Link Checking A Path to Quality Web Sites

Link Checking: A Path to Quality Web Sites Paul Barron pbarron@umw. edu 540 -286 -8025 Library Manager University of Mary Washington College of Graduate and Professional Studies Copyright © 2005 Paul Barron All Rights Reserved Copies may be made for educational use only.

Presentation Objectives n Demonstrate Link Checking n Text – Yahoo n Graphical – n Touchgraph Google Browser (Related Pages) n Ranking Thumbshots Link Checking 2

Presentation Objectives n Demonstate Link Checking’s Effectiveness as a: n n Search Technique n Tool to Evaluate Web Information Demonstrate Finding Animated Images with Picsearch. com Link Checking 3

Achieving the Objectives n Link Checking n Why am I doing this? n Review the research n Refining the link check with: n n n Boolean expressions Top Level Domain and Country Code Domain limiters Why not Google! Link Checking 4

The Web and Research “The Web moved from the periphery of a good researcher's awareness in 1998 to the very center of it in 2004. ” “The only certainty is that we're going to need help finding anything for a long time yet to come. ” Behind the Rise of Google Lies the Rise in Internet Credibility VERLYN KLINKENBORG The New York Times http: //www. nytimes. com/2004/02/07/opinion/27 FRI 4. html Link Checking 5

Size of the Surface Web “Our [IBM] research labs project that internet-accessible data is increasing at an annual rate of 300%". Doug Elix Senior Vice President and Group Executive for IBM Global Services http: //www. worldcongress 2002. org (Day 2) Number of Surface Web Documents http: //www. oclcpica. org/content/53/pdf/ 5 yearinformationformattrends. pdf 13 Billion Pages Added per Day to the Surface Web Cyveillance Web Study http: //www. cyveillance. com/web/us/corporate/white_papers. htm Link Checking 7. 3 Million 6

Link Checking – The Research “A Web page author links to the best and most popular pages within the same category. This creates a small Web between pages with similar topics. ” "Growing and Navigating the Small World Web by Local Content” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 2002 Filippo Menczer Link Checking 7

Links Analogous to Citations n n n Study - Examine links to researchoriented websites; determine if links are analogous to citations Results – In 57% of the links, the reason for linking was … to amplify the content of the source page Conclusion – Links to research-oriented sites are analogous to citations. Web Links as Analogues of Citations Information Research, Vol. 9 No. 4, July 2004 http: //informationr. net/ir/9 -4/paper 188. html#Kim Link Checking 8

The Power of Citation Linking “… [R]eferences cited by authors (which) have become the primary links in publishers' digital databases. The greatest advancements in linking have been the links to cited and citing references, the technical counterparts … of referring to other works. “Linking on Steroids” PÉTER JACSÓ Information Today Vol. 21 No. 7 — July/August 2004 Link Checking 9

Link Checking: Why do it? n Quality sites link to other quality sites. n Link popularity search engines n Effective search technique n Indication of web site credibility (Sometimes!) Link Checking 10

Link Checking Exercise http: //valley. vcdh. virginia. edu/ Link Checking 11

Query Standardization n Why? n n n “Standardization yields predictable results. ” Preparation for searching proprietary databases like Factiva How will queries be standardized? n Phrases are enclosed in “quotation marks. ” n UPPER CASE Boolean operator format n n Reinforce an understanding of their function as an operator Some search engines, like Exalead (http: //www. exalead. com) require UPPER CASE Link Checking 12

Query Standardization n How will queries be standardized? n n n Every segment of a query is joined by an operator. Complex Boolean expressions are nested; (enclosed within brackets). Example n link: http: //lii. org AND (phishing OR “identity theft”) AND site: org Link Checking 13

AND n AND – Both of the search terms are present in the Web documents. Link Checking 14

OR n OR – At least one of the search terms is present in the Web documents. Link Checking 15

AND NOT or NOT n AND NOT / NOT – Only one of the search terms is present in the Web documents. Link Checking 16

Top Level Domains (TLD) Purpose TLD Commercial . com Educational Government (State & Local) Government Military . edu. us. gov. mil. net. org Network Organization For TLD statistics, see The Verisign Domain Report, http: //www. verisign. com/nds/naming/domainbrief/ Link Checking 17

Top Level Domains (TLD) Purpose TLD Air-transport Industry . aero Businesses . biz Cooperatives . coop Unrestricted Use . info Museums . museum For Registration by Individuals . name Accountants, Lawyers, and Physicians . pro Link Checking 18

Country Top Level Domains Link Checking Canada France Germany . ca. fr. de Italy . it Japan . jp United Kingdom . uk 19

Country Codes http: //www. cia. gov/cia/publications/ factbook/appendix-d. html Link Checking 20

Yahoo Search Template http: //www. search. yahoo. com Link Checking 21

I want to use Google! Google is Gog! Link Checking 22

Link Check w/Boolean Expression NOTE Google’s link syntax does not mix (well) with other limiters. Link Checking 23

Simple Link Check NOTE The Yahoo link check syntax must include the http//. link: http: //valley. vcdh. virginia. edu Link Checking 24

Simple Link Check NOTE Among the first four results are. edu and. com sites. NOTE The George Mason University History Matters site is also on ALA’s 2004 list of Best Free Reference Web Sites. “Quality sites link to quality sites. ” Link Checking 25

Where is the link? Link Checking 26

Top Level Domain-limited Check NOTE Both the AND domain: and the AND site: syntax will work. link: http: //valley. vcdh. virginia. edu AND site: edu Link Checking 27

Top Level Domain-limited Check NOTE All of the results are. edu sites. QUESTION Is there a syntax that will exclude the virginia. edu sites from the results? Link Checking 28

