Online Information Review

G.E. Gorman

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638043

Purpose – This issue aims to look into the subject of citation counts and whether they have an impact on the articles being cited. Design/methodology/approach – Uses Selgens list of citations that have been counted within such areas as: review articles, long articles, short publications and research fields as an example. Findings – Finds that citation counts and impact factors can be easily manipulated. Originality/value – Gives a strong view to a controversial subject.

Dave Oliver; Greg Whymark; Celia Romm

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638052

Purpose – This research seeks to investigate the introduction of new information and communication technology systems and to describe the development of a conceptual model of enterprise resource‐planning systems adoption based on the published rationales organizations use to justify their adoption. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a grounded theory approach to building the conceptual model from electronically distributed documents. These documents were selected from a sample of universities which adopted enterprise resource‐planning systems. Findings – This paper reports on the use of grounded theory in the internet context. The study found that there were strong similarities between justifications and reported motives. The study noted that justifications concerning financial, work‐life and organisational‐mission issues were relatively minor. Research limitations/implications – This model is built on published justifications, which should not be confused with motives. This picture may distort reality by over‐emphasising some rationales and under‐representing others. Practical implications – This paper may be of interest to researchers considering the use of grounded theory in their research project. Originality/value – This paper describes how grounded theory was used to construct a model of the rationales for adopting enterprise resource‐planning systems from electronically sourced documents. The paper is of interest to researchers in information systems and those conducting grounded theory research on the internet.

Ali Shiri; Keri Molberg

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638061

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation into the ways in which Canadian digital library collections have incorporated knowledge organization systems into their search interfaces. Design/methodology/approach – A combination of data‐gathering techniques was used. These were as follows: a review of the literature related to the application of knowledge organization systems, deep scanning of Canadian governmental and academic institutions web sites on the web, identify and contact researchers in the area of knowledge organization, and identify and contact people in the governmental organizations who are involved in knowledge organization and information management. Findings – A total of 33 digital collections were identified that have made use of some type of knowledge organization system. Thesauri, subject heading lists and classification schemes were the widely used knowledge organization systems in the surveyed Canadian digital library collections. Research limitations/implications – The target population for this research was limited to governmental and academic digital library collections. Practical implications – An evaluation of the knowledge organization systems interfaces showed that searching, browsing and navigation facilities as well as bilingual features call for improvements. Originality/value – This research contributes to the following areas: digital libraries, knowledge organization systems and services and search interface design.

Samuel Kai‐Wah Chu; Nancy Law

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638070

Purpose – This paper sets out to report on a study of 12 postgraduate research students' development of information search expertise. It focuses on students' perceived importance and growth of knowledge of different databases as they progress through their studies. Design/methodology/approach – Taking an in‐depth longitudinal approach, this study makes use of surveys, direct observations of students' searching of various databases, students' verbalization of their thoughts while searching databases and interviews during a one‐year period. The paper focuses on analyzing the data from surveying and interviewing the students with regard to their use of databases. Findings – It was found that many students were initially unfamiliar with many of the databases important to them and that the familiarity developed during the year contributed importantly to their development of information search expertise. This suggests that much work has to be done to inform and instruct students about these “treasures”. Research limitations/implications – This study adopted an in‐depth longitudinal approach to study 12 students. Although it reveals various interesting observations and findings, it lacks the power of generalization due to its small sample size. Based on the results of this study, it would be meaningful to carry out further studies with a bigger sample to see whether the findings identified in this study will still hold true. Originality/value – Based on the findings, this paper further identifies features that may increase the usefulness of a journal database and makes suggestions on ways to improve library support for the effective use of databases.

Rebecca H. Augustyniak; Dawn B. Aguero; Amy Finley

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638089

Purpose – This article is the second in a four‐part series that aims to illustrate the process involved in planning a portal and creating a portal definition document. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the academic and industry literature and using a case study, the authors share their experience in planning the Florida ExpertNet Research portal. Findings – Portal development is a complex and costly endeavour that requires meticulous planning and design. As with any system development initiative, the time and energy spent in the planning process is reflected in the success or failure of the end product. Content management is the keystone of a portal. The components of a portal CM strategy include the content inventory and analysis, content acquisition, access structures, classifying content, content life cycle, CM software, and metadata standards. Originality/value – This series will be useful to the information professional who is contemplating portal development and may be used as a model in developing a blueprint – the portal definition document. Whether the IP is considering doing development or outsourcing, it is important to understand the architectural requirements of a portal.

Seda Ozmutlu

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638098

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether question and keyword‐format queries are more successfully processed by search engines encouraging answers to searching and keyword‐format querying, respectively. This study aims to investigate whether web user characteristics and choice of search engine affects the relevancy scores and precision of the results. Design/methodology/approach – The results of two search engines, Google and AskJeeves, were compared for question and keyword‐format queries. It was observed that AskJeeves was slightly more successful in processing question‐format queries, but this finding was not statistically supported. However, Google provided results on keyword‐format queries and the entire set of queries, which were statistically superior to those of AskJeeves. Findings – Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the age of web user is not as affective on the relevancy score and precision of results as other factors. Interactions of the main factors were also affective on the relevancy scores and precision, meaning that the different combinations of various factors cause a synergy in terms of relevancy scores and precision. Research limitations/implications – This was a preliminary work on the effect of user characteristics on comprehension and evaluation of search query results. Future work includes expanding this study to include more web user characteristics, more levels of the web user characteristics, and inclusion of more search engines. Originality/value – The findings of this study provide statistical proof for the relationship between the characteristics of web users, choice of search engine and the relevancy scores and precision of search results.

Péter Jacsó

2005 Online Information Review

doi: 10.1108/14684520510638106

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to look into relevance ranking and its importance in trying to bring some order to the deluge of results in response to a query. Design/methodology/approach – A large‐scale analysis of detailed web logs of various search engines was performed. Sample tests were made on five to eight versions of MEDLINE, ERIC, and PsycINFO on hosts which have comparable versions of the databases and offer relevance ranking. Findings – It was found that, for fairness, it must be ensured that the implementations are identical, they have the same retrospective coverage, the same MEDLINE/PubMed subsets, and (quasi) identical update. Research limitations/implications – The tests were made early September 2005. As databases are updated at different times, perfect synchronicity is not easy to achieve. When new records are added to the database, they may change the ranking of the test result set. Similarly, a small change in the fine‐tuning of the algorithm may yield different rank order positions of the same record the next time. Originality/value – Brings together important research findings and suggests a topic for the next column.