Developing a Framework for Assessing Information Quality on the World Wide Web

Introduction--The Big Picture Over the past decade, the [Internet.sup. 1]--or World Wide Web (Technically the Internet is a huge collection of networked computers using TCP/IP protocol to exchange data. The World-wide Web (WWW) is in essence only part of this network of computers, however its visible status has meant that conceptually at least, it is often used interchangeably with "Internet" to describe the same thing. )--has established itself as the key infrastructure for information administration, exchange, and publication (Alexander & Tate, 1999), and Internet Search Engines are the most commonly used tool to retrieve that information (Wang, 2001). The deficiency of enforceable standards however, has resulted in frequent information quality problems (Eppler & Muenzenmayer, 2002). This paper is part of a research project undertaken at Edith Cowan, Wollongong and Sienna Universities, to build an Internet Focused Crawler that uses "Quality" criterion in determining returns to user queries. Such a task requires that the conceptual notions of quality be ultimately quantified into Search Engine algorithms that interact with Webpage technologies, eliminating documents that do not meet specifically determined standards of quality. The focus of this paper, as part of the wider research, is on the concepts of Quality in Information and Information Systems, specifically as it pertains to Information and Information Retrieval on the Internet. As with much of the research into Information Quality (IQ) in Information Systems, the term is interchangeable with Data Quality (DQ). What Is Information Quality? Data and Information Quality is commonly thought of as a multi-dimensional concept (Klein, 2001) with varying attributed characteristics depending on an author's philosophical view-point. Most commonly, the term "Data Quality" is described as data that is "Fit-for-use" (Wang & Strong, 1996), which implies that it is relative, as data considered appropriate for one use may not possess sufficient attributes for another use (Tayi & Ballou, 1998). IQ as a series of Dimensions Table 1 summaries 12 widely accepted IQ Frameworks collated from the last decade of IS research. While varied in their approach and application, the frameworks share a number of characteristics regarding their classifications of the dimensions of quality. An analysis of Table 1 reveals the common elements between the different IQ Frameworks. These include such traditional dimensions as accuracy, consistency, timeliness, completeness, accessibility, objectiveness and relevancy. Table 2 provides a summary of the most common dimensions and the frequency with which they are included in the above IQ Frameworks. Each dimension also includes a short definition. IQ in the context of its use In order to accurately define and measure the concept of Information quality, it is not enough to identify the common elements of IQ Frameworks as individual entities in their own right. In fact, Information Quality needs to be assessed within the context of its generation (Shanks & Corbitt, 1999) and intended use (Katerattanakul & Siau, 1999). This is because the attributes of data quality can vary depending on the context in which the data is to be used (Shankar & Watts, 2003). Defining what Information Quality is within the context of the World Wide Web and its Search Engines then, will depend greatly on whether dimensions are being identified for the producers of information, the storage and maintenance systems used for information, or for the searchers and users of information. The currently accepted view of assessing IQ, involves understanding it from the users point of view. Strong and Wang (1997) suggest that quality of data cannot be assessed independent of the people who use data. Applying this commonly to the World Wide Web has its own set of problems. …