The Half-Life of Internet References Cited in Communication Journals    

This exploratory study examines the use of online citations, focusing on five leading journals in journalism and communication. It analyzes 1126 URL reference addresses in citations of articles published between 2000 and 2003. The results show that only 61 percent of the online citations remain accessible in 2004 and 39 percent do not. The content analysis also shows that .org and .gov are the most stable domains. Error messages for 'dead' URL addresses are explored. The instability of online citations raises concerns for researchers, editors and associations.

Dimitrova, Daniela V. and Michael Bugeja. New Media and Society (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online

Has Google Taken Away Your Right to Vote?

Google, the first search engine to factor link structures into their algorithm, is readjusting the value of some of the links and this is making life difficult for some websites.

Angeletti, Mark. Search-This (2005). Design>Web Design>Search

High Accessibility Is Effective Search Engine Optimization

It’s no coincidence that search engines love highly accessible websites; in fact, by designing for accessibility, you’re already using effective search-engine optimization techniques. Andy Hagans explains yet another reason to pay attention to accessibility.

Hagans, Andy. List Apart, A (2005). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Search

The High Cost of Not Finding Information  

In an increasingly information-based world, we turn out complex products that are less tangible than they are knowledge-based. The very complexity of the decisions we make and the products we manufacture makes it impossible to check, test and retest them adequately enough to be sure that they will function properly in any circumstance. Information disasters are a growing threat, and one that few businesses can ignore.

Feldman, Susan. KMworld (2004). Articles>Knowledge Management>Information Design>Search

Hiring a Search Engine Marketing Company

You want to achieve a high search enigne ranking so you're thinking about getting some outside help. Selecting a search engine marketing company can be a daunting task so read through these essential guidelines to find out what you should be looking for.

Claiborne, Scottie. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Home Stayers And Trench Diggers

This paper offers some observations on the ways 9 to 12 year children search for information on websites and how this may differ from the search behaviour of adults.

Hudson, Roger. Usability.com.au (2002). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Search

How Academic Organizational Systems and Culture Undermine Scholarship and Quality Research: A Response to Ron Dulek    

I now believe that the architects of a university's systems have extraordinary power and leverage to shape academic life in ways faculty often are only dimly aware of. Finally, we can help change the talk or narrative in our organizations about publications and reshape it to discussions about rewarding a blend of scholarship, research, publication, teaching, and service. Changing organizational talk is extremely difficult. Determining leverage points or openings for new language is hard to determine. Also, it's a challenge to determine ways to make that different language contagious, to make it stick. But I believe the challenge is worth pursuing, and it's work we should be good at. As Malcolm Gladwell (2000) points out in The Tipping Point, new language can be contagious, small actions can have big effects, and change can occur fast. In fact, if I were to step back into my Arcadian world of innocence where truth and beauty reigned, I might even believe that our colleagues and even our academic administrators have grown tired of the research bean-counting game and would welcome a new language, a different conversation, and a more growth-inducing set of values about the work we do.

Suchan, Jim. JBC (2008). Articles>Publishing>Research

How to Be a Consumer of Research  

In this hands-on, interactive workshop, you will learn to: identify and overcome barriers to using research on the job; identify sources of usable and valid research for your job; identify five basic research concepts and terms everyone should know; apply practical decision-making methods for knowing whether to use research on the job.

Kleimann, Susan D. and Kenneth D. Keiser. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Research

How to Consume Research Effectively: You Are What You Eat  

In this hands-on, interactive workshop, you will learn to identify and overcome barriers to using research on the job, identify sources of usable and valid research for your job, identify five basic research concepts and terms everyone should know, and apply practical decision-making methods for knowing whether to use research on the job.

Kleimann, Susan D. and Kenneth D. Keiser. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Research>TC

How to Find Good Keywords

Learn how to find the best keywords for your website: ones which are heavily searched for but not being targeted by many other websites.

Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

How to Get Higher Search Engine Rankings  

In the early days of the Internet, you did not have to do much to drive traffic to your Web site. Simply listing your site with search engines (and all were free back then) could yield a lot of traffic. When I listed one of my sites with Yahoo!, my site hits increased by 10,000 in just one week. Back then, ranking was more a game of optimizing your TITLE and META tags than anything else. But in response to the mammoth growth of the Internet and abuses of META tags by unscrupulous Web designers, search engine spiders have became more sophisticated: The game now focuses on optimizing Web page content.

Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. Intercom (2004). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

How to Get Links Without Asking

Sending out link requests is a time-consuming business. So wouldn't it be wonderful if other sites linked to you without being asked? Sound impossible? Well, it can be done and here are ten strategies to prove it. Why not start 2006 by making sure you use them?

McGaffin, Ken. Website Tips (2006). Design>Web Design>Hypertext>Search Engine Optimization

How to Improve Your Site Search (...or ‘looking for jamie oliver’)

Site search engines should always allow for common user errors. By taking these errors into account, users should be able to always find what they're looking for through the site search.

