A total of 11 Taiwan universities made the top 500 in the August edition of Spain-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, which evaluates the research performance of tertiary institutions based on Web presence and impact. National Taiwan University has the highest overall ranking at 35th, behind South Korea’s Seoul National University at 34th and ahead of Beijing University in mainland China at 37th and other top performers in the Asia-Pacific region. Other local schools on the list are National Central University at No. 143, National Chiao Tung University at No. 157, National Cheng Kung University at No. 176, National Tsing Hua University at No. 226, National Chengchi University at No. 321 and National Sun Yat-sen University at No. 323. In addition, Tamkang University stood at No. 401, National Taiwan Normal University at No. 403, National Chung Cheng University at No. 440 and National Chung Hsing University at No. 443. Tamkang University is the only local private institution on the list. Compared with the rankings released in February, 10 Taiwan universities moved up, while NTNU slipped slightly. NCKU made the greatest gain, jumping from No. 374 to No. 176. “The main reason for the improvement is that local universities are encouraging faculty to publish academic papers on their institutional websites,” professor Huang Ming-da of information management at Tamkang University said. The rankings are calculated by the Cybermetrics Lab under the Spanish National Research Council. The lab is devoted to quantitative analysis of the Internet, especially the generation and communication of scientific knowledge. According to the lab, Webometrics ranks institutions using link analysis, as it is a far more powerful tool than citation analysis or global surveys. Citations only count formal recognition between peers, while links includes bibliographic citations as well as third party involvement with university activities. Among the current composite indicators, visibility or impact accounts for 50 percent of the ranking, while activity including presence, openness and excellence contributes to the remaining 50 percent. Webometrics also measures other missions like teaching, economic relevance of technology transfer to industry, community engagement and political influence. Starting 2004, the organization has published the rankings of more than 20,000 institutions of higher learning in February and August each year. (SSC-SDH)