Opportunities for using webometric analysis when evaluating the website of a research institution

In modern conditions, when the popularization of research findings acquires special importance, one of the main tasks of research institutions is to develop and promote top-rated web resources. Keeping records of institutions’ websites traffic is included in the project of a system of criteria for evaluating the work of research organizations. The article presents general approaches to the definition of the research institution’s web positioning. It considers global trends in the field of webometric studies, which are based on methods worked out by Cybermetrics Lab, the Center for Scientific Information and Documentation of the Spanish National Research Council. The authors give an overview of Russian methodologies for constructing webometrics rankings of research institutions. Analyzing indexes of the webometrics ranking of Russian research institutions, the strengths and weaknesses of web positioning of the Institute of Socio-Economic Development of Territories of the Russian Academy of Sciences are revealed, and the ways to improve the information policy of the Institute are outlined.