**2. Webometrics methodology**

*Scientometrics Recent Advances*

websites.

of that time.

scientific space.

techniques.

to the web/web robots.

terminology [4]. The area of activity and what webometrics includes may, in a wider sense, be characterized as (a) website content analysis, (b) web technology analysis, (c) web usage analysis, and web link structure analysis. Researches in this field imply creation of new discoveries based on analyses of numbers and types of hyperlinks, structure of the World Wide Web, and patterns of usage of the web as a

Another definition of webometrics was given by *Mike Thelwall* in 2004, "… the study of web-based content with primarily quantitative methods for social science research goals using techniques that are not specific to one field of study," which underlines development of applied methods for usage in a wider scope of social sciences. The purpose of this alternative definition was not to replace the primary definition within Information Science [5] but to support publishing of appropriate

After these events, Ingwersen represented Web Impact Factor (WIF) [6] in 1998, which represented a key metrics to measure and analyze hyperlinks of

Namely, it was logical to assume that areas of great interest would attract more sequential links than average. The greatest advantage of WIF, in which logic was inherited from significance of quoting within an impact factor of a journal, was that it was easy to calculate with the application of advanced inquiries of a browser represented by AltaVista, a leading commercial search engine

However, usage of WIF measure was neglected after comprehensive analyses and obtained results, due to mathematical artifacts obtained from mathematical law, i.e., due to *power law distributions* of these variables. Other similar indicators which applied a size of an institution instead of a number of websites showed as

Subsequently, analyses of links were more directed toward analyses of influence of links and analyses of net connectedness of links, taking into consideration quantity of links as a reflection of productivity of researching within academic and

Webometrics gradually evolved and became a great coherent field within the Information Science, at least from bibliometric perspective [7, 8], including analyses of links, web quotations, and a range of other web-based quantitative

Hyperlinks on websites are structured similarly like quotations in academic (scientific) journals since they guide from a source document to the final document. Similarity of links and quotations, together with the fact that universities were among the first ones which massively started applying advantages of the web, resulted in the appearance of numerous important naturally imposed research objectives. Such sequence of events imposed the question whether it was possible to use hyperlinks in a similar way as academic quotations or quotes in journals and articles, the question of validity of usage of a number of links and data obtained by AltaVista browser in the research and the best way to count links [9]. Simultaneously with these analyses of links, other researchers from the field of Information Science researched reliability and coverage of an area of browsing by browsers and change in contents of the web itself or individual collections of websites [10]. These three types of researches related to measuring the web are all

Basically, WIF measure may be defined as a number of sites of a certain web host (website) or portals referred to by links from other websites or web hosts, divided with the number of shared/published websites on that web host which are available

mass communication medium and exchange of information.

methods out of the scope of the Information Science.

much more useful for the purpose of analyses.

**20**

together called webometrics.

Webometrics methodology includes analyses of links, analyses of web quotations, evaluations of results of browsing via web browsers, as well as some basic descriptive studies and analyses of the web [15].

The web is of great importance as a communication medium, i.e., a platform for placing and archiving a wide spectrum of documents. A significant number of repositories of various kinds of documents are related to the academic society, and therefore application of this methodology in general ranking of a current situation in the academic field is more significant. Because of this huge and easily accessible source of information, unlimited possibilities for measuring or counting contents of the web turned up in a wide range (e.g., a number of web hosts or a number of websites) or in a narrower range (e.g., a number of web locations in a state, a number of web pages on a website of a university).

Although the terms "Internet" and "web" are usually treated as synonyms, they are not the same. Namely, the "Internet" represents a global network of computers which can share information, while the term "web" specifically refers to a group of interrelated documents available for review and downloading using HTTP [14].

For an analysis of the system of ranking of universities, Webometrics Ranking, the most important parts of webometrics methodology would be link analysis and web browser analysis, i.e., a survey of ways in which relevant information that are used in the ranking process of universities according to the Webometrics ranking methodology may be obtained.
