Exploring the Potentialities of Automatic Extraction of University Webometric Information

The main objective of this work is to show the potentialities of recently developed approaches for automatic knowledge extraction directly from the universities’ websites. The information automatically extracted can be potentially updated with a frequency higher than once per year, and be safe from manipulations or misinterpretations. Moreover, this approach allows us flexibility in collecting indicators about the efficiency of universities’ websites and their effectiveness in disseminating key contents. These new indicators can complement traditional indicators of scientific research (e.g. number of articles and number of citations) and teaching (e.g. number of students and graduates) by introducing further dimensions to allow new insights for “profiling” the analyzed universities. The main findings of this study concern the evaluation of the potential in digitalization of universities, in particular by presenting techniques for the automatic extraction of information from the web to build indicators of quality and impact of universities’ websites. These indicators can complement traditional indicators and can be used to identify groups of universities with common features using clustering techniques working with the above indicators

E-government services effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF) : a case study of Indian e-tax service

Technological amplification has expended the involvement of information and communication technology in public sectors and enhanced governmental dependence on information systems which restrains the management attention towards improving the effectiveness of e-government services. Based on the analytical review of literature, it was found that most of the e-government evaluation models address the e-service dimensions that assess the quality of e-government websites. This gives a very constrict perspective to e-government and ignores the key dimensions. It becomes important to understand how citizens perceive and evaluate e-government services. This involves defining what e-government service is, identifying its underlying dimensions, and determining how it can be measured. Therefore, periodical evaluation of the effectiveness of e-government services becomes essential. Foregoing discussion clearly indicates the necessity of developing a well founded e-government e-service effectiveness evaluation framework which not only evaluates the e-government service effectiveness but also evaluates the e-government service quality criteria and the citizens‟ perception in the form of citizens‟ trust in offered e-services. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a framework (E-GEEF) "e-government service effectiveness evaluation framework" that assesses e-government service effectiveness from the citizens‟ (G2C) perspective. A systematic study of the existing e-government service assessment frameworks has been carried out to establish the basis for conceptualizing a theoretical framework called e-government service effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF). In this research, the author attempts to explore the underlying dimensions and factors of e-government services, and has proposed an effectiveness evaluation framework (E-GEEF). Present empirical research adapted DeLone and McLean, (2003) IS success model as base model which is upgradable and extendable, hence additional dimensions were incorporated to develop a novel framework (E-GEEF) for evaluating the effectiveness of e-government service. The suggested framework has identified number of measuring dimensions and associated items within each dimension for (E-GEEF). System quality, information quality, and service quality dimensions were adopted from DeLone and McLean (2003) IS success model and “intention to use and user satisfaction” dimensions were re-specified in proposed framework (E-GEEF) as “citizens‟ use / usefulness” and “citizens‟ satisfaction”. Further, "citizens" trust, perceived e-government service quality, and perceived effectiveness” were incorporated as new dimensions in the proposed framework (E-GEEF). Three new dimensions were identified and two existing dimensions were re-specified for evaluating the effectiveness of e-government service. Sixteen hypotheses were formulated from literature on existing e-government assessment frameworks to test the proposed framework (E-GEEF). In order to test the proposed framework and their associated dimensions, Indian e-tax service was considered, because e-tax service of Indian e-government is utilized by several Indian citizens for filing their taxes. Preliminary qualitative study was carried out carefully to ensure whether all important dimensions and measurement items were included in the proposed framework E-GEEF in the right research context or not. Empirical research has used quantitative analysis for validating the proposed framework (E-GEEF). Data collection was done using survey which was conducted among citizens of India who have been utilizing e-tax service as users. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed to ensure the data normality by using SPSS 20. Structural equation modeling statistical technique was applied using AMOS 21 on the collected data for testing the hypotheses. The empirical research findings have confirmed most of the hypothesized relationships within the validated framework (E-GEEF). Consequently, in terms of the theoretical implications, this study emphasizes the significance of such hypothesized relationships when performing empirical research in e-government context. Key findings demonstrated the strong relationships of perceived e-government service quality with system quality, information quality, service quality, and citizens‟ satisfaction. Further, citizens‟ trust exhibited direct relationships with perceived e-government service quality and perceived effectiveness of e-government service. Thus, as a major contribution to the proposed research, the identified new dimensions “perceived e-government service quality, citizens‟ trust, perceived effectiveness” and re-specified dimensions “citizens‟ use/usefulness and citizens‟ satisfaction” have shown great significance in evaluating effectiveness of e-government e-tax service in Indian G2C context. The developed and validated framework (E-GEEF) provides government agencies with an appropriate approach and dimensions in order to evaluate the effectiveness of e-government services

