09 The Internet Format (Information Research) part 3
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
09 The Internet Format (Information Research) part 3
Information Preparation
Information flows also impress patterns on internet information. Most
information is transplanted to the web - first created elsewhere. The
source of information imparts as much pattern as the eventual format
the information takes.
Information may appear as a webpage, and conform to our expectations
for all webpages but the information may have been prepared from the
discussion on a mailing list - and thus enjoy a more topical, specific,
timely and peer-reviewed quality.
Let's look at FAQs. The best resource in the world on copyright law is
the musings of a group of copyright lawyers who form the copyright
mailing list. The copyright FAQ supported by this group is a logical
document summarizing much of the discussion of this mailing list. FAQs
are vetted by the news.answers team, then automatically mirrored around
the world. From its origins in the mailing list, the FAQ is a
peer-reviewed document, often full of links to further resources,
topical, knowledgeable and factual. As an FAQ, the document is not
immediate, graphical or financially rewarding (some FAQs stagnate).
Only some internet information is created within the internet
environment. The concept of 'brochureware' describes the common traits
to promotional webpages directly prepared from paper promotional
brochures.
One of the more exciting trends is the movement of information from the
dusty shelves of government offices and association libraries to their
more accessible websites. The quality of information retained in your
average government agency, from quality research reports, to detailed
studies, to current industry monitoring is very high. These qualities
are then brought over to the web format. Such web-documents tend to be
isolated (not linked to other related resources) and perhaps a little
behind the time line but of a generally high quality.
An exciting holistic view of the internet information landscape is
based on these descriptions. Imagine, for a moment, information flowing
through a collection of systems. At certain points, information groups
together, and generates new, perhaps higher quality information, which
then flows in a different system, a different direction, to different
people.
The flow of information from one person to another, from one format to
another, imprints qualities to the information along the way. Each
organization, or subsequent re-organization, imparts specific styles
and conventions and quality to the result.
Publishing Motivation
Let us proceed to a third set of patterns. Information appears on the
internet for one very specific reason. Someone Publishes (DUH). The
motivation behind publishing colours the information. This is a pattern
we can use to quickly judge the contents of a webpage.
Ask yourself who is publishing, and why.
One of the biggest publishing segment a year ago were individuals
publishing documents derived from their personal expertise. A typical
document would be one with minimal peer review, a list of aging links
to further resources, simple graphics, variable to short length, prone
to bias but moderately reliable because the publisher knows their topic
well. These pages are often located on web pages with private
sub-directories (usually starting /~name/).
Commercial sites publish mainly for the promotional value. Their
secondary purpose is to provide sales information to prospective
clients. Rarely do commercial sites go beyond this. Commercial webpages
often reside on their own domain name, as a .com, or in sub-directories
- without the tilde symbol. Commercial sites also tend to age badly.
They are very noticeable from their front page.
Government agencies are emerging as valued publishers. Slowly their
dormant information becomes available through this new medium.
Currently almost all government documents on the internet also appear
in print, meaning they are factual, exhaustively reviewed, tend to be a
little old (but age well), and come from highly paid knowledgeable
people who believe it is their duty to inform others. Such documents
are lengthy and appear on .gov domains.
These patterns are simple to see.
Grant-funded projects create brilliant research resources and hold much
promise in pushing the limits of this technology. I am eager to see the
results of the US Patents project, and appreciate the value of having
Supreme Court rulings on the internet. Often such projects focus deeply
on content. Most projects reside on educational servers and are widely
discussed within knowledgeable groups.
Associations publish association-kind-of-things. Most are initially
just like the commercial webpages. With time such sites become much
more factual and research-worthy. Most associations are dedicated to
developing awareness of their chosen topic, albeit coloured by their
chosen bias. Few associations are significant publishers but in time,
this segment will begin to liberate dormant information within
associations.
Let's summarize. The key is to always watch who is the publisher. We
can assume a great deal, quickly. We are unlikely to find the latest
changes to patent law from government or commercial publishers. Such
organizations are simply not motivated to present such information.
Promoting Information
Publishing is one achievement but you and I will never read any
information until we learn it exists. This simple fact creates even
more patterns to internet information. Knowledge of information moves
through set routes on its way from writer to reader.
Promotion is not simple. It is a process that takes time, effort and
perhaps money. Information without serious promotion tends not to be
promoted far from the source. Another way to phrase this; you must
search close to the source to find poorly promoted information.
A search engine indexes pages relatively indiscriminately. This also
means a site of quality is not likely to reach your attention. The odds
are not good, and from a promotion point of view, search engines
generate minimal traffic to your webpage. Search engines also drop you
rather randomly into a website. It is often necessary to move up a
directory to understand the purpose and motivation of a site you find
interesting.
Information published through advertising tends to have a financial
payoff for the promoter. This kind of information tends to be
promotional information. Brochureware.
The alternatives are to promote a webpage or website through one of the
referral tools. Each such tool accepts links on some criterion. Each
tool you use to locate information also selects particular types of
information for your attention.
If you arrive at a document by recommendation through a mailing list,
the document is likely to be recent, on-topic and specific to the
purpose of the mailing list. Alternatively, (for poor mailing lists) it
will be wildly off topic and trash. You are unlikely to see referrals
to old documents or documents of historical importance. These are the
qualities most acceptable to the mailing list environment.
Directory trees, FAQs, guidebooks and related promotion tools all work
as historically important documents. In the past, such resources list,
describe and alert people to relevant information for the field.
Slowly, over time, this function becomes acknowledged, reinforced and
promoted. Time is the essence of this fame.
Webpages or websites found through historically important documents, by
their nature, tend to be long lasting websites with lasting importance
in the field. Such documents point to other similar documents or
websites that have achieved a long-lasting importance. You are unlikely
to find specific documents but rather sites that focus or bring
together information. In short, there is little motivation to link to
specific webpages, when a link to an important website is just as good.
Similar generalizations can be made of each type of promotional tool,
and become important in rapidly seeking our information which matches
our intention, as well as summarizing the likely motivation, and bias,
of webpages we are interested in.
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