Discovering Content
Pattern of the
Library Web Sites
Jadranka Stojanovski
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
http://library.irb.hr
jadranka.stojanovski@irb.hr

“No stereotype of libraries as quiet,
uneventful places could survive the 1990’s.
Whatever stability and predictability libraries
once had as ordered storehouses of the
treasures of the printed word were shattered
by the digital revolution. The intellectual
function of libraries -- to acquire, arrange,
and make accessible the creative work of
humankind -- is being transformed by the
explosion in the production and
dissemination of information in digital form,
especially over global networks.”
LC - 21: A Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress
Who are our users?
 students
 faculty/employees
 researchers & scientists
 staff of the university/institute
 local community – general public
 librarians
 international audience
...
From RBI log files analysis
 RBI library Web site (10th anniversary!) with 1500
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visits/day
23,93% employees of Ruđer Bošković Institute
Croatian Universities - 10% of total accesses
different institutes and hospitals take part with
about 2,5%
main Croatian companies like “Pliva”, “Ina” and
“Podravka” are participating with 0,6%
 in spite of the fact that all Web pages are both in
Croatian and English language since 1994 - only
31% of total hits are assigned to visitors that come
outside “.hr” domain
Web site evaluation
 Purpose or focus of the Web site
 Audience or target for the Web site
 Access to information on the site
 Logical design or construction of the site
 Visual design considerations
 Site information
Selection process
 Purpose or focus of the Web site
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to support scientific research and HE
 Audience or target for the Web site
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scientists
teachers
students
 Access to information on the site
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free
Selection
 Google advanced search
 Language = English
 “lib” or “library” in URL
 limit to country domain (.at, .hr, .it, .hu, .fi, .cz, .ie,
.de, .uk, .si)
 first five scientific libraries were selected
 library must have its own directory in the HTML
tree structure of the institution or its own
domain
 library must have the English version of Web
site
 national libraries are not included
10 European countries
 Austria
 Croatia
 Czech Republic
 Hungary
 Finland
 Germany
 Ireland
 Italy
 Slovenia
 UK
Academic and research
institute’s libraries
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hr
American College of Management and Technology
Faculty of Graphic Arts
Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Ruđer Bošković Institute
Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries
at
Research Institute of Molecular Pathology
Research Institute for Symbolic Computation
Institut für Computergraphik und Algorithmen
University of Graz
Mozarteum University Library
it
The Abdus Salam ICTP Library
Free University of Bozen
The Johns Hopkins University
SISSA Library
Institute of Information Science and Technologies (ISTI)
hu
Central European University Library
MTA SZTAKI is the Computer and Automation Research
Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
KFKI campus
University of Veszprém
Library of the Institute of Enzymology
fi
Helsinky University Library
Joensuu University
Institute of Technology
Vaasa Polytechnic
Helia, Helsinki Business Polytechnic
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cz
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CERGE-EI Library
English College in Prague Resource Centre
Institute of Physics
University Library
International Baptist Theological Seminary
si
Central Technological Library
Nova Gorica Polytechnic
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics,
Department of Physics, Astronomical Observatory
University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Zootechnical
Department
Faculry of Medicine, Central Medical Library
ie
Trinity College Library Dublin
University College Cork
NUI Maynooth Library Online
University of Limerick
Dublin City University
uk
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Cambridge University Library
John Rylands University Library of Manchester
University of Edinburgh
Glasgow University Library
de
DESY Library
The Szilárd Library at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
Friedrich Ebert Foundation
University of Heidelberg
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Xenu’s Link Sleuth as robot
tool
 multi-threaded spidering software that checks
Web sites for broken links
 robot modified for that purpose (thanks Tilman!)