Competitive implications of quality assurance processes in higher education. The case of higher education in engineering in France

Quality assurance in higher education is one of the cornerstones of the Bologna agenda and the Lisbon strategy, which aims at establishing the world’s most competitive knowledge economy. Extensive literature up to now has addressed quality assurance as a regulatory and policy mechanism and has presented quality assurance and market forces as antagonistic. However, what policymakers in the field fail to see is that the ‘official’ quality assurance processes also have implications in terms of competition. Indeed, higher education institutions are using the results of these, in principle aseptic, non-market-related evaluation processes, as a way to achieve competitive advantage. This paper analyses the case of higher education institutions in engineering in France. The institutional websites of 163 higher education institutions have been analysed through code-based content analysis techniques and Multiple Correspondence Analysis. This study shows that the analysis of institutional websites can be used as a tool to gauge the importance of the different dimensions of quality assurance for higher education institutions in a given national system. Furthermore, a clear association has been found between the ranking position of an institution and its communication behaviour. The results have been interpreted in the light of Neoinstitutional Theory and Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Practical implications for quality assurance practitioners and managers at higher education institutions have been highlighted

Factors influencing information service quality of the information platform of Wenzhou Municipal People's Hospital

Along with the global trend of informatization, Internet has become a new mainstream media form following such forms as print media, television and broadcast media, via which people can access information services. As a country with the largest number of netizens around the world, China enjoys improving social information services based on the Internet. With such a large quantity of network users, it is inevitable for China's hospitals at various levels to provide patients and the public with information services by setting up their own official websites. This research investigates the factors affecting the information service quality of Wenzhou People's Hospital (WZPH) and by means of Delphi method, statistical analysis and other research methods, formulates the Evaluation Indicator System for the Information Service Quality of WZPH's Information Platform. The research applies this system to the empirical research on the information service quality of the hospital's website and then makes a comparative analysis between the research results and traffic data of the websites of other hospitals over the same period. Next, the research identifies the factors affecting the information service quality of WZPH's website and finds out how the hospital may increase its website users and traffic through improving its service quality. This research starts with the determination of the objectives, significance, research problems, framework, contents and methods of the research. In the following literature review, the research sorts out papers on hospital websites and theories on service quality, users' information needs and customer satisfaction in a systematic way. Based on the literature review as well as expert consultations and theoretical review, the research determines the approach to examining the information service quality of WZPH's information platform and works out the initial set of evaluation dimensions and indicators of the information service function and quality of the hospital's website. Then, via two rounds of expert consultations, the research figures out the weights of these indicators and further assigns values to each of them. On this basis, the research establishes a research framework and a comprehensive evaluation model for the information service quality of WZPH's information platform. In the end, the research conducts two surveys respectively on the information service quality of WZPH's information platform before and after its overall revision by using Hospital Website Information Service Evaluation Form and Virtual User Questionnaire, and makes a correlation analysis based on the survey results and the flow data of other hospitals' websites over the same period. The analysis draws a conclusion that the website of WZPH, as the information platform of the hospital, is the only carrier to deliver information service, thus playing a vital role in WZPH's overall service quality. In other words, the website of WZPH affects the hospital's overall service quality to a large extent. The comprehensive service function of WZPH's website are important to the quality improvement of the hospital's information service and directly affect the information service quality, the number of users as well as utilization rate of the website

