Sweepstakes or Strategy?: Enhancing Webometric Rankings of Universities in Kenya

1. Introduction

The World Wide Web (WWW) has become an important source of academic materials. A growing number of scholars are turning to Web sources for information. Davidson et al. (2014) explained that the WWW is a vast repository of valuable scholarly materials. Kunosić et al. (2019) argued that the WWW has become one of the most important sources of academic materials and greatly influences scholarly endeavour. Slaouti (2002) admitted that communities of scholars cannot ignore the potential and actual value of the WWW in facilitating knowledge-based conversations among scholars and non-scholars alike. The author asserted that the WWW has opened vast opportunities for publishing, preserving, and sharing scholarly information than any other technology before it. The structure, size and interactivity of the WWW enable it to serve as an appropriate platform for scholarly endeavour. In recognition of this immense value, Aguillo et al. (2008) as well as Suksida and Santiworarak (2017) reported that many institutions have increased investment in their Web resources. The value of the WWW continues to grow with the advancement of the technology to “point oh” Web typologies such as Web 2.0 or and Web 3.0 (Kwanya et al., 2012; 2014b).

There are many advantages of the WWW. The WWW provides a means of extending the reach of scholarly information materials thereby facilitating the realisation of a truly open access to such publications (Aguillo et al., 2010). According to Suber (2006), the open access philosophy underpins the Internet architecture. Right from its nascent roots in the form of the ARPANET in the 1960s, the Internet was aimed at opening access to research materials. Suber (2005) argued that the WWW enables researchers to reduce limitations to access, availability and use of research materials. Mering and Hoeve (2020) explained that many universities and research institutes have embraced the concept of open access and are advocating for unrestricted access to their research products. Consequently, more research output is published in open access channels than before. According to Ferreras-Fernández et al. (2015), the channels include both conventional and grey literature. Kwanya et al. (2014a) argued that grey literature complements traditional research materials and enriches scientific research with contextual, background and factual information without which research output would be difficult to produce. Importantly, grey literature promotes open access by providing avenues through which copyrighted materials would be shared legally. The WWW plays a pivotal role in facilitating the publication of both conventional and grey literature on websites, digital institutional repositories, online databases and digital libraries, among others.