Persistence of information on the web: Analyzing citations contained in research articles

S. Lawrance, F. Coetzee, G. Flake, D. Pennock, B. Krovetz, Finn Årup Nielsen, A. Kruger, C. L. Gilles

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    We analyze the persistence of information on the web, looking at the percentage of invalid URLs contained in academic articles within the CiteSeer (ResearchIndex) database. The number of URLs contained in the papers has increased from an average of 0.06 in 1993 to 1.6 in 1999. We found that a significant percentage of URLs are now invalid, ranging from 23% for 1999 articles, to 53% for 1994. We also found that for almost all of the invalid URLs, it was possible to locate the information (or highly related information) in an alternate location, primarily with the use of search engines. However, the ability to relocate missing information varied according to search experience and effort expended. Citation practices suggest that more information may be lost in the future unless these practices are improved. We discuss persistent URL standards and their usage, and give recommendations for citing URLs in research articles as well as for finding the new location of invalid URLs.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCIKM 2000
    Publication date2000
    Publication statusPublished - 2000
    EventNinth International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management - McLean, United States
    Duration: 6 Nov 200011 Nov 2000

    Conference

    ConferenceNinth International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityMcLean
    Period06/11/200011/11/2000

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