Link Checking: A Path to Quality Web Sites

Paul Barronpbarron@umw.edu

540-286-8025Library Manager

University of Mary WashingtonCollege of Graduate and Professional Studies

Copyright © 2005Paul Barron

All Rights ReservedCopies may be made for educational use only.

Link Checking 2

Presentation Objectives

Demonstrate Link Checking

Text – Yahoo

Graphical –

Touchgraph Google Browser (Related

Pages)

Ranking Thumbshots

Link Checking 3

Presentation Objectives

Demonstate Link Checking’s

Effectiveness as a:

Search Technique

Tool to Evaluate Web Information

Demonstrate Finding Animated Images with

Picsearch.com

Link Checking 4

Achieving the Objectives

Link Checking Why am I doing this? Review the research Refining the link check with:

Boolean expressions Top Level Domain and

Country Code Domain limiters

Why not Google!

Link Checking 5

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/27FRI4.html

Link Checking 6

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.worldcongress2002.org (Day 2)

Number of Surface Web Documentshttp://www.oclcpica.org/content/53/pdf/

5yearinformationformattrends.pdf13

BillionPages Added per Day to the Surface

WebCyveillance Web Study

http://www.cyveillance.com/web/us/corporate/white_papers.htm

7.3 Million

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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 2002Filippo Menczer

Link Checking 8

Links Analogous to Citations

Study - Examine links to research-oriented 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 CitationsInformation Research, Vol. 9 No. 4, July 2004

http://informationr.net/ir/9-4/paper188.html#Kim

Link Checking 9

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 TodayVol. 21 No. 7 — July/August 2004

Link Checking 10

Link Checking: Why do it?

Quality sites link to other quality

sites.

Link popularity search engines

Effective search technique

Indication of web site credibility

(Sometimes!)

Link Checking 11

Link Checking Exercise

http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu/

Link Checking 12

Query Standardization

Why? “Standardization yields predictable results.” Preparation for searching proprietary databases

like Factiva

How will queries be standardized? Phrases are enclosed in “quotation marks.” UPPER CASE Boolean operator format

Reinforce an understanding of their function as an operator

Some search engines, like Exalead (http://www.exalead.com) require UPPER CASE

Link Checking 13

Query Standardization

How will queries be standardized? Every segment of a query is joined

by an operator. Complex Boolean expressions are

nested; (enclosed within brackets). Example

link:http://lii.org AND (phishing OR “identity theft”) AND site:org

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AND

AND – Both of the search terms are present in the Web documents.

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OR

OR – At least one of the search terms is present in the Web documents.

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AND NOT or NOT

AND NOT / NOT – Only one of the search terms is present in the Web documents.

Link Checking 17

Top Level Domains (TLD)

Purpose TLD

Commercial .com Educational .edu

Government (State & Local) .usGovernment .gov

Military .milNetwork .net

Organization .orgFor TLD statistics, see The Verisign Domain Report, http://www.verisign.com/nds/naming/domainbrief/

Link Checking 18

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 19

Country Top Level Domains

Canada .ca

France .fr

Germany .de

Italy .it

Japan .jp

United Kingdom .uk

Link Checking 20

Country Codes

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/appendix/appendix-d.html

Link Checking 21

Yahoo Search Template

http://www.search.yahoo.com

Link Checking 22

I want to use Google! Google is Gog!

Link Checking 23

Link Check w/Boolean Expression

NOTE

Google’s link syntax does not mix (well) with other limiters.

Link Checking 24

Simple Link Check

NOTE

The Yahoo link check syntax must include the http//.

link:http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu

Link Checking 25

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 26

Where is the link?

Link Checking 27

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 28

Top Level Domain-limited Check

QUESTION

Is there a syntax that will exclude the virginia.edu

sites from the results?

NOTE

All of the results are .edu sites.

