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What’s on the Web—And What’s Not

Cindy Royal

The University of Texas at Austin

Many students (and some faculty members) seem to act as if the World Wide Web contains all of human knowledge. One indication of this phenomenon is the increasing reliance on web sites by students for research purposes. This study challenges this thinking by examining variation in the amount of information on the web on several dimensions: historical time, completeness of general information, extent of information about different countries, and extent of coverage of corporations. A second phase of the study explored several predictors of amount of information on the web for these same dimensions. The predictors were time, importance of information, population (for countries), and annual revenue (for corporations). Examining the role of the predictors takes a first step toward formulating a theory that explains the content of the web.

Key Words: World Wide Web • information • completeness • knowledge

Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 23, No. 3, 360-370 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0894439305275909


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				C. Royal and D. Kapila What's on Wikipedia, and What's Not . . . ?: Assessing Completeness of Information Social Science Computer Review, February 1, 2009; 27(1): 138 - 148. [Abstract] [PDF]