Bibliometrics and the World-Wide Web
Overview
This paper explains bibliometrics as a standard method of information
analysis and applies it to developing and measuring information on the World-Wide
Web. As information on the Web increases toward entropy, we need to
apply theory from other disciplines (such as Information Studies) to develop
new methods, modeling techniques and metaphors to examine this emerging
complex network. I hope to show the relevance of using the operational
methods of bibliometrics to produce quantitative data and analysis to improve
information systems use.
The first section of this paper, Bibliometrics, introduce the standard
bibliometrics methods and their use followed by, Bibliometric Laws, which
introduces some constants to the bibliometric universe. The next part,
Applying Bibliometrics examines bibliometric applications for the World-Wide
Web. Finally, the last section, Designing for Metrics, overviews some
Web development techniques to enable bibliometric measurement. Also,
included is an extensive resource bibliography.
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