File not found: the problems of changing URLs for the World Wide Web

Zdonek

2020

Future Internet

Website users have increasingly high expectations regarding website quality, starting from performance and ending up with the content. This article provides a list and characteristics of selected website quality indices and testing applications that are available free of charge. Aggregated website quality indices were characterised based on a review of various source materials, including the academic literature and Internet materials. Aggregated website quality indices are usually developed with a less specialised user (customer) searching for descriptive information in mind. Their presentation is focused on aesthetic sensations. Most frequently, their values are expressed in points or percent. Many of these indices appear to be of little substantive value, as they present approximate, estimated values. These indices, however, are of great marketing value instead. Specific (“single”) indices are of a specialised nature. They are more difficult to interpret and address the subtle aspects of website and web application functioning. They offer great value to designers and software developers. They indicate critical spots which affect the website quality. Most of them are expressed precisely, often up to two or three decimal places, in specific units. Algorithmic tests for website quality, whose results are presented using indices, enable a reduction in the cost intensiveness of tests as well as an increase in their number and frequency, as the tests are repetitive and their number is not limited. What is more, they allow the results to be compared.

Section: Link Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggregated Indices in Website Quality Assessment

Zdonek

2020

Future Internet

“…There are two basic situations in which links can be regarded as dysfunctional: (1) link rot (Benbow, 1998) and (2) content drift (Zhou et al, 2015). Both phenomena are most often discussed (and researched) in the context of references to internet sources in scientific publications.…”

Section: Hardware Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peculiarity of the bit rot and link rot phenomena

Zdonek

2019

GKMC

Purpose Almost two decades after diagnosing the link rot phenomenon, and in spite of the universal character of the bit rot phenomenon, the need for reminding about these is still valid. This is because it appears that digital device users have become accustomed to them. The bit rot and link rot phenomena describe the inability to access specific contents or the inability to use specific digital resources. This paper aims to answer the question as to whether it is possible to eliminate the link rot and bit rot phenomena from the internet space. Design/methodology/approach The link rot and bit rot phenomena were characterised based on a review of various source materials, including the academic literature and internet materials. Findings The phenomena known as bit rot and link rot have already been well researched and described. Research has revealed the reasons for their occurrence, and also offered recommendations on how to minimise their occurrence. In the current digital ecosystem, however, it is not possible to completely eliminate the link rot and bit rot phenomena. Research limitations/implications One can forecast that the link rot phenomenon will intensify and the internet resources will be even more unstable, because more and more new, highest-level domains which are purchased are emerging. Originality/value The study compares the phenomena of bit rot and link rot, even though they are usually considered separately. Moreover, it presents the terms of “digital bumps”, which cause “digital tsunami”.

“…port i ścieżkę dostępu do zasobu. Witryny internetowe (zasoby sieciowe) są ze sobą połączone hiperłączami, które są umiejscawiane w strukturze dokumentów hipertekstowych (Benbow, 1998;Taylor i Hudson, 2000). Hiperłącza (hyperlinks), zwane też linkami, odnośnikami lub odsyłaczami, można podzielić na: (1) linki przychodzące (inbound links), pochodzące z innych witryn (incoming link), inaczej zwane linka-links recommending a given website (the referent), originating from the website that refers to them (the referrer).…”

Section: Rodzaje I "Moc Linków"unclassified

The Link Rot Phenomenon and its Influence on the Quality of the Websites of Rural Tourism Facilities in Poland

Economic and Regional Studies / Studia Ekonomiczne I Regionalne

2019

SummarySubject and purpose of work: The subject of the research were the profiles of links (internal and outbound ones) of websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland. The purpose of the study was to assess the scale of the link rot phenomenon and its impact on the quality of websites of rural tourism facilities in Poland.Materials and methods: The assessment of the link profile was conducted using the Broken Link Checker application. The websites’ quality assessment (the degree of their optimization for search engines) was conducted using three different applications which automate tests.Results: A total of 919 websites were examined. Broken links were recorded on 464 sites, where approximately 65% of them had only a few broken links. Broken links that referred to the description of an offer or social media accounts were particularly unfavourable. No linear correlation was recorded between the number of broken links and the website’s optimization for search engines.Conclusions: The research demonstrated that the scale of the link rot phenomenon was relatively small in the group of the examined sites. It seems, however, that this was not the result of conscious design measures or optimization.