 it is free, works extremely fast and gives a
useful output with the link title listed in the same
order of the links that are given on the page
Link description
• URL address
• status
• type
• size
• title
•
•
•
•
•
•
date
level
links out
links in
server
error
List of categories
 single-concept descriptors, easy to assign
(this approach sacrifices term relationships
and context)
 22 main categories/concepts were defined
 experience from ten years of the RBI web
site
 Xenu reports were filtered using C++
program – adding sub-terms from Web sites
into categories
INFO
ASK LIBRARIAN
NEWS
REFERENCE LIBRARY
COLLECTIONS
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
DIGITAL LIBRARY
CATALOGUES
SUBJECT GATEWAYS
SEARCHING
SEARCH ENGINES
ACCESS
SERVICES
CIRCULATION AND ILL
EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT
INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT
PUBLISHING
FILE FORMATS
LIS
ENTERTAINMENT
OTHER
NUMBER OF LINKS BY CATEGORY
UK
SLOVENIA
ITALY
IRELAND
HUNGARY
GERMANY
FINLAND
CZECH REP.
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
INFO
ASK LIBRARIAN
NEWS
REFERENCE LIBRARY
COLLECTIONS
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
DIGITAL LIBRARY
CATALOGUES
SUBJECT GATEWAYS
SERVICES
CIRCULATION AND ILL
SEARCHING
SEARCH ENGINES
EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT
PUBLISHING
INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT
ACCESS
FILE FORMATS
LIS
ENTERTAINMENT
OTHER
14000
General info (1)
 ADDRESS
 LOCATION OF THE
LIBRARY
 VIRTUAL TOUR
 FLOOR PLAN
 PARKING
 PHOTOCOPYING
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
CHARGES
HOLDINGS DESCRIPTION
TERMS & CONDITIONS
CONDITIONS OF USE
LIBRARY RECORD
REGULATION
RULE
FEES
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
WELCOME TO THE LIBRARY
BASIC INFORMATION ON
USING THE LIBRARY
INFORMATION ABOUT
VISITOR INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
INFO ABOUT
ABOUT THE
VISIT US
ABOUT US
 SURVIVAL GUIDE
General info (2)

 OPENING HOURS
 LIBRARY STAFF
 DISABILITIES
 STATISTICS
 CONTACT
 CONTACT US
 FEEDBACK
 STAFF
 QUESTIONS & ANSWER
 FAQ
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
READER'S GUIDE
FURTHER ASSISTANCE
FINDING AID
A TO Z INDEX
A TO Z GUIDE
 POLICY
 STRATEGY
 DISCLAIMER
 PRIVACY POLICY
 LIBRARY MISSION
 MISSION
Info - policies
UK
SLOVENIA
ITALY
IRELAND
HUNGARY
GERMANY
FINLAND
CZECH REP.
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
0
50
POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY
100
150
STRATEGY
LIBRARY MISSION
200
DISCLAIMER
MISSION
250
General-info pages lack:
 guides, assistance, finding aids
 welcome to the library
 basic information
 visitor information
Collections
UK
SLOVENIA
ITALY
IRELAND
HUNGARY
GERMANY
FINLAND
CZECH REP.
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
0
100
200
BIBLIOGRAPHY
300
400
PERIODICAL
500
600
JOURNAL
700
THESIS
800
BOOK
900
E-”packages”
SLAC
JSTOR
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
GERMANY
HUNGARY
IRELAND
ITALY
SLOVENIA
UK
KLUWER
PUBMED
EMERALD
EBSCOHOST
SWETSWISE
SPRINGERLINK
SCIENCEDIRECT
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Collection – reference library
UK
SLOVENIA
ITALY
IRELAND
HUNGARY
GERMANY
FINLAND
CZECH REP.
