WEBOMETRICS RESEARCH METHODS ADOPTED IN LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract At the moment, the technologies and applications have made the internet an important medium of communication and information dissemination. It provides a much enhanced interface between the user and information. The web set the foundation for global communication of computer users. Increasing the importance of web is clearly seen in the form of references or citations in the present day publications. Studies of the Web have been named webometrics or cybermetrics as in the electronic journal of that name. The web in particular has made all kinds of information easier to access and has encouraged people to make information publically available that they previously would not have thought to do. It was a huge advantage for researchers and students because the information needed to study a phenomenon might be freely available online, saving time in the data collection phase of a project and making larger scale studies possible.webometrics research is having some impact in other disciplines in the sense of attracting citations. These include the cognate disciplines of computer science, Sociology, Physics and Complex science. For some years bibliometric studies have identified webometrics as one of the largest information science fields. Nevertheless, most published webometrics research is relatively theoretical and, as a new research field, seems unlikely to survive unless it is useful in some way. In general it is very important for academics to identify hot research topics and avoid unpromising ones and so methods are needed to help this identification process. Moreover, there is a significant amount of citation of webometrics research by disciplines outside information science, including computing, sociology, physics and complex science. Nevertheless, it seems that the potential user base for current webometric techniques is wider still, creating a need for awareness-raising