Small-world linkage and co-linkage

ABSTRACT

The paper presents ideas from a current research project concerned with link structures and small-world phenomena on the WWW, with possible implications for knowledge discovery or `web mining'. The project includes case studies of so-called co-linkage chains consisting of co-linking and co-linked web nodes (analogous to bibliographic couplings and co-citations) in a context of researchers' homepages and published bookmark lists. Key concepts are so-called transversal links and transversal co-linkages (on co-linkage chains) functioning as short cuts or `weak ties' between heterogeneous subject domains and interest communities on the Web. According to a hypothesis in the project, transversal links make the Web more strongly connected and `crumpled up' by creating small-world phenomena in the shape of short distances between nodes in the Web graph.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.4 Systems and Software
          Subjects: Information networks

Additional Classification:
  G. Mathematics of Computing
  G.2 DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
      G.2.2 Graph Theory

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.4 Hypertext/Hypermedia

General Terms:
Theory

Keywords:
WWW, citation analysis, co-linkage chains, knowledge discovery, link structure analysis, small-world phenomena, transveral links, web mining