Variety in web spheres between research fields: content and function

In this paper we investigate the different ways the Internet and the WWW are used in different research fields. The question we address is: is the variation in use related to the type of research field – especially with the difference between basic research and more application oriented research? We compare fields from sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities, and among these some are more application oriented than others. The results indicate that the observed differences between the disciplinary websites are not systematically related to application orientation. We discuss other differences between research fields that may explain the use and nature of the websites.