Dynamics of thematic information flows
📝 Abstract
The studies of the dynamics of topical dataflow of new information in the framework of a logistic model were suggested. The condition of topic balance, when the number of publications on all topics is proportional to the information space and time, was presented. General time dependence of the publication intensity in the Internet, devoted to particular topics, was observed; unlike an exponent model, it has a saturation area. Some limitations of a logistic model were identified opening the way for further research.
💡 Analysis
The studies of the dynamics of topical dataflow of new information in the framework of a logistic model were suggested. The condition of topic balance, when the number of publications on all topics is proportional to the information space and time, was presented. General time dependence of the publication intensity in the Internet, devoted to particular topics, was observed; unlike an exponent model, it has a saturation area. Some limitations of a logistic model were identified opening the way for further research.
📄 Content
Dynamics of thematic information flows
D.V. Lande, S.M. Braichevskii
Information center ElVisti, Kyiv, Ukraine
The studies of the dynamics of topical dataflow of new information in the framework of a logistic model were suggested. The condition of topic balance, when the number of publications on all topics is proportional to the information space and time, was presented. General time dependence of the publication intensity in the Internet, devoted to particular topics, was observed; unlike an exponent model, it has a saturation area. Some limitations of a logistic model were identified opening the way for further research.
Key words: information flows, Internet network, logistic model, topic balance
Topics
One of the main features of network information space is the availability of a dynamic
segment [1], its content changing with time. Thereby, recently the concept of data flows has
become relevant [2-4], they begin to play more and more important role in present-day
information technologies. Therefore, to study the dynamics of data flows is definitely important
and interesting, particularly because the issue has not been researched enough [5].
During recent decades certain achievements have been made in solving the problem of
information obsolescence in the framework of model Barton-Kebler [6], which was developed
because of the need to evaluate a real usage term of scientific works and also the approaches of
Cole and other authors [7]. Later it turned out that the results achieved (as well as the
approaches) could be useful in a wider context of the information technologies. However, the
comprehension of the processes of the dynamics of data flows requires somewhat deeper
analysis and more sophisticated technique.
Studying the dynamics of thematic data flows of new information in a framework of a logistic model is suggested in this work. Common time dependence of the publication intensity was received; it appeared to correspond to experimental data. Alongside with this, limitations of a logistic model have been identified which in turn opens the ways for further research.
Available models
As it is well known, a general structure of the Internet network consists of two main
parts – static and dynamic.
The whole Internet space can be relatively divided into two constituents – stable and
dynamic, they both have very different characteristics from the point of view of a required
integration of data flows. In particular, even information obsolescence processes, loss of its
actuality in Barton-Kebler model are described with the equation, which consists of two
components:
m(t) = 1 – ae-T – be-2T ,
where m (t) – share of useful information in a total dataflow through time, the first numerator
corresponds to stable resources, the second one - dynamic-new.
A stable constituent of the Internet contains “long-term” information, while a dynamic
constituent has constantly updating resources. Some part of this constituent joins the stable one
2
in the course of time, while a greater part of it “disappears” from the Internet or enters the
segment of “hidden” web-space, not accessible for users via known information-retrieval
systems.
A segment of new information is apparently more vividly dynamic. On the one hand, it
has the highest level of updating; on the other hand, huge amount of data is generated and
distributed there. In view of our needs, it is this segment which seems to be the best for the
research.
Generally speaking, information dynamics in the network is due to many factors, most of
them cannot be analyzed. As a reasonable assumption, general character of time dependence of
the number of thematic publications in the network is defined with very simple regularities,
which allow developing mathematic models.
In the works we are familiar with and which deal with the information obsolescence,
Maltus model is used [8] (probably with some modifications similar to super-position of two
curves with different parameters). The advantage of the model is that Maltus equation has an
exact answer in the form of a very simple and convenient function – exponent; from the point of
view of the result interpretation, it looks very disputable. The main problem is that exponent is a
monotonous increasing function: it cannot describe the processes, which by nature must have
local extremes.
There is no need to prove that news loses its actuality which results in the decrease of the
publication number. To get more adequate dependence, we have to refer to more complicated
models.
A logistic model appears to be very promising; it was suggested by P. Ferhlust [9] to
describe the dynamics of population and by R. Purl [10] – for biological communities; later it
was successfully used in numerous researches. The advantage of the model, first of all, is the fact
that it combines the simplicity of the task formulation with the possibility
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