Set Of Web Pages Research Articles

Finding similar academic Web sites with links, bibliometric couplings and colinks

A common task in both Webmetrics and Web information retrieval is to identify a set of Web pages or sites that are similar in content. In this paper we assess the extent to which links, colinks and couplings can be used to identify similar Web sites. As an experiment, a random sample of 500 pairs of domains from the UK academic Web were taken and human assessments of site similarity, based upon content type, were compared against ratings for the three concepts. The results show that using a combination of all three gives the highest probability of identifying similar sites, but surprisingly this was only a marginal improvement over using links alone. Another unexpected result was that high values for either colink counts or couplings were associated with only a small increased likelihood of similarity. The principal advantage of using couplings and colinks was found to be greater coverage in terms of a much larger number of pairs of sites being connected by these measures, instead of increased probability of similarity. In information retrieval terminology, this is improved recall rather than improved precision.

New measurements for search engine evaluation proposed and tested

A set of measurements is proposed for evaluating Web search engine performance. Some measurements are adapted from the concepts of recall and precision, which are commonly used in evaluating traditional information retrieval systems. Others are newly developed to evaluate search engine stability, an issue unique to Web information retrieval systems. An experiment was conducted to test these new measurements by applying them to a performance comparison of three commercial search engines: Google, AltaVista, and Teoma. Twenty-four subjects ranked four sets of Web pages and their rankings were used as benchmarks against which to compare search engine performance. Results show that the proposed measurements are able to distinguish search engine performance very well.

Incremental PageRanking for Newly Crawled Web Pages

The massive and heterogeneous Web exacerbates IR problems and short user queries make them worse. The contents of web pages are not enough to find target pages. PageRank compensates for the insufficiencies of content information. The content information and PageRank are combined to get better results. To get up-to-date results in the dynamic environment of the Web, an index database must be updated continuously. Since PageRank deals with the full link structure of the web pages, this task is time consuming and expensive. In this paper, an incremental PageRanking scheme is proposed. This scheme assigns PageRanks to newly crawled web pages based on their structure, not on the full link structure of the total web pages. This approach avoids the expensive task of updating the link structure of web pages when changes occur. The basic assumption here is that the existing set of web pages is sufficiently large so that the newly crawled pages do not make any big changes to it. PageRanks of the previous pages are propagated using the links of the current pages. The proposed incremental PageRanking has been tested for various crawling methods. Test results indicate that crawling by the order of the PageRank achieves the best result.

Axiope Tools for Data Management and Data Sharing

Many areas of biological research generate large volumes of very diverse data. Managing this data can be a difficult and time-consuming process, particularly in an academic environment where there are very limited resources for IT support staff such as database administrators. The most economical and efficient solutions are those that enable scientists with minimal IT expertise to control and operate their own desktop systems. Axiope provides one such solution, Catalyzer, which acts as flexible cataloging system for creating structured records describing digital resources. The user is able specify both the content and structure of the information included in the catalog. Information and resources can be shared by a variety of means, including automatically generated sets of web pages. Federation and integration of this information, where needed, is handled by Axiope's Mercat server. Where there is a need for standardization or compatibility of the structures usedby different researchers this canbe achieved later by applying user-defined mappings in Mercat. In this way, large-scale data sharing can be achieved without imposing unnecessary constraints or interfering with the way in which individual scientists choose to record and catalog their work. We summarize the key technical issues involved in scientific data management and data sharing, describe the main features and functionality of Axiope Catalyzer and Axiope Mercat, and discuss future directions and requirements for an information infrastructure to support large-scale data sharing and scientific collaboration.

Inferring identity from user behaviour

Biometrics using inherited characteristics are frequently used in security systems. An alternative metric is user behaviour. Examples of user behaviour are the set of web pages accessed over a number of Internet sessions, or, the set of television programmes viewed by an individual over a number of days. A mathematical framework is developed which enables simple and robust identification algorithms based on this kind of user behaviour to be presented. Experimental results are based on a database of 33 users' television viewing habits. The use of these algorithms to this domain is not intended as a real application, but rather as an illustration of the power of the techniques. Practical applications would include user authentication for fraud prevention and preference prediction on the Internet. The user discrimination performance using the TV viewing database is modest, an equal error rate of about 18%. However, it is reasonable to suppose that the discrimination given by this technique would be orthogonal to those of other biometrics and so could provide a useful improvement in performance in a system combining the two.

