Academic Search Engines

Academic Search Engines: intends to run through the current panorama of the academic search engines through a quantitative approach that analyses the reliability and consistence of these services. The objective is to describe the main characteristics of these engines, to highlight their advantages and drawbacks, and to discuss the implications of these new products in the future of scientific communication and their impact on the research measurement and evaluation. In short, Academic Search Engines presents a summary view of the new challenges that the Web set to the scientific activity through the most novel and innovative searching services available on the Web. This is the first approach to analyze search engines exclusively addressed to the research community in an integrative handbook. The novelty, expectation and usefulness of many of these services justify their analysis. This book is not merely a description of the web functionalities of these services; it is a scientific review of the most outstanding characteristics of each platform, discussing their significance to the scholarly communication and research evaluation. This book introduces an original methodology based on a quantitative analysis of the covered data through the extensive use of crawlers and harvesters which allow going in depth into how these engines are working. Beside of this, a detailed descriptive review of their functionalities and a critical discussion about their use for scientific community is displayed.

This Special Issue book focuses on the theory and practice of search engine optimization (SEO). It is intended for anyone who publishes content online and it includes five peer-reviewed papers from various researchers. More specifically, the book includes theoretical and case study contributions which review and synthesize important aspects, including, but not limited to, the following themes: theory of SEO, different types of SEO, SEO criteria evaluation, search engine algorithms, social media and SEO, and SEO applications in various industries, as well as SEO on media websites. The book aims to give a better understanding of the importance of SEO in the current state of the Internet and online information search. Even though SEO is widely used by marketing practitioners, there is a relatively small amount of academic research that systematically attempts to capture this phenomenon and its impact across different industries. Thus, this collection of studies offers useful insights, as well as a valuable resource that intends to open the door for future SEO-related research.

Find what you’re looking for with the best Internet resources for academic research in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences! Which academic resource deserves more of your budget: printed books and journals or softly glowing terminals? The answer differs depending on the subject area, the availability and reliability of Internet information in that field, and the comparative value of Internet research and traditional print media. Academic Research on the Internet: Options for Scholars and Libraries gives you the information you need to make those choices. This comprehensive book examines the usability of the Internet as a scholarly research and reference tool. Each chapter provides a snapshot of Internet information access and usability in a specific subject area, comparing it to traditional print media. In addition, each chapter includes a selected webliography of key resources-a time-saving tool for librarians on the reference desk. Experts in specific subject areas provide up-to-the-minute assessments of the usefulness of the Internet for research in their fields, including: Arts and Architecture Biology Engineering Chemistry Physics and Mathematics Music Philosophy English and American Literature History Political Science Business Education Anthropology and Sociology Health Sciences Public Administration Law Environmental Sciences Reference Academic Research on the Internet is designed to provide the facts you need about the reliability, timeliness, and availability of Internet information. With this information, you can decide on the relative value of print subscriptions, assess the degree to which the Internet alone can satisfy users’ information needs, and make intelligent choices about budget allocation.

Algorithms and Applications for Academic Search, Recommendation and Quantitative Association Rule Mining presents novel algorithms for academic search, recommendation and association rule mining that have been developed and optimized for different commercial as well as academic purpose systems. Along with the design and implementation of algorithms, a major part of the work presented in the book involves the development of new systems both for commercial as well as for academic use. In the first part of the book the author introduces a novel hierarchical heuristic scheme for re-ranking academic publications retrieved from standard digital libraries. The scheme is based on the hierarchical combination of a custom implementation of the term frequency heuristic, a time-depreciated citation score and a graph-theoretic computed score that relates the paper's index terms with each other. In order to evaluate the performance of the introduced algorithms, a meta-search engine has been designed and developed that submits user queries to standard digital repositories of academic publications and re-ranks the top-n results using the introduced hierarchical heuristic scheme. In the second part of the book the design of novel recommendation algorithms with application in different types of e-commerce systems are described. The newly introduced algorithms are a part of a developed Movie Recommendation system, the first such system to be commercially deployed in Greece by a major Triple Play services provider. The initial version of the system uses a novel hybrid recommender (user, item and content based) and provides daily recommendations to all active subscribers of the provider (currently more than 30,000). The recommenders that we are presenting are hybrid by nature, using an ensemble configuration of different content, user as well as item-based recommenders in order to provide more accurate recommendation results. The final part of the book presents the design of a quantitative association rule mining algorithm. Quantitative association rules refer to a special type of association rules of the form that antecedent implies consequent consisting of a set of numerical or quantitative attributes. The introduced mining algorithm processes a specific number of user histories in order to generate a set of association rules with a minimally required support and confidence value. The generated rules show strong relationships that exist between the consequent and the antecedent of each rule, representing different items that have been consumed at specific price levels. This research book will be of appeal to researchers, graduate students, professionals, engineers and computer programmers.

