Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Master of Sciences, Medical Library and Information Sciences, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Poursina Clinical Research Development, Rasht, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Knowledge and Information Sciences Department, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Library and Information Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Health Information Management Research Center, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Websites are suitable tools for interaction among organizations and citizens. So, the main goal of each efficient website must be presenting high-quality information. embassies' websites should have high quality and interaction with each other so that effective information and communication channel is established between embassies' websites and their visitors. Quality Criteria of Website Quality Evaluation Tool include Content, Performance, Credibility, UpDating, Links, Graphics, Scope, Structure, and use of MetaTags. On the other hand, given that the embassies' websites have thematic and content subscriptions, the links between the websites will play an important role in the visibility of the websites. Determining the current status of the quality of the websites of Iranian embassies has led to the identification of their strengths and weaknesses and can be a way to a more successful and useful presence in cyberspace for visitors to use the content of the websites. The aim of this study was to determine embassies' websites status in terms of quality of embassies' websites and drawing their link network relationship.
Methodology: This study is an applied work, which was carried through surveys and webometric methods. The population consisted of 145 embassies' websites. Evaluations were done using the Website Quality Evaluation Tool and Webometric Analyst software. In this study, face validity was used to determine the validity, so that experts and professors in the field of website quality evaluation and mapping of network relations were consulted. Also, the reliability of the current measuring instrument was 95% of Cronbach's alpha, which showed very high reliability. The collected data were analyzed using Quality grade formula and descriptive statistics.
Step 1: Website Quality Assessment tool (WQAT) is used. Using this tool, each site is evaluated based on a checklist of website quality assessment tools. 9 criteria (Content, Performance, Credibility, UpDating, Links, Graphics, Scope, Structure, and use of MetaTags) and 38 components or features (37 components of a website quality assessment tool with a question asked by researchers) on websites Were investigated.
Step 2: The data collection tool in the second step was the free Webometric Analyst 2.0 software. First, the program is loaded from the LexiURL browser, Link Network Diagram option, In the second step, a text file with the names of the domains or URLs in each row was created using Notepad Windows with a similar text program. The browser starts the data collection phase and after a few minutes to half an hour, a report will be presented in the form of a set of pages.
Findings: The results of the findings showed that Out of the 145 studied embassies' websites, 131 embassies' websites had ranked as high-quality and reliable websites and 14 embassies' websites were ranked as websites with very good quality. The highest rankings in the High-Quality Score included the Libyan Embassy - Tripoli (82), followed by Hungary - Budapest (80) and India - The Hague (80). The lowest quality was related to the website of the Embassy of Afghanistan - Jalalabad. In examining the status of embassies' websites based on content criteria, most websites were in average poor condition (93.69), and the status of most embassies' websites in terms of performance criteria was very average (64.25). In terms of Credibility, embassies' websites are very weak (38.62), very strong (26.37), weak (18.79), moderately weak (8.44), very average (5.51), strong (24/2), respectively. In terms of UpDating, the websites of the embassies were very average (49.65), very poor (46.37), weak (3.27), and moderately weak (0.68), respectively. In the survey based on Links, the websites of the embassies were moderately weak (94.25) and weak (5.74), respectively. In the Graphical survey, the status of most embassies' websites was very average (80.91). In the Domain-Based survey, the majority of embassies' websites were moderately weak (66.66). In terms of Structure, embassies' websites were moderately weak (99.65) and weak (0.34), respectively. In the survey based on the MetaTags feature, the embassies' websites were in very poor (95.86) and excellent (4.13) positions, respectively. Moreover, in inspecting embassies' websites using Webometric Analyst software, no link network relationship was found between the embassies' websites Based on interaction and communication links together.
Discussion: In general, recommended that designers of these websites focus on quality criteria as well as their link network of relationships. Since the embassies' websites are an important source of information for many people, the issue of quality and their network relationships is very important. In general, the research results showed that web designers have, to some extent, paid attention to website quality criteria (Content, Performance, Credibility, UpDating, Links, Graphics, Scope, Structure, and use of MetaTags), but paid no attention to establishing network relationship.
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