III. Other Information-Intensive Sectors

In order to gain further insight into the significance of Google's PageRanks for HBCUs and other colleges and universities, the DLL obtained PageRank data for the Home Pages of prominent organizations in three other information-intensive sectors: information technology (broadly defined), media (broadly defined), and national governance, i.e., Federal agencies and national policy/political organizations.

A. Information Technology Sector

The PageRanks for vendors of a selection of prominent computer hardware, software, networks, and Internet standards organizations are shown in Table A (below)

Table A. Information Technology Sector (30 + 10 new)
January 2009 PageRanks observed using Firefox 3 on workstation in Silver Spring, MD
on 12/26/08, 12/29/08, 12/30/08, 1/1/09

Findings -- Information Technology:

1. The downward trend detected among the selected institutions in the higher education sector was more pronounced among the selected organizations in the information technology sector. Between October 2006 and January 2009, 19 of the 30 organizations moved down; 10 stayed the same; but only one company, Novell, moved up.
   
   
2. While Google's maintenance of its position at the top of its own rankings was not surprising, the fall of Linux from PageRank = 9 to PageRank = 5 is noteworthy.

Note: Organizations listed as "new" in these tables were not included in the October 2006 selections either because they were not deemed to be sufficiently important at that time, because they didn't exist back then .... or because the author wasn't sufficiently alert. ... :-(

B. Media

The PageRanks for the Home Pages of some of the most eminent print, broadcast, cable, and internet media are found in Table B (below):

Table B. Media (36 + 7 new)
January 2009 PageRanks observed using Firefox 3 on workstation in Silver Spring, MD
on 12/26/08, 12/29/08, 12/30/08, 1/1/09

Findings -- Media:

1. The downward trend among the 36 selected firms in the media sector was not as widespread as in the information technology sector, but media firms experienced larger setbacks. Between October 2006 and January 2009, the PageRanks of 15 firms declined, with five declining by two or more levels; only 8 firms increased, and 13 remained the same.
   
   
2. CNN replaced the New York Times as the media hegemon, with PageRank = 10.
   
   

Note: The blogosphere was not included in the the media selected for this study, a major shortcoming that will be addressed in future editions. ... :-(

C. National Governance -- Federal Agencies and National Policy/Political Organizations

The PageRanks for the Home Pages of the a selection of prominent national governance organizations are shown in Table C (below):

Table C. National Governance (47 + 4 new)
January 2009 PageRanks observed using Firefox 3 on workstation in Silver Spring, MD
on 12/26/08, 12/29/08, 12/30/08, 1/1/09

Findings -- National Governance:

1. The PageRanks of the 47 organizations selected from the national governance sector experienced no declines. Although 8 organizations declined between October 2006 and January 2009, 9 other organizations obtained higher PageRanks, while 29 remained unchanged. (Note: The PageRank for one organization, the CIA, was not available during the January 2009 observation period.)
   
   
2. During this time frame, the White House and the National Science Foundation slipped from 10 to 9, but the Department of Health and Human Services rose from 9 to 10. More impressively, the Department of Energy rose from 6 to 9.

Last updated: Sunday 04-Jan-2009 2:53 PM