[ALL THESE RED ANNOTATIONS WILL BE COMMENTED OUT IN THE FINAL VERSION OF THIS PAGE. PLEASE PAGE DOWN TO SEE THE REGULAR CONTENT OR CLICK ON THE Home | Telecommuting Research | IS Education | IS Research Relevance | End-User Computing LINKS TO SEE UNANNOTED PAGES.]

I designed this web page and the associated web site to maximize the exposure of IS research to the general public via the Internet. These web pages incorporate techniques described below that are known to improve search engine rankings. (See further discussion of these techniques in "Dare to be Relevant," also see server log file statistics for "Does Telecommuting Really Increase Productivity? ..." which incorporates similar enhancements. See "Online or Invisible?" for a rationale for putting your papers into this type of web site. Several dialogues regarding the concept form the basis for the FAQs.)

You are free to use the code in the template version of this page as the basis for a similar page to showcase your own research. Note that I did not emphasize the esthetic aspects, because they do not have a primary effect on rankings. However those who are familiar with HTML, or an authoring tool such as Composer, Dreamweaver, FrontPage, etc., can easily change the color scheme or add a background pattern, graphics, or some other visual aspects to suit their tastes with little or no effect on search engine rankings.

Also note that there is an external style sheet--research.css--which needs to be uploaded into the same directory to control the appearance of the template pages. Those who work with stylesheets can change the appearance of web pages derived from these templates by changing the contents of this external file.

The title on the title bar above, the following H1 heading placed at the top of the page, and the META tags (visible using View>Source) all contain the keywords "information," "systems," and "research," to improve the position of the page in queries that include these words/phrases.

To get your pages into the search engines more quickly, you will need to submit them to the leading search engines and directories. I am working on an article, which will be published in an online publication, that explains this process. To further increase your site's exposure, you can also join the AISConnect listserv, developed by Rick Watson, which links journalists to AIS members. Your individual pages on separate categories of research will be excellent points of reference for reporters who are looking for information on specific topics.

IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE GENERAL CONCEPT OR THE DESIGN OF THIS PROTOTYPE WEB SITE, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT rdwestfall@csupmona.edu (MESSAGE BOARD AT: www.csupomona.edu/~rdwestfall/ais/mb/ IS BEING DISCONTINUED.)

Home | Telecommuting Research | IS Education | IS Research Relevance | End-User Computing

Information Systems Research

Some Information Systems Professional Association Member

Search Ralph Westfall's I S Research Web Site

The Atomz engine below is free for personal use. In itself it probably will not improve the rankings of this page, but it should increase traffic to the other pages in the same directory and its subdirectories by making their contents easier for visitors to find.

Note that every time you add a link on your research web site to a publication in the same directory as the Atomz code or any of its subdirectories on your server, you need to go to your account on the Atomz web site and Index the web site so the content of your added publication will be included in future searches. If you have any files that you do not want to be publicly accessible, it probably would be a good idea to not put them in the same directory as the Atomz link or in any of its subdirectories.

This search engine is fully functional on this web site, searching the content of all HTML and PDF files linked from each of the individual pages on this web site. You can test it by entering a name or keyword in the text box below and clicking the Search button.

For your information, Atomz provides information (via your personal account) on all words used for searches on your web site. You can use this information to fine-tune your keywords and meta-tags, just as you can use the statistics provided by the hit counter at the bottom of this page.

The Atomz engine searches all the information systems research category pages and linked publications within this web site on this server.

Atomz Search Engine

Note use of keywords "research" and "information systems" below in H2 and H3 headings, and in links to other web pages.

Information Systems Research, Publications, Etc. by Category

Telecommuting Research

(one version of this linked page is also annotated to identify search engine placement enhancements)

My dissertation, a journal article, two conference proceedings, a chapter in a book, and three miscellaneous items.

Information Systems Education

One journal article, invited participation in a National Research Council workshop, three conference proceedings, two textbook chapters, and an Internet-published case study that has been used in numerous information systems classes.

Information Systems Research Relevance

Two position papers in Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS), and a panel at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS'99).

End-User Computing

One conference proceeding.

Information Systems Research by Other Researchers

Reciprocal cross links to other IS researchers' web pages will increase traffic to SISPA member web sites. Also, some search engines (e.g., Google) weight links to a web page very heavily in their ranking of that page.

Varun Grover

Recognized as one of the two most prolific researchers in the information systems field.
journal articles
books and monographs
proceedings

Magid Igbaria (deceased)

The other most prolific researcher in the information systems field. Also was a member of my dissertation committee at Claremont Graduate University.

Other Information Systems Research Links

ISWorld

A central web site for sharing information among information systems scholars and educators.

Information Systems Journals

Links to approximately 100 journals that publish research related to information systems.

www.brint.com/ISResearch.htm

A compendium of links to information systems research and materials of interest to the information systems community.

About Ralph Westfall

Note the frequency--23 occurrences--of the phrase "information systems" in the regular text (not in a heading, link or meta-tag) of the un-commented version of this page (Home). Move the mouse over the adjacent image to see another use of this phrase in the ALT attribute.

Ralph Westfall - Information Systems Research

After a 26 year business career, Ralph Westfall earned a Ph.D. in Management of Information Systems from Claremont Graduate University in 1997. He teaches via physical presence at California Polytechnic University in Pomona and has also taught remotely through distance learning technologies.

He has published in Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery (CACM), Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS), Information Systems Management, and Journal of Computer Information Systems, and wrote a chapter in The Virtual Workplace. He presented papers at conferences of the Association for Information Systems and the Decision Sciences Institute. He was selected to participate in a 1998 National Research Council workshop on information technology literacy. He organized and was a member of a panel on "Making Information Systems Research More Relevant" at the International Conference on Information Systems in 1999. He was selected to participate in the MERLOT (multimedia educational resource for learning and on-line teaching) project in the spring and summer of 2000.

His research interests include Internet technologies, electronic commerce, the virtual office and other forms of remote work, distance learning, other applications of information technology in education at all levels, and information technology literacy.

Disclaimer. Although Ralph Westfall is a member of the Some Information Systems Professional Association, the information systems research materials on this page reflect his personal perspectives and are not intended to represent any policies or positions of that organization.

Email: rdwestfall@csupmona.edu      Web page: Ralph Westfall

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Ralph Westfall © 2001, 2003, 2007

The free Extreme Tracker hit counter on the bottom right of the un-commented version of this page (Home) does not directly affect search engine rankings. However it generates information about how much traffic you are getting and provides very useful statistics. This vendor also has a $4.50/month version that provides additional statistics that you may be able to use to enhance your pages to improve their rankings. You can go to eXTReMe Tracking to get your own code for a free or paid counter for your web page.