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Excluding Sites within a Domain

link:http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu

AND site:edu NOT site:virginia.edu

Link Checking 30

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 31

Link Check w/Boolean Expression

QUESTION

Why did this search fail; what did I

forget?

Link Checking 32

Link Check w/Boolean Expression

link:http://valley.vcdh.virginia.edu

AND “lesson plans”

Link Checking 33

Link Check w/Boolean Expression

NOTE

“lesson plans” is boldfaced KWIC; one site is from a

k-12 school in … ?

Link Checking 34

Complex Nested Check

link:http://valley.vcdh.edu AND

(“u.s. history” AND “military history”)

Link Checking 35

Complex Nested Check

Link Checking 36

Complex (un)Nested Check

link:http://valley.vcdh.edu AND “u.s. history” OR “military history”

Link Checking 37

Complex Nested Check

link:http://valley.vcdh.edu AND (“u.s. history” OR “military history”)

Link Checking 38

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 39

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 40

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 41

Domain-limited Check w/Boolean

Expression

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn

Link Checking 42

URL-limited Check w/Boolean Expression

link:http://valley.vcdh.edu AND “lesson plans” AND inurl:k12

Link Checking 43

URL-limited Check w/Boolean

Expression

RECOMMENDATION

When searching for material for a specific grade, use: “elementary

school” or “middle school” or “high school” or “college prep.”

NOTE

All the results are from k-12 schools.

Link Checking 44

State-limited Check

link:http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn AND ("teacher resources" AND

"middle school") AND inurl:k12.va

Link Checking 45

State-limited Check

Link Checking 46

Country-limited Link Check

NOTECountries like Moldova sell the use of their top level domain.

For instance, .md is purchased for medical-related sites.

link:http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn AND site:uk

Link Checking 47

Country-limited Link Check

NOTE

In the UK, .ac = .edu.

Link Checking 48

Academic Sites Around the

World

NOTE

To locate other countries that use .ac for educational institutions, run the query:

inurl:ac

Link Checking 49

Graphical Display of Web Communities

http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html

valley.vcdh.virginia.edu

Enter the Web address without the http://.

Link Checking 50

Touchgraph Display

Touchgraph fuzzy clusters the results into

web communities.

Touchgraph fuzzy clusters the results into

web communities.

Link Checking 51

Touchgraph Display – Site Info

Link Checking 52

Loading Additional Sites

NOTEDouble click a site to retrieve surrounding

links. will

appear indicating which links are being fetched.

NOTEDouble click a site to retrieve surrounding

links. will

appear indicating which links are being fetched.

Loading

Link Checking 53

An Ocean of Information

Link Checking 54

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 55

Source of the Information

http://www.hoosiergazette.com/

Link Checking 56

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 57

Verifying Site Credibility

http://www.gatt.org

Link Checking 58

Verifying Site Credibility

http://www.wto.org

What domain-limited check might verify the

real World Trade Organization site?

Link Checking 59

Verifying Site Credibility

Link Checking 60

Verifying Site Credibility

Link Checking 61

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 62

Search Template

http://ranking.thumbshots.com/

Link Checking 63

Results Overlap (or Lack of …)

Link Checking 64

picsearch Advanced Search

NOTE

Animated images can ONLY found in

Advanced Search.

NOTE

Animated images can ONLY found in

Advanced Search.

Click on the image.Click on the image.

http://www.picsearch.com

Link Checking 65

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!

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 66

Let’s summarize! Tell me again why I am doing link

checks. 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 67

Summation

Evaluate, evaluate, and evaluate. Bookmark, bookmark, and

bookmark. Amazon’s A-9 (www.a9.com) Backflip (www.backflip.com) FURL (www.furl.net) Portaportal (www.portaportal.com)

Collaborate, share, collaborate.

Link Checking 68

For more information see …

“Link Checking — A Path

to Quality Web Sites”

MultiMedia &

Internet@Schools

VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1

January/February 2005,

Page 12