Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Bibliometrics, webometrics and web metrics
- 3 Data collection tools
- 4 Evaluating impact on the web
- 5 Evaluating social media impact
- 6 Investigating relationships between actors
- 7 Exploring traditional publications in a new environment
- 8 Web metrics and the web of data
- 9 The future of web metrics and the library and information professional
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - Bibliometrics, webometrics and web metrics
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Bibliometrics, webometrics and web metrics
- 3 Data collection tools
- 4 Evaluating impact on the web
- 5 Evaluating social media impact
- 6 Investigating relationships between actors
- 7 Exploring traditional publications in a new environment
- 8 Web metrics and the web of data
- 9 The future of web metrics and the library and information professional
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Web metrics for librarians combine tools and methodologies from the information science community with the goals and applications of the marketing community.
The first part of this chapter explores the relationship between web metrics and associated terms from the information science community (e.g., bibliometrics, scientometrics and webometrics), as well as its relationship with web analytics from the marketing community. Within these different areas web metric investigations may be broadly categorized as either relational or evaluative. The second part of the chapter looks more closely at the theoretical basis and practical investigations that can be considered under these headings, and how such investigations may be applied by librarians. The final part of the chapter considers the validation of web metric findings.
Web metrics
The term ‘web metrics’ is used throughout this book to refer to the quantitative measurement of the creation and use of web content. It has been adopted as a broad term, inclusive of the many different uses to which web metrics have been put and for which varying terminology has emerged over the years. In the style of Björneborn and Ingwersen's (2004) diagram of the metric terminology, Figure 2.1 (overleaf) shows the overlapping scope of the different metric terminology used within this book, with web metrics, the shaded area in the diagram, comprising web bibliometrics, web scientometrics, altmetrics, webometrics and web analytics. The sizes of the ellipses are not indicative of the size of the research areas, but rather are for the purpose of clarity. Each of the areas that form web metrics is discussed in more detail below.
Information science metrics
Information science has coined a number of ‘metric’ neologisms over the years. Some have become widely adopted (e.g., bibliometrics), some have been short lived (e.g., internetometrics), and some remain extremely niche areas of investigation (e.g., discometrics). It is important to define the terminology clearly so researchers can be understood by one another and science policy makers (Lazarev, 1996). It is through the overlapping of the associated metric terms that we can understand how the different areas contribute to web metrics and the potential of web metrics to contribute to a librarian's professional activities.
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- Web Metrics for Library and Information Professionals , pp. 15 - 40Publisher: FacetPrint publication year: 2014