Web Citation Availability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.52n1.42Abstract
The researchers report on a study to examine the persistence of Web-based content. In 2002, a sample of 500 citations to Internet resources from articles published in library and information science journals in 1999 and 2000 were analyzed by citation characteristics and searched to determine cited content persistence, availability on the Web, and availability in the Internet Archive. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify citation characteristics associated with availability. The sample URLs were searched again between August 2005 and June 2006 to determine persistence, availability on the Web, and in the Internet Archive. As in the original study, the researchers cross-tabulated the results with URL characteristics and reviewed and analyzed journal instructions to authors on citing content on the Web. Findings included a decrease of 17.4 percent in persistence, and 8.2 percent in availability on the Web. When availability in the Internet Archives was factored in, the overall availability of Web content in the sample dropped from 89.2 percent to 80.6 percent. The statistical analysis confirmed the association between the likelihood that cited content will be found by future researchers and citation characteristics of content, domain, page type, and directory depth. The researchers also found an increase in the number of journals that provide instruction to authors on citing content on the Web.
References
Mary F. Casserly, James E. Bird, '“Web Citation Availability: Analysis and Implications for Scholarship,”' College & Research Libraries 64 no. 4 (July 2003): 300-17nIbid., 300–302nCarmine Sellitto, '“The Impact of Impermanent Web-located Citations: A Study of 123 Scholarly Conference Publications,”' Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 56 no. 7 (May 2005): 695-703 Carmine Sellitto, “A Study of Missing Web-Cites in Scholarly Articles: Towards an Evaluation Framework,”
Journal of Information Science
no. 6 (2004): 484–95nJonathan D. Wren, '“Uniform Resource Locator Decay in Dermatology Journals: Author Attitudes and Preservation Practices,”' Archives of Dermatology 142 no. 9 (Sept. 2006): 1147-52nRobert P. Dellavalle, '“Going, Going, Gone: Lost Internet References,”' Science 302 no. 5646 (Oct. 31, 2003): 787-88nDiomidis Spinellis, '“The Decay and Failures of Web References,”' Communications of the ACM 46 no. 1 (Jan. 2003): 71-77nDaniela V. Dimitrova, Michael Bugeja, '“Consider the Source: Predictors of Online Citation Permanence in Communication Journals,”' portal: Libraries and the Academy 6 no. 3 (2006): 269-83nReneé Crichlow, Stefanie Davis, Nicole Winbush, '“Accessibility and Accuracy of Web Page References in 5 Major Medical Journals,”' Journal of the American Medical Association 292 no. 22 (Dec. 8, 2004): 2723-24nJohn Markwell, David W. Brooks, '“‘Link Rot’ Limits the Usefulness of Web-Based Educational Materials in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,”' Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 31 no.1 (Jan. 2003): 69-72nJosé Luis Ortega, Isidro Aguillo, José Antonio Prieto, '“Longitudinal Study of Content and Elements in the Scientific Web Environment,”' Journal of Information Science 32 no. 4 (2006): 344-51nMichael Bugeja, Daniela V. Dimitrova, '“Exploring the Half-Life of Internet Footnotes,”' Iowa Journal of Communication 37 no. 1 (Spring 2005): 77-86nJudit Bar-Ilan, Bluma C. Peritz, '“Evolution, Continuity, and Disappearance of Documents on a Specific Topic on the Web: A Longitudinal Study of ‘Informetrics,’”' Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 55 no. 11 (Sept. 2004): 980-90nWallace Koehler, '“A Longitudinal Study of Web Pages Continued: A Consideration of Document Persistence,”' Information Research 9 no. 2 (Jan. 2004): (accessed June 6, 2007)http://informationr.net/ir/9-2/paper174.htmlnJeffrey D. Kushkowski, '“Web Citation by Graduate Students: A Comparison of Print and Electronic Theses,”' portal: Libraries and the Academy 5 no. 2 (2005): 259-76nMichelle M. Wu, '“Why Print and Electronic Resources are Essential to the Academic Law Library.”' Law Library Journal 97 no. 2 (Spring 2005): 233-56 (accessed June 6, 2007)www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v97no2_2005-14.pdfnWendy Smith, '“Still Lost in Cyberspace? Preservation Challenges of Australian Internet Resources,”' Australian Library Journal 54 no. 3 (2005): (accessed June 6, 2007)http://alia.org.au/publishing/alj/54.3/full.text/smith.htmlnKoehler, “A Longitudinal Study of Web Pages Continued.”nSpinellis, “The Decay and Failures of Web References.”nWren et al, “Uniform Resource Locator Decay in Dermatology Journals.”nDimitrova and Bugeja, “Consider the Source.”nWren et al, “Uniform Resource Locator Decay in Dermatology Journals.”nSellitto, “The Impact of Impermanent Web-located Citations.”nMarkwell and Brooks, “‘Link Rot’ Limits the Usefulness of Web-Based Education Materials in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.”nDellavalle et al., “Going, Going, Gone.”nBugeja and Dimitrova, “Exploring the Half-Life of Internet Footnotes.”nDimitrova and Bugeja, “Consider the Source.”nBar-Ilan and Peritz, “Evolution, Continuity, and Disappearance of Documents of a Specific Topic on the Web.’”nLisa M. Schilling, '“Digital Information Archiving Policies in High-Impact Medical and Scientific Periodicals,”' Journal of the American Medical Association 292 no. 22 (Dec. 8, 2004): 2724-26nCasserly and Bird, “Web Citation Availability.”nIbid., 315nKoehler, “A Longitudinal Study of Web Pages Continued”; Dimitrova and Bugeja, “Consider the Source”; Wren et al, “Uniform Resource Locator Decay in Dermatology Journals.”nBugeja and Dimitrova, “Exploring the Half-Life of Internet Footnotes”; Bar-Ilan and Peritz, “Evolution, Continuity, and Disappearance of Documents of a Specific Topic on the Web”; Mary Rumsey, “Runaway Train: Problems of Permanence, Accessibility, and Stability in the Use of Web Sources in Law Review Citations,”
Law Library Journal
, no. 1 (Winter 2002): 27–39; Bing Tan, Schubert Foo, and Siu Cheung Hui, “Web Information Monitoring: An Analysis of Web Page Updates,”
Online Information Review
, no. 1 (2001): 6–19nDimitrova and Bugeja, “Consider the Source”; John Markwell and David W. Brooks, “Broken Links: The Ephemeral Nature of Educational WWW Hyperlinks,”
Journal of Science Education and Technology
, no. 2 (June 2002): 105–08nSteve Lawrence, '“Persistence of Web References in Scientific Research,”' Computer 34 no. 2 (Feb. 2001): 26-31n
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after it has been accepted for publication. Sharing can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
