[Air-l] Press release: Web assessment project

[Michel J. Menou]

Colleagues
I thought the announcement below might be of interest to some with a view to
facilitating interaction among those doing this kind of work
Michel

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PRESS RELEASE


The Centre for information behaviour and the evaluation of research -Ciber-
(www.soi.city.ac.uk/is/research/ciber/), a new research unit within the
Department of Information Science, City University, London, has won a
prestigious research grant from the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund, to
evaluate the web sites that they fund in order to determine their role in
providing greater access to information for disadvantaged young people. It is a
longitudinal study, conducted over a period of two years, examining in
particular changes in use and users over time. The purpose of the research is to
determine whether the Fund's money is being spent well and what lessons can be
learnt to inform and improve the quality of future web sites in this
educationally and socially very strategic area.

Ciber has developed a tried and tested methodology based on the analysis of
enormous public web sites, such as those of The Independent, The Times and
Sunday Times, NHS Direct Online, SurgeryDoor (a commercial consumer health
web site) and Northern Echo. Our expertise lies in the robust, data-rich
and user-centred analysis of web sites - employing bespoke and triangulated
web log analysis to the full. With the addition of the 'Diana' project CIBER
can claim to be UK leading research in the web evaluation field.

More Information:
Professor David Nicholas
Head of Department
Department of Information Science
City University
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
Tel: 020-7040-8381/3  
Fax: 020-7040-8584