After Search Neutrality: Drawing a Line between Promotion and Demotion

The Federal Trade Commission\u27s (“FTC” or “the commission”) January 3, 2013 decision to close its longstanding investigation of Google1 brings to a close a flurry of discussion over the possibility that Google could become subject to a “search neutrality” principle in the United States. Although the Commission found against Google on several grounds, it rejected petitions from Google\u27s critics to create a search neutrality principle as a matter of antitrust law. This essay briefly analyzes what remains of U.S. antitrust scrutiny of Internet search bias after the Google settlement. In particular, it suggests that a sensible line can be drawn between promotion of a search engine\u27s own properties and demotion of rival properties. Although distinctions of this kind are inherently slippery, in this case the distinction should serve well enough. As of this writing, the wild card remains the European Commission, which may yet upset the applecart

Using Blogs: authentic material and ranking quality for SLA

[EN] Exposure real life language experiences forms an integral part of the acquisition process. Authentic materials – those derived from the culture of the target language rather than specially produced for language learners – increase the relevance of the learning experience by reusing texts taken directly from the target culture. Web 2.0 technologies increase opportunities for bringing authentic materials into formal language learning environments by allowing material to be collected, reused and shared amongst language teachers and learners. This paper aims to look at the role of blogs in facilitating the use of authentic material by English language teachers and learners and the impact of the most authoritative blogs in the wider Web and in Social Media. To reach this objective, the blog ranking site Technorati was used to select the most popular blogs for English language learners and teachers and each blog was analysed according to the authenticity of the cultural material used for language learning. The analysis reveals that 100% of the material on 56.25% of the blogs selected was authentic material and over 70% of the material on a further 35.3% of blogs was authentic. Secondly, the impact of these blogs in the wider Web and Social Media was measured in order to draw some conclusions regarding the role of language learning blogs outside the world of blogging and the communities they serve and provide an image of the relationship between blogs and bloggers, the Web and Social Media. The results show an inherent bias within Web 2.0 technologies towards providing contemporary authentic material for language learning – the technology itself encourages its use – and that sometimes blogs can have an impact beyond their communities through the Web and Social Media.Coppens, X.; Rico, M.; Agudo, JE. (2013). Using Blogs: authentic material and ranking quality for SLA. The EuroCALL Review. 21(1):20-34. https://doi.org/10.4995/eurocall.2013.10160OJS2034211Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks: how social production transforms markets and freedom. Yale University Press.Castells, M. (2001). The Internet Galaxy. Oxford University Press .Castells, M. (2002). Cultura XXI. La dimensión cultural de Internet. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.De Haro, J.J. (2008). "Las redes sociales en educación", Educativa: Blog sobre calidad e innovación en Educación Secundaria. Retrieved 8 November 2008 from http://jjdeharo.blogspot.com/2008/11/la-redes-sociales-en-educacin.html.Downes, S. (2005). "E-learning 2.0.", ACM eLearn Magazine National Research Council of Canada. Retrieved 16 October 2005 from http://www.downes.ca/post/31741.Alex Gilmore (2007). "Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning", Language Teaching, 40, pp. 97-118. doi:10.1017/S0261444807004144.Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Longman.Krashen, S. & Terrell, T.D. (1983). The Natural Approach. Pergamon Press.Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. Longman.Nation, P. (2007). The Four Strands in Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, Volume 1, Issue 1, April 2007, pages 2-13.Reig, D. (marzo, 2008) ¿Por qué internet en el aula? Presentación de Teemu Arina. El Caparazón. [Blog] http://www.dreig.eu/caparazon/2008/03/17/%C2%BFporqueinternet-en-el-aula-cooperacionconocimientodiversidadtoleranciaa-partir-de-unapresentacion-de-t-arina/Rico, M. et al (2009). "How well are teachers and students prepared for Web 2.0 best practices?", Research, Reflections and Innovations in Integrating ICT in Education. A. Méndez-Vilas, A. Solano Martín, J.A. Mesa González and J. Mesa González (Eds.). Badajoz: Formatex.Swain, M. and Lapkin, S. (1995). "Problems in output and the cognitive processes they generate: step towards second language learning", Applied Linguistics, 16:371-391.Technorati Authority FAQ - Technorati. (2012). Retrieved October 4, 2012, from http://technorati.com/what-is-technorati-authority

Arbeitsbericht Nr. 2011-01, Januar 2011

Ilmenauer Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsinformatik Nr. 2011-01 / Technische Universität Ilmenau, Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik ISSN 1861-9223 ISBN 978-3-938940-32-

Search Results: Predicting Ranking Algorithms With User Ratings and User-Driven Data