Hyperlink ensembles: a case study in hypertext classification

Abstract In this paper, we introduce hyperlink ensembles, a novel type of ensemble classifier for classifying hypertext documents. Instead of using the text on a page for deriving features that can be used for training a classifier, we suggest to use portions of texts from all pages that point to the target page. A hyperlink ensemble is formed by obtaining one prediction for each hyperlink that points to a page. These individual predictions for each hyperlink are subsequently combined to a final prediction for the class of the target page. We explore four different ways of combining the individual predictions and four different techniques for identifying relevant text portions. The utility of our approach is demonstrated on a set of Web-pages that relate to Computer Science Departments.

Rapid display of Web content: a simple method for prefetching Web files

Increasing the speed of access to Web sites, whose presentation relies more and more on sophisticated graphics and multimedia, is very desirable from the point of view of the home user connected via a voice-band modem and the emerging wireless subscriber market. More sophisticated modulation techniques, combined with better data compression, provide additional bandwidth at the expense of greater complexity. One often overlooked approach, which can provide almost zero latency, is that of prefetching (or 'preloading') content ahead of its actual use. In certain application environments, where the user is likely to progress sequentially through the available material, prefetching graphics or text is a viable option. Obviously, this is undesirable. This article presents a simple approach to incorporating prefetching in a set of Web pages, which requires only minimal modification to the source HTML files. It does not require the client to load additional software or indeed even to be aware that prefetching is taking place.

An introduction to bioinformatics.

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how to obtain information on DNA and protein sequences from databases. This is most conveniently achieved using a Web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer). This chapter is loosely based on a course given by the author at the University of Hertfordshire from a set of Web pages that facilitate Internet navigation by using hyperlinks and allow sequences to be copied from the Web page and pasted into the relevant search engine. (The online version of this information can be found at http://www.herts.ac.uk/natsci/Bio/informatics.htm..)Many simple queries about protein and DNA sequences can now be answered using a Web browser. The purpose of this chapter is to give you a flavor of the sorts of things which are now possible, but first it is necessary to explain some of the jargon. If you know all about the World Wide Web (WWW or “the Web”), URLs, and hyperlinks then you can bypass the introductory information.

Differentiated Information Presentations for Heterogeneous I/O Devices using a Single Mark-up Language Approach

The demand for a faster, more efficient and more convenient way for accessing the WWW is urgently required with the growing use of the Internet. Thus, even for many non-computer devices, such as telephones, fax machines and hand-held devices, there have been added some new networking features and corresponding new applications created. Different I/O devices have different characteristics and browsing behaviors. To provide a versatile service to different I/O devices with different quality of information, we propose a mark-up language called the Quality of Information Mark-up Language (QIML( and corresponding browsing systems in this paper. With QIML, a page designer can describe a different quality of information for presentations to different I/O devices using a single Web page set. The language structure, system architecture and system development are presented in the paper.

Web page change and persistence—A four‐year longitudinal study

AbstractChanges in the topography of the Web can be expressed in at least four ways: (1) more sites on more servers in more places, (2) more pages and objects added to existing sites and pages, (3) changes in traffic, and (4) modifications to existing text, graphic, and other Web objects. This article does not address the first three factors (more sites, more pages, more traffic) in the growth of the Web. It focuses instead on changes to an existing set of Web documents. The article documents changes to an aging set of Web pages, first identified and “collected” in December 1996 and followed weekly thereafter. Results are reported through February 2001. The article addresses two related phenomena: (1) the life cycle of Web objects, and (2) changes to Web objects. These data reaffirm that the half‐life of a Web page is approximately 2years. There is variation among Web pages by top‐level domain and by page type (navigation, content). Web page content appears to stabilize over time; aging pages change less often than once they did.

