B. van Gils

On the quality of resources on the Web: An information retrieval perspective

We use information from the Web for performing our daily tasks more and more often. Locating the right resources that help us in doing so is a daunting task, especially with the present rate of growth of the Web as well as the many different kinds of resources available. The tasks of search engines is to assist us in finding those resources that are apt for our given tasks. In this paper we propose to use the notion of quality as a metric for estimating the aptness of online resources for individual searchers. The formal model for quality as presented in this paper is firmly grounded in literature. It is based on the observations that objects (dubbed artefacts in our work) can play different roles (i.e., perform different functions). An artefact can be of high quality in one role but of poor quality in another. Even more, the notion of quality is highly personal. Our quality-computations for estimating the aptness of resources for searches uses the notion of linguistic variables from the field of fuzzy logic. After presenting our model for quality we also show how manipulation of online resources by means of transformations can influence the quality of these resources.

A conceptual model of information supply

In this paper we introduce a conceptual model for information supply which abstracts from enabling technologies such as file types, transport protocols and RDF and DAML+OIL. Rather than focusing on technologies that may be used to actually implement information supply, we focus on the question: what is information supply and how does it relate to the data (resources) found on the Web today. By taking a high level of abstraction we can gain more insight in the information market, compare different views on it and even present the architecture of a prototype retrieval system (Vimes) which uses transformations to deal with the heterogeneity of information supply.

The information market: its basic concepts and its challenges

This paper discusses the concept of information market. The authors of this paper have been involved in several aspects of information retrieval research. In continuing this research tradition we now take a wider perspective on this field and re-position it as a market where demand for information meets supply for information. The paper starts by exploring the notion of a market in general and is followed by a specialization of these considerations in the information market, where we will also position some of the existing work.

Quality makes the information market

In this paper we consider information exchange via the Web to be an information market The notion of quality plays an important role on this information market We present a model of quality and discuss how this model can be operationalized. This leads us to quality measurement, interpretation of measurements and the associated accuracy An illustration in the form of a basic quality assessment system is presented.

Value and the information market

In this paper we explore how (micro)economic theory can be used to analyze and model the exchange of information on the Web. More specifically, we consider searchers for information who engage in transactions on the Web. Searchers will engage in web transactions only if they gain something in such a transaction. To this end we develop a formal model for markets, based on the notions of value and transaction. This model enables us to examine transactions on an information market. In this market we have a dual view on transactions, creating a dichotomy of transactors and transactands.