Internet searching as a study aid for information technology and information systems learners at a tertiary level

Bibliography: leaves 289-318.In this thesis, the author attempted to develop a method to help information Technology/Systems learners find relevant information on the lnternet. The literature indicated that it is essential that learners should be able to retrieve relevant information from electronic sources. However, it was also stated repeatedly that searching on the Internet using standard search engines is not an easy task. It was also noted that a move was taking place away from traditional teaching methods to those with more learner involvement, making use of new computer and communication technologies. Initial experiments were done with IT/IS learners to determine how and where they search on the Internet, and what degree of success they had. The most important data gathered from these experiments was the tack of search strategy displayed by learners; the search engines chosen by them; and their success rate. Only 32.2% of all learners in this study managed to find one piece of relevant information in 30 minutes without any assistance. The data was used to design and later improve a tool to guide them in their searching endeavours. This tool, called "Finder Of information On The Internet" (FOIOTI, at http://www.mwe.co.za), was then extensively tested by measuring searching success, with and without using it. The data was gathered by examining and summarizing the forms completed by the learners during the searching experiments. During this study the author found that most learners had little or no training on Internet usage; often worked on the Internet; could not specify their search properly; used very few of the operators offered by search engines; and had a low success rate in finding relevant data. The two final phases of experiments proved that FOIOTI, as a searching tool, was successful. During these two phases, 71.0% of the participants claimed that they found the specified information when using FOIOTI within 30 minutes. A total of 1109 learners from three continents and 20 institutions took part in the study, spread over 46 sessions. Every session was administered personally by the author. This research project has contributed to the existing body of knowledge on Information Retrieval and education by having developed a tool that enhances learner involvement in the learning process. It enables educators to explore easier alternatives of locating educational resources by drawing on the experience of other website authors in their field. It also entices the average learner to re-skill him/herself on the use of an exciting and promising new technology: Information Retrieval through the Internet

A critical evaluation of the destructive impact of computer viruses on files stored by personal computer users

Thesis (Masters Diploma (Information Technology))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1994Computer virus programs are generally perceived to be a threat to the information stored by computer users. This research evaluated the impact computer viruses have on information stored by computer users. The emphasis was on the effects of computer viruses rather than on the detail of their operation. The main hypotheses involved the question of whether or not computer viruses do pose a threat to the information stored by computer users. The effect of computer viruses on the information of users in industry was measured by sending a questionnaire to 388 companies country-wide. &~ average of 2l,5% of the respondents claimed detrimental effects to information stored on disk due to computer viruses. This and other data was used to guide laboratory experiments on the actual damage done by computer viruses to stored information. A set of test disks was prepared to represent programs and data of a typical PC user in industry. Fifteen different virus programs were used individually to infect the test disks. After each infection, all the test disks were inspected to ascertain damage to data, system and program files as well as to separate disk sectors. The research established that: The damage done by computer viruses to stored information is generally limited to one file or disk area. Where damage to stored information did occur, it was often reversible. Irrational user responses to virus symptoms provide a large potential source for damage to stored information. The availability of master program disks (for program file restoration) and recent, validated data backup is essential to recovery from a computer virus infection. A user can solve most problems caused by virus infections if he has a basic understanding of disk structure, i.e. tracks, sectors, sides, the FAT, etc, and of the use of disk utility programs like Norton Utilities or PCTools. The fact that some of the findings of prominent virus researchers could not be verified, suggests that virus programs could be unstable. Claims regarding the damage inflicted by viruses must be considered to be valid only for a specific copy of the virus under discussion. The importance of using original application software (to minimize the transfer of viruses and to enable program file restoration) , regular back-ups (to enable data file restoration) and basic user awareness (infection prevention, symptoms, the use of anti-viral and utility programs, etc.) was emphasized. The average PC user should be able to clear up a virus infection without assistance by following the given disinfection procedure. Suggestions for further study include virus origins, generations, mutations, multiple infections, and the effect of viruses on computer networks

Search engine query generation for effective retrieval of known academic publications