Changes in metatag descriptions over time

Four sets of Web pages previously visited in the summer of 2000 were revisited one year later. Of 707 pages containing metatag descriptions in 2000, 586 retained descriptions in 2001, and, of 1,230 pages lacking descriptions in 2000, 101 had descriptions in 2001. Home pages appeared to both lose and change descriptions more than other pages, with about 19% of descriptions changed in the two sets where home pages predominated versus about 12% in the other two sets. About two-thirds of changes involved minor revisions, and changes fell into a wide variety of categories. Some implications for software to assist in description revision are discussed.

Iterative radial basis functions neural networks as metamodels of stochastic simulations of the quality of search engines in the World Wide Web

Stochastic simulation has been very effective in many domains but never applied to the WWW. This study is a premiere in using neural networks in stochastic simulation of the number of rejected Web pages per search query. The evaluation of the quality of search engines should involve not only the resulting set of Web pages but also an estimate of the rejected set of Web pages. The iterative radial basis functions (RBF) neural network developed by Meghabghab and Nasr [Iterative RBF neural networks as meta-models for stochastic simulations, in: Second International Conference on Intelligent Processing and Manufacturing of Materials, IPMM’99, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1999, pp. 729–734] was adapted to the actual evaluation of the number of rejected Web pages on four search engines, i.e., Yahoo, Alta Vista, Google, and Northern Light. Nine input variables were selected for the simulation: (1) precision, (2) overlap, (3) response time, (4) coverage, (5) update frequency, (6) boolean logic, (7) truncation, (8) word and multi-word searching, (9) portion of the Web pages indexed. Typical stochastic simulation meta-modeling uses regression models in response surface methods. RBF becomes a natural target for such an attempt because they use a family of surfaces each of which naturally divides an input space into two regions X+ and X− and the n patterns for testing will be assigned either class X+ or X−. This technique divides the resulting set of responses to a query into accepted and rejected Web pages. To test the hypothesis that the evaluation of any search engine query should involve an estimate of the number of rejected Web pages as part of the evaluation, RBF meta-model was trained on 937 examples from a set of 9000 different simulation runs on the nine different input variables. Results show that two of the variables can be eliminated which include: response time and portion of the Web indexed without affecting evaluation results. Results show that the number of rejected Web pages for a specific set of search queries on these four engines very high. Also a goodness measure of a search engine for a given set of queries can be designed which is a function of the coverage of the search engine and the normalized age of a new document in result set for the query. This study concludes that unless search engine designers address the issue of rejected Web pages, indexing, and crawling, the usage of the Web as a research tool for academic and educational purposes will stay hindered.

Electronic peer review and peer grading in computer-science courses

We have implemented a peer-grading system for review of student assignments over the World-Wide Web and used it in approximately eight computer-science courses. Students prepare their assignments and submit them to our Peer Grader (PG) system. Other students are then assigned to review and grade the assignments. The system allows authors and reviewers to communicate with authors being able to update their submissions. Unique features of our approach include the ability to submit arbitrary sets of Web pages for review, and mechanisms for encouraging careful review of submissions. We have used the system to produce high-quality compilations of student work. Our assignment cycle consists of six phases, from signing up for an assignment to Web publishing of the final result. Based upon our experience with PG, we offer suggestions for improving the system to make it more easily usable by students at all levels.

An empirical comparison of visualization tools to assist information retrieval on the web

AbstractVisualizations of subspaces on the World Wide Web can provide users the ability to identify relevant information from a set of Web pages, while gaining new insights or understanding of the space. This study tested three classes of visualization techniques, distortion, zoom, and expanding outline, to better understand which classes of visualization techniques may better represent the underlying structure. The effects of different visualization techniques on user performance on information searching tasks and the effects of different sizes of the Web spaces were studied. Eighty participants were asked to search information with and without a visualization tool over the large Web space. The factors that may have caused cognitive overloads are further discussed.