The purpose of this correlational quantitative study was to examine the possible relationship between user-driven parameters, user ratings, and ranking algorithms. The study’s population consisted of students and faculty in the information technology (IT) field at a university in Huntington, WV. Arrow’s impossibility theorem was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Complete survey data were collected from 47 students and faculty members in the IT field, and a multiple regression analysis was used to measure the correlations between the variables. The model was able to explain 85% of the total variability in the ranking algorithm. The overall model was able to significantly predict the algorithm ranking discounted cumulative gain, R2 = .852, F(3,115) = 220.13, p \u3c .01. The Respondent DCG and Search term variables were the most significant predictor with p = .0001. The overall findings can potentially be useful to content providers who focus their content on a specific niche. The content created by these providers would most likely be focused entirely on that subgroup of interested users. While it is necessary to focus content to the interested users, it may be beneficial to expand the content to more generic terms to help reach potential new users outside of the subgroups of interest. User’s searching for more generic terms could potentially be exposed to more content that would generally require more specific search terms. This exposure with more generic terms could help users expand their knowledge of new content more quickly

Navigation, findability and the usage of cultural heritage on the web: an exploratory study

The present thesis investigates the usage of cultural heritage resources on the web. In recent years cultural heritage objects has been digitalized and made available on the web for the general public to use. The thesis addresses to what extent the digitalized material is used, and how findable it is on the web. On the web resources needs to be findable in order to be visited and used. The study is done at the intersection of several research areas in Library and Information Science; Information Seeking/Human Information Behaviour, Interactive Information Retrieval, and Webometrics. The two thesis research questions focus on different aspects of the study: (1) findability on the web; and (2) the usage and the users. The usage of the cultural heritage is analysed with Savolainen’s Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) framework. The IS&R framework by Ingwersen and Järvelin is the main theoretical foundation, and a conceptual framework is developed so the examined aspects could be related to each other more clearly. An important distinction in the framework is between object and resource. An object is a single document, file or html page, whereas a resource is a collection of objects, e.g. a cultural heritage web site. Three webometric levels are used to both combine and distinguish the data types: usage, content, and structure. The interaction between the system and its users’ information search process was divided into query dependent and query independent aspects. The query dependent aspects contain the information need on the user side and the topic of the content on the system side. The query independent aspects are the structural findability on the system side and the users search skills on the user side. The conceptual framework is summarised in the User-Resource Interaction (URI) model. The research design is a methodological triangulation, in the form of a mixed methods approach in order to obtain measures and indicators of the resources and the usage from different angels. Four methods are used: site structure analysis; log analysis; web survey; and findability analysis. The research design is both sequential and parallel, the site structure analysis preceded the log analysis and the findability analysis, and the web survey was employed independent of the other methods. Three Danish resources are studied: Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur (ADL), a collection of literary texts written by authors; Kunst Index Danmark (KID), an index of the holdings in the Danish art museums; and Guaman Poma Inch Chronicle (Poma), a digitalized manuscript on the UNESCO list of World cultural heritage. The studied log covers all usage during the period October to December 2010. The site structure is analysed so the resources can be described as different levels, based on function and content. The results from the site structure analysis are used both in the log analysis and the findability analysis, as well as a way to describe the resources. In the log analysis navigation strategies and navigation patterns are studied. Navigation through a web search engine is the most common way to reach the resources, but both direct navigation and link navigation are also used in all three resources. Most users arrive in the middle level in ADL and KID, at information on authors and artists. On average cultural heritage objects are viewed in half of the session. In the analysis of the web survey answers two groups of users’ are distinguished, the professional user in a work context and users in a hobby or leisure context. School or study as a context is prominent in Guaman Poma, the Inca Chronicle. Generally are pages about the cultural heritage more frequently visited than the digitized cultural heritage objects. In the findability framework six aspects are identified as central for the findability of an object on the web: attributes of the object, accessibility, internal navigation, internal search, reachability and web prestige. The six aspects are evaluated through seven indicators. All studied objects are findable in the analysis using the findability framework. A findability issue in KID is the use of the secure https protocol instead of http, which leads to the objects in KID having no PageRank value in Google and thereby a lower ranking in comparison to similar objects with a PageRank value. The internal findability is reduced for the objects in top of all three resources, e.g. the first page, due to the focus of the internal search engine on the cultural heritage objects. Several possible adjustment or developments of the findability frameworks is discussed, such as changing the weightning between the aspects measured, alternative scores and automated measuring. In conclusion, the investigation adds to our knowledge about how resources with digitalized cultural heritage are accessed and used, as well as how findable they are. The thesis provides both theoretical and conceptual contributions to research. The IS&R framework has been adapted to the web, the information search process was split into query dependent and query independent aspects, and a whole findability framework has been developed. Both the empirical findings and the theoretical advancements support the development of better access to web resources

Reproduction of Hierarchy? A Social Network Analysis of the American Law Professoriate

Article published in the Journal of Legal Education