Internet Research Skills is a clear, concise guide to effective online research for social science and humanities students. The first half of the book deals with publications online, devoting separate chapters to academic articles, books, official publications and news sources, which form the core secondary sources for social science research. The second half of the book deals with the open web, a vast and confusing realm of materials, many of which have no direct print counterpart. The third edition has been updated throughout and now includes: - coverage of cutting edge online services as well as newly developed approaches to using online materials - a new chapter on organising your research and internet research methods - additional material on the use of social networks for research. - illustrations, examples and short exercises to help you put what you learn into practice. Internet Research Skills is an invaluable guide for undergraduate students carrying out research projects and for postgraduate students working on theses and dissertations.

Google Scholar and its Competitors introduces information seekers to web search tools that provide access to scholarly resources. It begins with a discussion of scholarly communication trends and their effects on access to scholarly resources in the digital environment. In this context the book examines Google Scholar and its competitors in terms of their databases, features, functionality, and strengths and weaknesses. Web search tools analyzed include major engines such as Google Scholar, Microsoft Live Academic, Yahoo Search, Ask, and specialized search engines, subject databases, aggregators, online catalogs, digital repositories, and subject portals. Because Google Scholar is a highly popular search engine for scholarly resources that has caused much concern in the library community, the book assesses studies of Google Scholar and the library community’s reactions to this tool. It also explores the implications of Google Scholar and its competitors for information seekers and libraries. The book concludes with a discussion of the role of user-generated content in scholarly communication and how such content can be used to facilitate access to scholarly resources. Presents trends in scholarly communication and examines how Web search tools facilitate access to scholarly resources Offers an in-depth analysis of Google Scholar Provides helpful comparisons of Google Scholar and its competitors to help information seekers make effective use of these tools Explores the implications of search tools for scholarly resources for libraries

In only a few years, Google has become an authoritative provider of multiple products which have changed the digital information landscape. This book discusses how libraries can go beyond Google’s basic search and Scholar functions to expand services for their patrons. Respected authorities reveal the expanding variety of new Google applications developed in the past few years, many of which have not received wide attention and are as yet not often used in libraries. Applications explored include Google Co-op, Google News, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, and Google Talk. This book also discusses different important aspects of the company’s expansion of functions, such as the failure of the Google Answers experiment, the broad variety of free Google applications that librarians can use to collaborate, and the success of Google’s Blogger, among others. A helpful chronology of Google’s growth is provided, as well as comparative analyses between various Google functions and other functions that are currently available. The book is extensively referenced. This book is an invaluable resource for academic librarians, public librarians, school librarians, library science faculty, and special librarians. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Library Administration.

Discover the benefits—and drawbacks—of Google® Google® has become a nearly omnipresent tool of the Internet, with its potential only now beginning to be realized. How can librarians effectively integrate this powerful search engine to provide service to their patrons? Libraries and Google® presents leading authorities discussing the many possibilities of using Google® products as effective, user-friendly tools in libraries. Google Scholar and Print are extensively explored with an eye toward offering an expanded view of what is and may be possible for the future, with practical insights on how to make the most of the product’s capabilities. It seems certain that Google® is here to stay. Libraries and Google® comprehensively examines this “disruptive technology” that is seen as both a threat and an opportunity by both librarians and publishers. Both perspectives are explored in depth, along with practical applications of this and other Google® technology that may be new to librarians. Google® products and other more familiar research tools are compared for effectiveness and ease of use. The various unique needs of users and scholars are detailed and considered as a springboard for insightful discussion of the future role of librarians in today’s world. Potential problems are closely examined, such as copyright issues of digitization, and privacy concerns sparked by its collection of personal information about its users. The book comprehensively explores the path libraries need to travel to benefit from the search tool, rather than being overwhelmed and destroyed by it. Topics in Libraries and Google® include: the viewpoint that Google® may make libraries obsolete new opportunities for libraries through using Google® products technical aspects of purchasing and implementing Google® search products with proprietary vendor databases testing the performance of Google Scholar and Print practical use of Google®’s products personal privacy issues making digitized library resources more accessible digitization of copyrighted materials much, much more! Libraries and Google® is horizon-expanding reading for all librarians, library science educators and students, library administrators, publishers, and university presses. Volume 2 of Libraries and Google® is in preparation. Google® is a Registered Service Mark of Google, Inc., Mountain View, California. Libraries and Google® is an independent publication offered by The Haworth Press, Inc., Binghamton, New York, and is not affiliated with, nor has it been authorized, sponsored, endorsed, licensed, or otherwise approved by, Google, Inc.