Academies of Sciences Websites in Selected Foreign Countries: Structural Analysis

Abstract

This article identifies the role of foreign academies of sciences in generating, disseminating, and using scientific and technical information (STI). The expedience of analytically comparing the websites of these academies by content and characteristics is substantiated. The peculiarities of the legal status of these organizations, as well as their structure and lines of activities, are considered.

The functional features of the websites of the considered academies are analyzed as well as the interface languages, sources, and composition of information posted on these sites about academy members, subordinate organizations/subdivisions, scientific publications and materials published in such publications, scientific events, etc. A detailed analytical comparison is applied to the webometric indicators of the considered sites, including information on inbound, internal, and outbound hyperlinks, site storages, and data on their user traffic. Conclusions are made about the role of these sites in aggregating and disseminating STI, as well as about the usefulness of such sites to Russian researchers and organizations.