Title: Revealing academic web interlinking motives through webometrics and statistical techniques: Nigerian university websites as a case study

Authors: Anthony M. Nwohiri; Andrey A. Pechnikov

Addresses: Department of Programming Technologies, Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, St. Petersburg State University, 7-9 Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia ' Laboratory for Telecommunications Systems, Institute of Applied Mathematical Research, Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 Pushkinskaya Street 185910, Petrozavodsk, Karelia Rep., Russia

Abstract: The websites of the universities of Africa's most populous country Nigeria were examined. The goal was to unearth the reasons why external hyperlinks are placed on these sites and identify any peculiarities by geographical location. Academic website interlinking motivations were formulated. Over 6,000 hyperlinks placed on the websites of 86 Nigerian universities were categorised under these interlinking motivations. Categorising the motivations by examining the source and target pages of each hyperlink was an arduous task. Statistical analysis offered a clearer picture of the interlinking motives. A chi-squared test revealed distinctive features, which are characteristic of specific geographical regions of Nigeria. The study serves as a route to further research on feasibility of findings in other developing countries. Results obtained could be of great importance for academic webpage developers and authors. The results could modify their work towards improving the use of hyperlinks as a major communication tool on the web.

Keywords: external hyperlinks; citation analysis; academic websites; Nigeria; universities; interlinking motivation; data mining; chi-squared test; higher education; webometrics; university websites; case study; developing countries; website links.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWET.2016.081767

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, 2016 Vol.11 No.4, pp.335 - 350

Published online: 24 Jan 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article