Web Dynamics. Adapting to Change in Content, Size, Topology and Use

Citation

Hutton, D.M. (2006), "Web Dynamics. Adapting to Change in Content, Size, Topology and Use", Kybernetes, Vol. 35 No. 3/4, pp. 593-594. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920610653854

There are, understandably, a large number of books being published about the world wide web (www). As the web is better understood publishers are seeing the advantages of producing books that target specific aspects of this global information system. Consequently, a book with a title Web Dynamics is specific enough to attract those readers who see the web as being highly dynamic in both the content and quantity of the information that it encom passes. This book's editor's organised workshops on “Web Dynamics” (London 2001), produced a special journal issue of Computer Networks (2002), and again in May 2002 organised a second workshop on the subject. The result of their experiences at these workshops has allowed them to identify the major new research advances and challenges. Based on this they have planned their text so that each chapter covers one particular aspect of Web Dynamics. The scene is set in an introductory chapter and this is followed by four parts which they say are essentially the same four topics that emerged in their Web Dynamics workshop. They are:Part I. Evolution of the web's structure and content (Chapters 2‐5). Part II. Searching and navigating the web (Chapters 6‐9). Part III. Handling events and change on the web (Chapters 10‐14). Part IV. Personalised access to the web (Chapters 15‐18). The editors have written a short review of each part, summarise that part and discuss similarities and differences between the techniques introduced in the chapters it contains xxxxxxx. What is not made clear in their Preface is that each of the four parts consists of a collection of contributions from a number of different authors. The introduction the editors give to these papers is very necessary and the desirability of tackling the subject in this way is indeed questionable. There is an inevitable discontinuity in the way in which each part is presented and the book itself is made up of parts which do not form a coherent whole. In fact, the book is really made up of 17 individual contributions, all interesting and relevant to the subject of the book but resembling more the proceedings of a conference than one developing theme.

The book is perhaps better thought of as a collection of papers and in consequence each contribution can be read with its own set of references almost in isolation. The editors do acknowledge this when they suggest “For teachers and students, our aim is that the book will be used to support teaching of graduate level courses on web technologies and also by PhD students as a comprehensive reference resource.”

One other problem that remains for those who invest in any text concerning the web is that it is of course, dynamic but so is the literature which must change by the day as new techniques, and technologies continually arrive on the scene.

More information about the book can be found on: www.springeronline.com