Academics often need access to publications of other academic work for reference. Sometimes however, some detail of a specific reference is known, but a copy of the full document is required. The objective of this research project was to compare different methods of query generation to successfully retrieve academic documents, while assuming that the user has the basic document details. In a series of empirical experiments, 20 universities with digital libraries (not requiring logins) were identified. Five academic documents stored in each ones' digital library were further found and inspected. Searches were done, using three types of query for each one of these documents. Subsequently, rankings on search engine result pages were recorded. The current visibility of these documents was then calculated. After submission to Google, a waiting period was allowed for crawler visitation, and the searches and calculations repeated. The resultant data was used to measure the success of the three different types of queries over 300 searches. This was done both before and after manually submitting each document's URL to Google. Results indicate that using keywords from the document title produces the most efficient query, with much improvement after submission. Secondly, using a text sequence from the body produces the second-most efficient query, but with a small reduction in visibility. Finally, using author surnames produced a much less efficient query, although with slightly increased visibility. It was concluded that academic searchers should concentrate on using a concatenation of weight-carrying keywords from the title of a known academic document as search query for most efficient document retrieval

interface – preferences of

mapping vs. web page hyperlinks as an information retrieva

Rogue’s Gallery – South African university website visibility

South Africa has 23 universities of a variety of descriptions. The current generation of potential students often use search engines to collect information about universities, which could influence their final choice of where to enroll. The increase in mobile web usage has also contributed to an increase in university web access for timetables, exam results and course details. As a result, university websites have joined commercial websites, fighting for top rankings for certain search queries. The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the 23 South African university homepages using a proven academic model. The most important contributing elements of website visibility were identified on each website, measured, and a scoring system designed. This system enabled the researcher to allocate points on a sliding scale for visibility to search engine crawlers. The results proved that South African university homepages spanned a wide range of scores, from webpages meeting most criteria to those scoring rather low overall. It was clear that in some cases, no effort was made to assist search engine crawlers to find websites with ease and index them well. In these cases, it could have a serious effect on the ease with which the student body’s expectations of relevant search results can be met. Suggestions are made on how to improve the situation

Comparative analysis of homepage website visibility and academic ranking for UK universities

Introduction. The pressure on universities worldwide has increased to transform themselves from isolated educational institutions to profit-generating businesses. The visibility of a Web page plays a role in attracting potential clients, as more and more young users are depending on the Web for their everyday information needs. One of the purposes of this study was to evaluate the visibility of homepages of top UK universities, and rank them. Secondly, the existence of a correlation between Website visibility ranking and academic ranking was investigated. The goal of this research was to provide a repeatable method of measuring university Website visibility, and for comparison with measurement of other institutes' Websites. Method. Website visibility elements were identified, and content investigation used to rank them according to an academic model. A scoring system was designed to cater for subjective measurements, producing a ranked list of university homepages. This was compared to an industry standard academic ranking for UK universities. Results and Analysis. Five sub-lists provided a wide span of resulting scores, combined into the final result list. In some cases it was clear that homepages were designed based on good practice (Universities of Liverpool and Cambridge), while in others little or no effort was expended to achieve a high degree of visibility. There was no correlation between the two types of ranking. Conclusions. Website visibility is a design feature often ignored in the design of university homepages in the UK, which could lead to missed opportunities. Guidelines are provided to improve this situation

Ethical issues on content distribution to digital consumers via paid placement as opposed to website visibility in search engine results

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Challenges for the Citizen of the Information Society ETHICOMP 2004 University of the Aegean Syros, Greece 14 to 16 April2.004The objective of this research project was to investigate and report on the ethical issues surrounding digital content distribution via search engine results. For the purposes of this project the traditional definition of digital content distribution is widened to include search engine results. The large existing Internet user base has created an immense potential for financial gain through marketing. Many authors stated that there is strong commercial motivation for ensuring that web pages appear high up in search engine results. At the same time, recent developments in the search engine world have driven marketers to find alternative funding sources. Paid placement refers to a customer paying a fee to the search engine company to ensure that the website involved is guaranteed listings on customer screens. Paid inclusion is an alternative which only assures the paying client that the relevant website will be included in the database, but not necessarily that it will appear in the listings. The literature has also shown that a number of questionable methods exist to increase website ranking. Some technical ones include paid inclusion and meta rag usage. Methods with an ethical bearing include paid placement, the use of link farms, cloaking, keyword stuffing, and creation of doorway pages. The findings of a set of experimental searches have left the impression that all is ethically not well in terms of content delivery to the consumer. It seems that unsolicited propaganda could overshadow true and valuable content in some search engine result pages. It is also possible that some website owners are employing technically superior techniques to achieve high rankings in search engine results. In conclusion it is believed that the level of commercial competition for website ranking will probably increase. Payment for casual information searching is a potential development which could decrease user frustration by increasing information quality of Internet websites