Book review: David Stuart,Web Metrics for Library and Information Professionals

It is a cliché to say that the Internet and World Wide Web have revolutionized many aspects of life in the past (two) decades. It is another cliché to say that there have been many changes in libraries over these decades and that library and information professionals need to adapt to them. So the term web metrics is something these professionals probably take for granted, even if they are not familiar with it. So does the book by David Stuart Web Metrics for Library and Information Professionals knock on the open door? Definitely not. It is a useful book as it is practical in many ways, dealing with one of the most urgent problems libraries and LIS professionals are facing today, connected to the changes in their work as they need to adapt not only their services but also their evaluation.

The author intends to cover different aspects of web metrics, which was not such an easy task as it might look. Although the book is advertised as a ‘clear guide for library and information professionals as to what web metrics are available and how to assess and use them to make informed decisions and demonstrate value’, I would find it hard to agree with that. Standards and procedures of web metrics and their use for evaluation of library services are far from established. The purpose and the use of the book are much better described by the author in his Introduction chapter when he writes simply: ‘The aim of this book is to demonstrate the contribution web metrics can make to the work of librarians’ (p.10). He also states that in the book he does not attempt to hide the limitations of web metrics and their antecedents, but rather sees their potential and semi-evaluative and weak benchmarking metrics (Thelwall, 2004).

Chapter 2 defines the main terms ‘Bibliometrics, webometrics and web metrics’. Stuart sees web metrics ‘as a broad term that incorporates both “webometrics”, the quantitative study of web content and use for research purposes, and “web analytics”, the quantitative study of web content and use for the evaluation and improvement of library service’. It is not an easy task to compare these very different aspects. He points out that there are uses of web metrics, which do not come from either bibliometrics or informetrics (dealing basically with scientific research evaluation) and have their background in marketing. He uses the term ‘web analytics’ to describe the process of understanding and optimizing web usage and suggests that librarians should use it for the evaluation and improvements of a service.

The most useful applications of web metrics are presented as:

The next chapter (3) presents data collection tools in general. There are a further five chapters: Evaluating impact on the web, Evaluating social media impact, Investigating relationships between actors, Exploring traditional publications in a new environment, Web metrics and the web of data. Throughout the book it is emphasized that webometric research uses a wide set of tools, due to its changing nature, scope and technologies.

Chapter 4 presents tools for evaluating the impact (of library and its services) on the web. I would like to stress that this is a very valuable and practical presentation of Google Analytics. Although the author modestly states that it is a brief overview, it is more than that. It is so well summarized that LIS professionals who might not have been familiar with this, the most popular of internal web analytics, can easily become familiar with it. Other tools are also well presented and documented.

Chapter 5 deals with social media. This is often regarded as such a well-known phenomenon today that it might be argued that it needs no explanation at all. It is not unusual for LIS professionals when asked why they have a social media presence in their institution, to answer what they are doing, rather than why they are doing it. The main reason for this might be the lack of evaluation. Web metrics are offering just that, a type of metrics which can measure the actual impact of use. Three types of social network sites can be identified:- socializing, networking and navigating sites. These different types also mean different use and benefit for LIS professionals’ services. Although very positive and enthusiastically promoting all types of social network – Facebook provides a rich source of content for libraries (p. 102), David Stuart also advises caution: ‘web analytics are important for determining whether the tools are contributing to a librarian’s work. Potential and reality is not always the same thing, especially when it comes to emerging technologies’ (p. 113).

The next chapter (6) deals with some of the social network analysis methodologies and how these may be used to draw insights that may be used by LIS professionals. This chapter presents some suggestions about when, where and how relational web metrics may be used in their professional activities. The overview of analysis for different type of libraries is very useful and serves as an explanation to the main text.

Chapter 7 ‘Exploring traditional publications in a new environment’ shows the author’s involvement in web bibliometrics research. Bibliometrics is an analysis of scientific research performance. Scientific research can be defined in different ways, depending on which segment of the process someone would like to highlight but one aspect is basic – scientific activity is an information activity. Scientists use ‘information’, which they obtain through their research work, together with the information that was received from work (usually published) of other scientists and researchers as evidence for justification and support of the findings. The basic characteristic of this information process, which is often described as the process of scientific information communication, is its form, scientific publication. This process is normally maintained and runs through the publication of scientific results, which enables verifiability and repeatability of research and so the reliability and accuracy of the results thus obtained.

Scientists present their results mostly as papers in international scholarly journals which publish only a small part of the received articles. The manuscripts are peer reviewed through evaluation procedures before publication. The second part of the evaluation and quality control of scientific research is the use of these publications by other scientists, which is reflected in citations. All areas of social services need a system of performance evaluation and quality control. In scientific research, such control is systematic, constant, and above all, independent and transparent. This is done despite the fact that scientific research is not a routine activity, and therefore the results cannot easily be measured and evaluated. This is possible by very clear rules of scientific excellence, which are both international and universal. This of course would not be possible without global integration of science that allows virtually unlimited international integration and cooperation.

Scientific research is not a routine activity and researchers of science have been coping for decades with the problem of finding relevant metrics to measure scientific research outputs and especially its impact. Web metrics and different forms of altmetrics are surely not a clear answer for the foreseeable future. The established publications will continue to play a pivotal role in understanding the impact of researchers’ work. Alternative metrics will undoubtedly have a role to play (p. 143) and it is important for LIS professionals, especially for those who have a long career in front of them, to understand these possibilities. This chapter provides a useful introduction to the subject, although it is too short to present the theme completely and LIS professionals interested in this theme can profit by reading and studying some of the sources cited.

Maybe it is not usual in book reviews to praise the Bibliography part of the book but I would like to do exactly that. It is an outstanding and very thorough list of research done and published in the field.

The next chapter (8) entitled ‘Web metrics and the web of data’ deals mainly with the semantic web and its potential for more detailed investigations into the process of science. This chapter will be of particular interest to the LIS professionals who undertake research themselves, or have researchers as users of their services. Only time will tell to what extent semantic web technologies will be adopted (p. 163). This chapter also, in my opinion, requires from the reader more programming knowledge then average LIS professionals have.

The concluding chapter is written as a summary of the book. It starts with the statement:

it is hoped that librarians will have been persuaded about the potential for web metric in their professional activities. Even if they are not quite ready to start advertising a web metric service to their users, they will at least recognize the importance of their own metrics. (p. 165)

And this is exactly what makes this book interesting and important for all LIS professionals. With the help of this book they will start to think (if they did not do that already) how to assess and use data acquired through web metrics tools to make informed decisions and demonstrate the value of their services in a networked environment. It can be also used as a reader or textbook for future LIS professionals as it is highly informative and clearly written.