An empirical comparison of visualization tools to assist information retrieval on the web

Visualizations of subspaces on the World Wide Web can provide users the ability to identify relevant information from a set of Web pages, while gaining new insights or understanding of the space. This study tested three classes of visualization techniques, distortion, zoom, and expanding outline, to better understand which classes of visualization techniques may better represent the underlying structure. The effects of different visualization techniques on user performance on information searching tasks and the effects of different sizes of the Web spaces were studied. Eighty participants were asked to search information with and without a visualization tool over the large Web space. The factors that may have caused cognitive overloads are further discussed.

An industry foundation classes Web-based collaborative construction computer environment: WISPER

Collaborative working in construction is becoming a reality as many activities are performed globally with actors based in various geographical locations. This paper discusses the development and implementation of a collaborative working environment for construction at the University of Salford which is known as Web-based IFC Shared Project EnviRonment (WISPER). The environment is based on a three tier architecture, where user interfaces, business logic and database are kept separate. A Web and Industry Foundation Classes-based (IFC-based) distributed computer integrated environment has been developed. This environment supports design (CAD), visualisation (VR and Drawing Web Format — DWF), estimating, planning, specifications and supplier information. WISPER enables project information to be exchanged through a STEP Part 21 file and shared through the IFC database. Meanwhile, a set of Web pages allows for remote interaction, as well as access to and the distribution of applications. This provides great flexibility and portability, thereby enabling construction professionals to contribute as well as to perform and manage their own activities.

BRINGING THE WORLD WIDE WEB TO AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS BASED ON THE JAVA ENVIRONMENT

In the recent past, the distance between the sensing and processing points imposed critical constraints on the application of most PC-based data acquisition and control systems. Nowadays, it is possible to access the control systems installed in remote sites over the Internet. The World Wide Web has revolutionised the Internet by providing a medium for the dissemination of information, and the use of this technology can have a great impact on Agricultural Systems as well. These technologies allow almost any PC with a browser and a communication link to the Greenhouses to be used as an operator workstation, which gives benefits to the users who need remote access to greenhouses. Besides this, modern systems for agricultural applications are based on interconnection and integration of several Local Area Network (LAN) technologies combining data connectivity with user mobility. With a browser, the user is able to download a set of web pages, review information about the status of the system in real time, by running Java Applets, and display it in a browser window. Also, in this way it is possible to remotely configure any network node.

Searching for experts on the Internet

The authors describe a new method of identifying experts in a specific domain using New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT). This method uses the technology of certain intelligent agents capable of running through a set of Web pages, starting from an initial page and collecting the e-mail addresses indicated therein. The authors explain the method they used to set up a contacts database from these elements. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Finding related pages in the World Wide Web

When using traditional search engines, users have to formulate queries to describe their information need. This paper discusses a different approach to Web searching where the input to the search process is not a set of query terms, but instead is the URL of a page, and the output is a set of related Web pages. A related Web page is one that addresses the same topic as the original page. For example, www.washingtonpost.com is a page related to www.nytimes.com, since both are online newspapers. We describe two algorithms to identify related Web pages. These algorithms use only the connectivity information in the Web (i.e., the links between pages) and not the content of pages or usage information. We have implemented both algorithms and measured their runtime performance. To evaluate the effectiveness of our algorithms, we performed a user study comparing our algorithms with Netscape's `What's Related' service ( http://home.netscape.com/escapes/related/). Our study showed that the precision at 10 for our two algorithms are 73% better and 51% better than that of Netscape, despite the fact that Netscape uses both content and usage pattern information in addition to connectivity information.

Trawling the Web for emerging cyber-communities

The Web harbors a large number of communities — groups of content-creators sharing a common interest — each of which manifests itself as a set of interlinked Web pages. Newgroups and commercial Web directories together contain of the order of 20,000 such communities; our particular interest here is on emerging communities — those that have little or no representation in such fora. The subject of this paper is the systematic enumeration of over 100,000 such emerging communities from a Web crawl: we call our process trawling. We motivate a graph-theoretic approach to locating such communities, and describe the algorithms, and the algorithmic engineering necessary to find structures that subscribe to this notion, the challenges in handling such a huge data set, and the results of our experiment.