Web Science and Big Data Analytics seminar: What Have We Learned From Web Science? - A Status Report

Speaker: Bebo White, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
UCL Contact: Shuai Yuan (Visitors from outside UCL please email in advance).
Date/Time: 28 Mar 14, 13:00 - 15:00
Venue: Roberts G06

Abstract

The World Wide Web has proven to be an invaluable collaboration tool in the physical, biological, and social sciences. The unique aspects of the Web have led to the definition of its own branch of science. "Web Science" has become a recognized research area and numerous universities have added its study to their curriculum.

"Web Science embraces the study of the Web as a vast information network of people and communities. It also includes the study of people and communities using the digital records of user activity mediated by the Web. An understanding of human behavior and social interaction can contribute to our understanding of the Web, and data obtained from the Web can contribute to our understanding of human behavior and social interaction." [ACM Web Science conference site]. Web Science has been described as "studying the online world to understand the offline world."

In this talk Bebo will provide an evaluation of the state of Web Science and discuss some of the diverse and fascinating results that Web Science researchers have discovered.