Search Engines and Alternative Data Sources in Webometric Research: An Exploratory Study

Samir Kumar Jalal; B. Sutradhar; Kalyan Sahu; Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay; Subal Chandra Biswas

doi:10.14429/djlit.35.6.8883

Samir Kumar Jalal Central Library, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
B. Sutradhar Central Library, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur-721 302
Kalyan Sahu Aricent, Infotech Centre, 14/2 Milestone, Old Gurgaon, Haryana-122 016
Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay University of Kalyani
Subal Chandra Biswas University of Burdwan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/djlit.35.6.8883

Keywords: Webometrics, alternate data sources, search engine, evaluation criteria, classification of backlinks

Abstract

Web contents are interlinked at each other through hyperlinks. Inter-linking nature of web explores significant sources of information. In the context of exploring hyper-linking behaviour of the web and retrieving relevant information, search engines and web crawlers play a predominant role as data sources but search engines had mostly withdrawn their supports after December 2011. An attempt has taken to evaluate search engines (Google, AoL, Bing, Yahoo!) using some criteria and found that AoL has the highest coverage among these search engines. The paper also identifies various alternative data sources to carry out webometric research. The finding of the study shows that majestic.com is a predominant and comprehensive data source among alternative data sources in webometric research.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.35.6.8883

Author Biographies

Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay, University of Kalyani

Associate Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal-741 235

Subal Chandra Biswas, University of Burdwan

Department of Library and Information Science, University of Burdwan, Rajbati, Burdwan, West Bengal-713 104