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
0
100
200
300
ENCYCLOPEDIA
DIRECTORY
COLLEGE
400
500
DICTIONARY
STANDARD
SCHOOL
600
700
800
LIBRARIES
HANDBOOK
MAP
900
1000
Catalogs
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
GERMANY
CATALOGUE
HUNGARY
CATALOG
IRELAND
OPAC
ITALY
SLOVENIA
UK
Search engines
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
SEARCH ENGINE
GERMANY
HUNGARY
ALTAVISTA
IRELAND
GOOGLE
ITALY
YAHOO
SLOVENIA
UK
Education
HELP
COURSE
HOW TO
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
GERMANY
HUNGARY
IRELAND
ITALY
SLOVENIA
UK
SEMINAR
LEARNING
TRAINING
WORKSHOP
EDUCATION
EVALUATION
INSTRUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Education
 educational content offered through library web
pages is not connected enough with education
process at the university
 libraries should cooperate with teachers in
order to provide better support to students
 syllabus, curriculum, exams, teach*... should be
more used
 lack of tutorials
Infrastructure & equipment
UK
SLOVENIA
ITALY
IRELAND
HUNGARY
GERMANY
FINLAND
CZECH REP.
CROATIA
AUSTRIA
0
50
PHOTOCOPYING
PRINTER
100
WIRELESS
LAPTOP
150
NOTEBOOK
NETWORK
200
250
COMPUTER
300
Entertainment
TV
JOB
GAME
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
GERMANY
HUNGARY
IRELAND
ITALY
SLOVENIA
UK
WORLD
HEALTH
NATION
SPORTS
PERSONAL
SHOPPING
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
LIS issues
ACQUISITION
BINDING
HOLDING
AUSTRIA
CROATIA
CZECH REP.
FINLAND
GERMANY
HUNGARY
IRELAND
ITALY
SLOVENIA
UK
THESAURUS
CATALOGUING
SITE LICENCE
SUBSCRIPTION
COPYRIGHT LAW
CLASSIFICATION
LIBRARY PROJECT
VIRTUAL LIBRARY
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Patterns
CATEGORY
1st
2nd
SUBJECT GATEWAYS
5
2
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
2
1
REFERENCE LIBRARY
1
1
2
1
1
COLLECTIONS
1
3
1
3
INFO
1
EDUCATION
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
2
1
9th
1
1
1
8th
3
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
3
1
1
1
Future analysis
 more libraries
 richer vocabulary / more labels
 controlled vocabulary or thesaurus
(synonym and homograph control)
 level should be included
 position on the web page (?)
 ...
 everyone is invited to cooperate 
Lycos Top 50
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Nick Berg – execution video
War in Iraq – prisoner abuse
Paris Hilton – video star
Clay Aiken – America’s idol
Britney Spears
KaZaA
Pam Anderson
Dragonball
WWE – Divas fight
Brooke Burke – calendar star
Poker – celebrity showdown
Baseball – MLB
Atkins Diet
South Beach Diet
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Weight Watchers
Amierican idol
Dindsay Lohan
Neopets – virtual world
Harry Potter
Jessica Simpson –
summer tour
Pokemon – card play
Usher – confessions
Las Vegas
The Bible
Final Fantasy
Hilary Duff
Princess Diana – crash
photos
The Olsen Twins
Marijuana – wacky weed
“Top web library site terms”
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PDF
SPIRES
JOURNAL
MAP
LINK
BUSINESS
SEARCH
HTML
PS
SERVICE
COLLECTION
PHYSICS
NEWS
RESOURCE
BOOK
WORLD
COLLEGE
DATABASE
EDUCATION
HELP
HEALTH
PUBMED
REPORT
ENGINEERING
HISTORY
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LIBRARIES
LANGUAGE
STUDENT
CHEMISTRY
MEDICINE
CONFERENCE
EBSCOHOST
DIRECTORY
SCHOOL
CONTACT
COMPUTER
PUBLISHER
ART
REGISTER
JSTOR
POLICY
THESIS
SUBSCRIPTION
BIOLOGY
CATALOGUE
JOB
NETWORK
DICTIONARY
CONTACT US
“Cheshire Cat,” Alice
began, “Would you
tell me, please,
which way I ought to
go from here?”
“That depends a good
deal on where you
want to get to,” said
the Cat.
Lewis Carroll