Conceptualization of hybrid web sites

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a mechanism to characterize websites, at the conceptualization stage, whose information content can be defined in terms of hybrid conceptual models. Usually in this type of website, some of the domain information units are modeled in terms of classes/entities while others remain as heterogeneous irregular elements. Websites built on this type of hybrid conceptual domain are referred to as hybrid websites in this paper. Design/methodology/approach We have characterized a hybrid website, at the conceptualization stage the site of the Virtual Campus of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. For the characterization of this site we used the Pipe notation, a notation that has proven to be appropriate when characterizing websites built on irregular domains. In addition, the Pipe notation was combined with entity-relationship diagrams to characterize the most homogeneous and regular elements of the website. We also analyzed several alternative notations intended for the characterization of websites. Findings We found that if in hybrid websites, entity-relationship diagrams are complemented with other notations able to characterize the most heterogeneous and irregular elements of these websites, important benefits can be obtained from a modeling point of view. These benefits are later easily translated into an easier evolution and maintenance of the website. Navarro, A., Fernández-Valmayor, A. Conceptualization of Hybrid Websites. Internet Research 17 (2), pp. 207-228. 2007.