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Social Network Tools for the Assessment of the University Web Performance

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Book cover Social Media Tools and Platforms in Learning Environments

Abstract

This chapter introduces Webometrics as an emerging discipline focused on the understanding and assessment of the flow of Web based academic information. It describes the principal web-based techniques and tools used to evaluate the performance of higher education websites and to explain how these information networks are created and modelled. The chapter begins with an introduction to Webometrics: its origin and evolution, its theoretical framework and its relationship with other web disciplines. The principal indicators and measures used to quantify the development of several web units (web domains, sites and pages) are described. Emphasis is placed on the properties of social-network measures in order to describe the visibility of a web site and to characterise the structure of a web space. Major developments, such as the Ranking of World universities on the Web and visualisations of web regions, are considered. Finally, there is a discussion about the implications of this discipline on the improvement of web performance and visibility of the university institutions on the Web and its impact on the development of the higher education web-based policies according to open access and e-learning initiatives.

Webometrics: a discipline devoted to the quantification of the performance of the Web

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&D Unit, VICYT, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    José Luis Ortega

  2. Cybermetrics Lab, CCHS-CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    Isidro F. Aguillo

Authors
  1. José Luis Ortega
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  2. Isidro F. Aguillo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Luis Ortega .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Scientific Computing and Computing Services, 20450, MailStop 97, Stanford, CA, 94309, USA

    Bebo White

  2. Dept. Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR

    Irwin King

  3. AT&T Labs Research, 201 Mission St. Ste 200, San Francisco, CA, 94105-1831, USA

    Irwin King

  4. Caritas Institute of Higher Education Center of Excellence, Chui Ling Road 18, Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong SAR

    Philip Tsang

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Ortega, J.L., Aguillo, I.F. (2011). Social Network Tools for the Assessment of the University Web Performance. In: White, B., King, I., Tsang, P. (eds) Social Media Tools and Platforms in Learning Environments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20392-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20392-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-20391-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-20392-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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