Three Research Essays on the Effects of Charity Website Design on Online Donations

This dissertation, which comprises three essays, examines the effects of charity website characteristics on people\u27s attitudes and online donation behaviors based on the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (Essay 1), the halo effect (Essay 2), and self-schema, congruity, and visual rhetoric (Essay 3). Essay 1: The Elaborating Role of Personal Involvement with Charity Giving and Helper\u27s High on the Effects of Website Quality: Multiple Roles of Variables Although the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) has been utilized for decades, researchers have not leveraged its full capabilities and richness in understanding the multiple roles postulate and employing the central and peripheral routes to persuasion. The central theme of this study is that cues can assume multiple roles, serving as central or peripheral cues, depending on an elaboration state. Moreover, this study asserts that a variable cannot be determined as a central or peripheral cue without consisting the elaboration state and associated theoretical explanations. This study theorizes and empirically tests the multiples roles postulate in the context of charity website and online donations. Using websites as a persuasion channel, this study investigates the effects of charity website quality, consisting of information content quality and system quality, on attitude toward the charity website, which in turn influences willingness to donate to the charity website. In keeping with the multiple roles postulate, this research investigates two charity-specific motivational constructs, personal involvement with charity giving and helper\u27s high as elaboration states, proposing that people with high personal involvement are more likely to be persuaded by information content, including financial, performance, and donation information. Likewise, individuals who reflect greater helper\u27s high, will rely more on system quality characteristics (including navigability, download delay, visual aesthetics, and security) in evaluating and forming their attitudes toward the charity websites. The results of structural equation modeling supported all hypotheses. This study extends the ELM by supporting the multiple roles postulate that has not received adequate attention in prior research and introducing charity-specific elaboration motivations. Essay 2: Beautiful is Good and Good is Reputable: Multi-Attribute Charity Website Evaluation and Reputation Formation under the Halo Effect The halo effect has been extensively employed to understand how people make judgments of quality about an object. However, there is little research on how people evaluate multi-attribute objects and what types of salient halos exist in their evaluation. In addition, little research has investigated the initial reputation formation of an unknown object. Based on these two research lacuna, the purposes of this study is to identify if there are evidences of various salient halos in evaluating multi-attributes objects and to theorize initial reputation formation. To accomplish these research objectives, this study employs charity websites as a multi-attribute donation channel consisting of three dimensions of information contents (mission, financial, and donation assistance information) and four dimensions of system functionalities/features (i.e., navigability, download speed, visual aesthetics, and security). This study proposes collective halo, aesthetics halo, two-sided quality halo, quality halo, and reputation halo in the context of charity website evaluation. The results of structural equation modeling and other analyses show evidence of the proposed halos. Essay 3: The Effects of Schema Congruity and Visual Consistency on Social Judgment of Charity Websites Effectively designed websites can positively enhance the donors\u27 perceptions so as to facilitate online donations. Drawing on extensive research on self-schema, congruity, and visual rhetoric, this study examines the effects of schema congruity (SC) and visual consistency (VC) on the perceived warmth and competence of charity websites. This study theorizes schema-visual congruity, an interaction between SC and VC. Using a controlled lab experiment, this study finds significant main effects of schema congruity and visual consistency on perceived warmth and competence. Also, there is a positive interaction between SC and VC, supporting the need for schema-visual congruity as a determinant of perceived warmth and competence. Consistent with prior eCommerce and donation research, this study finds that positive perceptions of charity websites (i.e., warmth and competence) increase attitude toward donation to the website, which in turn influences donation intention