Excluding Sites within a Domain link: http: //valley. vcdh. virginia. edu AND site: edu NOT site: virginia. edu Link Checking 29

Excluding Sites within a Domain NOTE The number of results dropped to 307 after excluding the virginia. edu sites. RECOMMENDATION If the site description has the words: links, references, resources, sites, webliography, or websites, review it! Link Checking 30

Link Check w/Boolean Expression QUESTION Why did this search fail; what did I forget? Link Checking 31

Link Check w/Boolean Expression link: http: //valley. vcdh. virginia. edu AND “lesson plans” Link Checking 32

Link Check w/Boolean Expression NOTE “lesson plans” is boldfaced KWIC; one site is from a k-12 school in … ? Link Checking 33

Complex Nested Check link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND (“u. s. history” AND “military history”) Link Checking 34

Complex Nested Check Link Checking 35

Complex (un)Nested Check link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND “u. s. history” OR “military history” Link Checking 36

Complex Nested Check link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND (“u. s. history” OR “military history”) Link Checking 37

Domain-limited Check w/Boolean Expression REMEMBER Both the AND domain: and the AND site: syntax will work. link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND “lesson plans” AND domain: edu Link Checking 38

Domain-limited Check w/Boolean Expression NOTE “lesson plans” is boldfaced KWIC in the. edu sites. NOTE Site descriptions state, “Best of History lesson plans and resources” and “TOP SOCIAL STUDIES SITES. ” Link Checking 39

Domain-limited Check w/Boolean Expression REMEMBER There are very good educational resources on. com sites. link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND “lesson plans” AND domain: com Link Checking 40

Domain-limited Check w/Boolean Expression http: //www. kn. pacbell. com/wired/bluewebn Link Checking 41

URL-limited Check w/Boolean Expression link: http: //valley. vcdh. edu AND “lesson plans” AND inurl: k 12 Link Checking 42

URL-limited Check w/Boolean Expression NOTE All the results are from k-12 schools. RECOMMENDATION When searching for material for a specific grade, use: “elementary school” or “middle school” or “high school” or “college prep. ” Link Checking 43

State-limited Check link: http: //www. kn. pacbell. com/wired/bluewebn AND ("teacher resources" AND "middle school") AND inurl: k 12. va Link Checking 44

State-limited Check Link Checking 45

Country-limited Link Check link: http: //www. kn. pacbell. com/wired/bluewebn AND site: uk NOTE Countries like Moldova sell the use of their top level domain. For instance, . md is purchased for medical-related sites. Link Checking 46

Country-limited Link Check NOTE In the UK, . ac =. edu. Link Checking 47

Academic Sites Around the World NOTE To locate other countries that use. ac for educational institutions, run the query: inurl: ac Link Checking 48

Graphical Display of Web Communities valley. vcdh. virginia. edu Enter the Web address without the http: //www. touchgraph. com/TGGoogle. Browser. html Link Checking 49

Touchgraph Display Touchgraph fuzzy clusters the results into web communities. Link Checking 50

Touchgraph Display – Site Info Link Checking 51

Loading Additional Sites NOTE Double click a site to retrieve surrounding links. will appear Loading indicating which links are being fetched. Link Checking 52

An Ocean of Information Link Checking 53

Information Evaluation “Our No. 1 story on the 'countdown' tonight: A five-year study just concluded at Indiana University suggesting that upon the birth of their first child, 100 percent of parents lose at least 12 IQ points, and the average loss is 20. The loss may not be reversible. It may be compounded for each child you have. “ MSNBC talk-show host Keith Olbermann's Sept. 7 Broadcast Link Checking 54

Source of the Information http: //www. hoosiergazette. com/ Link Checking 55

Hoosier. com Disclaimer “Hoosier Gazette articles are …fictitious or satirical [and] use invented names. [U]se of real names is accidental. The reader should suspend belief for the sake of enjoyment. ” Josh Whicker, a schoolteacher, makes mischief by writing bogus stories on the Hoosier Gazette. Link Checking 56

Verifying Site Credibility http: //www. gatt. org Link Checking 57

Verifying Site Credibility What domain-limited check might verify the real World Trade Organization site? http: //www. wto. org Link Checking 58

Verifying Site Credibility Link Checking 59

Verifying Site Credibility Link Checking 60

Search Engine Overlap “No search engine indexes more than about 16% of the web. ” Accessibility of Information on the Web STEVE LAWRENCE AND C. LEE GILES Nature 400, 107 (08 July 1999) Link Checking 61

Search Template http: //ranking. thumbshots. com/ Link Checking 62

Results Overlap (or Lack of …) Link Checking 63

picsearch Advanced Search http: //www. picsearch. com NOTE Animated images can ONLY found in Advanced Search. Click on the image. Link Checking 64

picsearch Returns NOTE Click on the “Image URL” to view only the animated image. REMINDER Let the image load completely so that you can see the animation. Copyright law applies! Link Checking 65

Let’s summarize! n Tell me again why I am doing link checks. n n Quality sites link to other quality sites. Sites link to amplify the content of the source page. Link checking is analogous to citation searching. Link checking may be an indication of website credibility. Link Checking 66

Summation n Evaluate, evaluate, and evaluate. n Bookmark, bookmark, and bookmark. n n Amazon’s A-9 (www. a 9. com) n Backflip (www. backflip. com) n FURL (www. furl. net) n Portaportal (www. portal. com) Collaborate, share, collaborate. Link Checking 67

For more information see … n “Link Checking — A Path to Quality Web Sites” n Multi. Media & Internet@Schools VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 January/February 2005, Page 12 Link Checking 68