A model based on fuzzy linguistic information to evaluate the quality of digital libraries

Abstract

TheWeb is changing the information access processes and it is one of the most important information media. Thus, the developments on the Web are having a great in uence over the developments on others information access instruments as digital libraries. As the development of digital libraries is to satisfy user need, user satisfaction is essential for the success of a digital library. The aim of this paper is to present a model based on fuzzy linguistic information to evaluate the quality of digital libraries. The quality evaluation of digital libraries is de ned using users perceptions on the quality of digital services provided through their Web sites. We assume a fuzzy linguistic modeling to represent the users perception and apply automatic tools of fuzzy computing with words based on the LOWA and LWA operators to compute global quality evaluations of digital libraries. Additionally, we show an example of application of this model where three Spanish academic digital libraries are evaluated by fty users.