well known. Using Menéame open code, a team of information professionals created DocuMenea with the same characteristics but limited to Library and Information Science. This paper presents an evaluation of this service from its creation in November 2006 to December 2008. The results show that 2,166 news items were sent and 1,610 were published. The service has 582 users, with unequal participation because 74% of them never had sent any news and 91% did not vote on any occasion. Four thematic areas were identified: Google, libraries, social networking / Web 2.0, and the book. Finally, sources in which the top three positions were occupied by daily general interest newspapers were ranked as the most important to DocuMenea.

Abstract

Several indicators of production and participation in Spanish library and information science blogs are analysed, based on a sample of 46 personal and corporate weblogs. The 12 blogs with the highest number of incoming links logged more than 70% of the total number of links received by the whole group. Our results detect an important decline in production during the study period, keeping constant the comments-per-post indicator. More than 50% of comments are written by the library blog authors and 4 blogs show higher than average indicators of production and participation: Deakialli, Catorze, Documentalista enredado and Véase además.

Abstract

A tour is provided of the features, possibilities, scientific, technical and technologies that are collected under the interdisciplinary umbrella of big data and web analytics from the point of view of its application in practice. A reflection is offered about the challenges, risks and problems that the tools and data cannot resolve on their own, as well as the contexts in which these data processing techniques are useful for decision making.

Abstract

The web is central to the work and social lives of a substantial fraction of the world’s population, but the role of popular websites may not always be subject to academic scrutiny. This is a concern if social scientists are unable to understand an aspect of users’ daily lives because one or more major websites have been ignored. To test whether popular websites may be ignored in academia, this article assesses the volume and citation impact of research mentioning any of twenty major websites. The results are consistent with the user geographic base affecting research interest and citation impact. In addition, site affordances that are useful for research also influence academic interest. Because of the latter factor, however, it is not possible to estimate the extent of academic knowledge about a site from the number of publications that mention it. Nevertheless, the virtual absence of international research about some globally important Chinese and Russian websites is a serious limitation for those seeking to understand reasons for their web success, the markets they serve or the users that spend time on them. The sites investigated were Google, YouTube, Facebook, Baidu, Wikipedia, QQ, Tmall, Taobao, Yahoo, Amazon, Twitter, Sohu, Live, VK, JD, Instagram, Sina, Weibo, Yandex, and 360.