Drake Equation for the web

[Karen G. Schneider]

This is very amusing.  However, a couple of questions.  Are all of these
factors multiplied (e.g. are you using x for * )? Also, I agree with the
general principle that the Internet is an info-trash-barge with some good
gleanings to be found by determined dumpster-divers.  But surely not all
good information is well-designed or even accurate (after all, a book on
creationism is "good" if it contributes to a broadening of access to
viewpoints), and the definitions of  quality and utility are wide open to
interpretation.  Furthermore, in libraries we have used "cataloging" very
narrowly, and primarily with reference to one paper-based format (otherwise
known as "the book").  You don't catalog all magazine articles housed or
transmitted into your library, for example--you rely on other tools for
this access.  So "the catalog" proper is only representative of a certain
type or level of access to a certain type of data.  The concept of what is
"worth cataloging" may not port well to the Internet; the mechanism itself
may be the problem--that we still think in terms of creating a finding aid
structured like a library catalog, when that model may not apply or be
feasible to a different information environment. Anyway, this is a fun
issue to tussle with :-)

>Sc=Wp x fs x ft x fg x fi x fu
>
>where
>Sc is the number of web sites worth cataloging
>Wp is the total number of web pages on the Internet
>fs is the fraction of those pages that constitute distinct web sites
>ft is the fraction of web sites with  topical informational content
>fg is the fraction of sites with accurate, current, comprehensive,
>well-maintained, and well-designed content
>fi is the fraction of sites that are findable, i.e. have been indexed in
>robot engines or announced in current awareness tools
>and fu is the fraction that haven't been moved or pulled down since being
>indexed or announced.


_________________________________________________________
Karen G. Schneider |  kgs at bluehighways.com http://www.bluehighways.com
Author: A Practical Guide to Internet Filters, Neal Schuman, 1997 
Director, Garfield Library of Brunswick, NY  garfield at crisny.org
Garfield on the Web: http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/garfield
Information is hard work
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