Linking in e-journals : a case study

Prakasan, E. R. and Swarna, T. and Kalyane, V. L. and Vijai Kumar, * Linking in e-journals : a case study., 2001 . In IASLIC XXII National Conference on Content Management in India in Digital Environment, Thiruvananthapuram (India), 4-7 December 2001. [Conference paper]

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English abstract

Creating links to related materials enhances the utility of an e-document. Links give structure to the dynamic activity of browsing and also to the information being browsed. This paper has made an attempt to study the links in e-journal articles, which have been considered as e-documents in this study. The latest three complete volumes of the three e-journals: Information Research: An International Electronic Journal (IR), LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal (LIBRES), and Library Philosophy and Practice (LPP) have been studied for the accessibility, temporality and volatility of the e-resources that have been referenced in the 105 articles of the 9 volumes of these e-journals. Links to nodes within the next have also been studied for their functionality. It was found that there were dead links, incorrect links and links that did not point to the exact location in the node. Broadly, accessibility to e-resources accounted for 73.78% whereas 26.22% were inaccessible. The e-resources that have been referenced in these articles have been categorized according to their contents. E-references included a plethora of e-resources: the major categories being web pages (32.32%), home pages (24.39%), personal papers (14.63%), e-journal articles (10.06%), documents (5.18%), and reports (4.88%). The other categories (8.54%) included catalogue, e-book, e-mails, e-zine, encyclopaedia, exhibits, FAQs, help page, listservs, local files, newsletters, news service, press release, and syllabus. E-documents are unstable since their creators can easily update, change, or even move their contents. Links to such sources are always volatile. But with the collaborative effort of the authors, editors, publishers, and interface designers the links can be kept alive and up-to-date. Efforts should also be made to create error free links so as to avoid dead links and incorrect links.

Item type:	Conference paper
Keywords:	Hyperlinks, Temporality, Volatility, E-Resources, E-Documents, E-Journals, E-References
Subjects:	B. Information use and sociology of information > BH. Information needs and information requirements analysis. B. Information use and sociology of information > BI. User interfaces, usability. B. Information use and sociology of information > BA. Use and impact of information. B. Information use and sociology of information > BG. Information dissemination and diffusion.
Depositing user:	* Lalit Mohan
Date deposited:	28 Jan 2005
Last modified:	02 Oct 2014 12:00
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10760/5872

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