WEBSITE QUALITY ASSESSMENT. A CASE STUDY OF GSM HOSTING FORUM

The ever-growing amount of data on mobile phones, tablets, and smart electronic devices on the Internet and the need to use this data to address problems highlight the importance of the evaluation and validation of data-sharing websites. The GSMHOSTING website plays a key role in communicating and providing services to its users in terms of repairing mobile phones and smart electronic devices. The purpose of this study was to determine its quality from the perspective of mobile phone repair technicians. These technicians were 100 people from Birjand in South Khorasan province (Iran) who used GSMHOSTING website as a reference. The website quality assessment study was conducted in the summer of 2020. The study applied a descriptive survey and cross-sectional method based on a questionnaire. The questionnaire included 11 website dimensions: Routing, Information, Delivery, Apparent Features, Security, Reputation, Society, Entertainment, Provided goods and services, Reliability, Trust. Scores were given on a Likert scale. The validity of the questionnaire was determined using the opinions of web experts. The SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistics methods were used to analyze data. The results indicated that the average quality of this website was acceptable in terms of technicians’ goals.  Addressing problems highlighted some of the website dimensions that will increase the overall quality of the website to support technicians in their activities

Referencial para a caracterização de websites de hotéis de acordo com as necessidades dos consumidores

Online presence is essential for tourism organisations, and the quality of websites can influence customers. In the case of hotels, there are many studies to evaluate website performance based on functionality, usability and other factors, much less on the amount of different information available to the consumer. In the near future by using Big Data it is expected that hotel websites will be dynamic, they will adapt themselves on-the-fly, showing personalized information to each consumer. Different consumers will have different websites (information? available) from the same hotel. This paper presents a framework for the characterisation of hotel websites, focusing on the amount of information available to the consumer in each website, which was applied in a case study during the last months of 2013 to the websites of five-star hotels that operate in the tourist region of the Algarve, Portugal. The framework allowed to identify a set of exhaustive indicators for hotel website characterisation, which were then grouped into ten fundamental information dimensions. These dimensions further fell into four dimension groups. Finally, it is presented and discussed quantitative and qualitative evaluations, that illustrates which indicators and dimensions are more often considered on hotel websites to satisfy the consumer?s information needs

The Analysis of Two Esl/efl Websites: Englishclub and Activities for Esl Students

This study reviewed two well known ESL/EFL websites namely EnglishClub and Activities for ESL Students using the website evaluation framework proposed by Hasan and Abuelrub (2011). The writers found that Activities for ESL Students met 79.92% of the website evaluation criteria with 211 of the total score; while EnglishClub met 79.54% of the website evaluation criteria with 210 of the total score. Thus there was no significant difference between these two websites. Both EnglishClub and Activities for ESL Students are good for ESL/EFL learner

Using webcrawling of publicly available websites to assess E-commerce relationships

We investigate e-commerce success factors concerning their impact on the success of commerce transactions between businesses companies. In scientific literature, many e-commerce success factors are introduced. Most of them are focused on companies' website quality. They are evaluated concerning companies' success in the business-to- consumer (B2C) environment where consumers choose their preferred e-commerce websites based on these success factors e.g. website content quality, website interaction, and website customization. In contrast to previous work, this research focuses on the usage of existing e-commerce success factors for predicting successfulness of business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce. The introduced methodology is based on the identification of semantic textual patterns representing success factors from the websites of B2B companies. The successfulness of the identified success factors in B2B ecommerce is evaluated by regression modeling. As a result, it is shown that some B2C e-commerce success factors also enable the predicting of B2B e-commerce success while others do not. This contributes to the existing literature concerning ecommerce success factors. Further, these findings are valuable for B2B e-commerce websites creation

Enhanced Trustworthy and High-Quality Information Retrieval System for Web Search Engines

The WWW is the most important source of information. But, there is no guarantee for information correctness and lots of conflicting information is retrieved by the search engines and the quality of provided information also varies from low quality to high quality. We provide enhanced trustworthiness in both specific (entity) and broad (content) queries in web searching. The filtering of trustworthiness is based on 5 factors – Provenance, Authority, Age, Popularity, and Related Links. The trustworthiness is calculated based on these 5 factors and it is stored thereby increasing the performance in retrieving trustworthy websites. The calculated trustworthiness is stored only for static websites. Quality is provided based on policies selected by the user. Quality based ranking of retrieved trusted information is provided using WIQA (Web Information Quality Assessment) Framework