Fidgeon, Tim. Webcredible (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability>Search

How to Read an Engineering Research Paper

Reading research papers effectively is challenging. These papers are written in a very condensed style because of page limitations and the intended audience, which is assumed to already know the area well. Moreover, the reasons for writing the paper may be different than the reasons the paper has been assigned, meaning you have to work harder to find the content that you are interested in. Finally, your time is very limited, so you may not have time to read every word of the paper or read it several times to extract all the nuances. For all these reasons, reading a research paper can require a special approach.

Griswold, Bill. University of California San Diego. Articles>Research>Engineering

How to Use Your Google API Key as Your Secret Weapon: Part One

There are now plenty of ways that any site owner with an API key can benefit from these innovative programs, and web applications.

Abayomi-Paul, Tinu. SubmitYourArticle (2004). Design>Web Design>Search

How Visible is Your Website?

For a business website to grab the attention of prospective customers, the prospective customers have to see it. Simplistic as this sounds, it's a principle that some businesses overlook. They have a website built, but never check to see how visible that site is to their target market. This article helps you to assess how visible your site is in searches, and explains a simple way to improve site visibility.

Bennaco (2004). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Hypermedia Research Directions: An Infrastructure Perspective  

This paper offers a perspective on the directions in which hypermedia infrastructure research will move in the next several years. The perspective is based on the authors' experiences and insights from a decade of active participation in this research area. After a review of hypermedia infrastructure research, the paper focuses on two particular threads of such research named 'multiple open services' and 'structural computing'. We believe that these threads show much promise for the future.

Wiil, Uffe K., Peter J. Nürnberg and John J. Leggett. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Research>Hypertext

Identity, Research Funding, and Political Economy

Five presentations about supporting research, particularly for junior faculty, within the present funding and support structures offered by academic departments.

Rude, Carolyn D., Kelli Cargile Cook, Ryan M. Moeller, Cheryl E. Ball and Joanna Castner Post. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Management>Research

The Impact of Perceptions of Journal Quality on Business and Management Communication Academics    

This commentary describes and critiques criteria that, according to results from an Association for Business Communication (ABC) member survey, are having an impact on quality judgments about our journals. ABC members rank the Journal of Business Communication and Business Communication Quarterly as top research and pedagogical journals in business/management communication, a finding corroborated by a larger study of academics in business and technical communication. However, the growing importance of citation counts and journal rankings currently disadvantages our journals, presenting us with professional obligations and personal dilemmas in relation to them. The authors' purpose is to raise awareness of the various determinants of perceptions of journal quality, to explore the communal views of ABC members on this issue, and to seek ways of enhancing the value of business/management communication research in the academic marketplace.

Rogers, Priscilla S., Nittaya Campbell, Leena Louhiala-Salminen, Kathy Rent and Jim Suchan. JBC (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Assessment

Implementing a Search Engine in ASP

As a web site grows, finding content on the site becomes increasingly difficult. To combat the difficulty of finding relevant information on a large site, many developers turn to writing a search engine for their site. This article discusses how to implement such a system using Active Server Pages and SQL Server.

Mitchell, Scott. Intranet Journal. Design>Web Design>Search

Importance of Having Your Own Domain Name

Do you really need to have your own domain name? Yes.

Roy, Sumantra. 1stSearchRanking (2002). Design>Web Design>Search

Improve the Link Popularity of Your Site

Link popularity, i.e. the number of sites which are linking to your site, is an increasingly important factor as far as search engine placement is concerned. Other things remaining the same, more the number of links to your site, higher will be its ranking. What is important is not only the number of links to your site, but also the types of sites which are linking to you. A link from a site which is related to yours is more valuable than a link from an unrelated site.

Roy, Sumantra. 1stSearchRanking (2003). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

In Citing Chaos: A Study of the Rhetorical Use of Citations    

Research on citations has generally examined citations as part of a system of rewards or as a rhetorical tool for strengthening arguments. This study examines both the role of citations as reward and as rhetoric. The reward system was examined by tracing over time the citation patterns of 13 research articles by two groups of scientists in chaos theory. The rhetorical practices were examined by determining how these articles were cited, by reviewing 609 citations of the 13 research articles. The analysis revealed that scientists consistently used five rhetorical practices. These practices include (1) using citations in the introduction, (2) using authors' names in the citation, (3) using the citation in a statement that asserts a high level of certainty, (4) using citations to create a research space (CARS), and (5) combining the authors' name with placement in the introduction. These features indicated the articles' centrality in scientific discourse.

Paul, Danette. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2000). Articles>Research>Rhetoric

In Defense of Search

Jared Spool loves to slander search. He says 'searching stinks.' He proclaims it's 'worse than nothing.' He exhorts web designers to 'keep users from using search.' And he backs up these defamatory accusations with $3,000,000 worth of user research data. Is Jared right? Do his research results tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is browsing better than searching? No, No, and No!

Morville, Peter. Semantic Studios (2002). Design>Web Design>Search

In Defense of Search

Jared Spool loves to slander search. He says 'searching stinks.' He proclaims it's 'worse than nothing.' He exhorts web designers to 'keep users from using search.' And he backs up these defamatory accusations with $3,000,000 worth of user research data. Is Jared right? Do his research results tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is browsing better than searching? No, no, and no!

Morville, Peter. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>Search