It cannot be denied that the internet has radically changed the life of many people and is a critical component in the information age. With the evolution of mobile technology (such as smartphones and tablets), the internet has become as much a part of daily life as oxygen. This is also the reason why “internet of things” has been emerging in recent years. It is difficult to imagine how people can cope with their life without the access to the internet nowadays.
Web portals are one means, among others, of integrating different functions for many business applications through the internet. Therefore, there is a need to design web portals in an optimal way in order to better satisfy the users (customers). The collection of 18 articles in this edited book provides the latest development in this area. The papers have been published previously in another outlet, also edited by the same editors. In other words, this book can be viewed as another channel for disseminating the research outputs. On the one hand, the quality of the articles is thus guaranteed to be up to a certain standard, as they have been peer-reviewed. On the other hand, originality of the contributions is compromised. Nevertheless, the collection provides a good source of reference under the theme of the book.
The editors selected the articles surrounding a few important topics: service-oriented architecture (SOA), online payments, performance measurement systems and mobile systems among others. It is not surprising that many articles concern service-related topics, including SOA. It is hoped that SOA, for example, can simplify the development of web portals and lead to more cost effective solutions. The organisation of the book would have been improved if the articles were grouped under clearly defined themes. Each chapter starts with an abstract and ends with a list of references. At the end of the work a compilation of references is also provided.
The articles are truly international, as the authors come from five continents. Their views are broad enough to provide insights from different perspectives, and overall the quality of the collection is very good. Web Portal Design is a good reference source for academics in this area. This is also a good off-the-shelf handbook for postgraduate students.
