Characteristics of Information on the Web Dania Bilal IS 530 Spring 2005 The Web is heterogeneous dynamic hypertext based may create a cognitive overload and disorientation on users has a high level of abstraction The Web lacks structure has redundant information lacks authority contains inappropriate materials that require filtering The Web has a search engine space a Web browser space These spaces requires adequate knowledge of navigation Web Spaces Web browser Search engine The Web is predominantly text centered i e time for online reading is needed to locate information full of ads that may distract users The Web requires mental maturity to discern between content and advertisements ability to read long texts online ability to compose search requests ability to evaluate results The Web requires patience ability to browse hierarchies with multiple layers Placing a topic within an appropriate subject hierarchy may be difficult for young users for example The Web Requires ability to make relevance judgment system based relevance is misleading System based relevance varies among search engines Web vs Databases Speed Simple interface System relevance is misleading Sponsored sites appear on top of results regardless of relevance Lack of structure no thesauri controlled vocabulary etc Lack of authority Speeds varies System relevance is based on specific methods No sponsored sites relevance may be more objective Well structured thesauri controlled vocabulary metadata standards etc Authoritative Web vs Databases Information overload Cognitive overload negative affect Less information overload Less cognitive overload Positive affect General with few specialized databases Item availability is questionable Specialized databases with a few general ones Item availability can be linked Simple and advanced feature Simple and advanced features How Search Engines Work Search Engine Resources http searchenginewatch com webmasters a rticle php 2168031 how search engines work http www searchengineworld com misc re source htm search engine resources http www lib berkeley edu Help search ht ml recommended search engines