Analysis links the National Library Web world

Document Type : پژوهشی

Authors

• MOHSEN HAJI ZEINOLABEDINI‎
• LEILA MAKTABIFARD
• FARIDEH OSAREH

10.22067/fe.v7i1.1836

Abstract

This article aimed to study National Library Websites (NLW) using webometric methods. The in-links and co-links to national library websites were analyzed to study: firstly, the visibility of these National libraries on the web. Secondly, the collaboration on national and international level amongst the studied national library websites. This study found that according to the in-link count of 38 national library websites, 3 were extremely popular and we can call them the most visible national library websites as they come below:
1. United States of America (http://www.loc.gov)
2. Australia (http://www.nla.gov.au)
3. United Kingdom (http://www.bl.uk)
The results of the study also showed that, there were 5 clusters (2 cross continental and 3 international) in the studied national library websites. On the other hand, the multidimensional scaling map showed 7 major collaboration clusters: 2 cross national (both European) and 5 international (European, Asian, American, Australian). African national library websites were not seen in these clusters. It means that, African national libraries have a little collaboration with others through their websites. An interpretation on causes for collaborations between these national library websites are provided in this study. Webometrics offers an evaluation measurement that is not available in bibliometrics when an institution is the analytical unit. Nevertheless, webometric research must be conducted with caution because both the data source (i.e., web-based data) and data collection instrument (i.e., web search engines) have obvious deficiencies.

Keywords: National libraries; Webometrics; Impact factor; Websites visibility; Scholary communication; Selflink; Inlink; Co-link; Links; Websites ranking

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