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Spanish universities and open science: a study of barriers and facilitators

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La ciència oberta constitueix un nou model de fer ciència basat en el treball col·laboratiu entre acadèmics, en l’obertura i la transparència de totes les fases de la recerca, que agrupa un conjunt d’elements, entre els quals destaquen l’accés obert, les dades obertes, noves mètriques i models d’avaluació.

Objectius: conèixer els factors facilitadors i les barreres que condicionen la implementació de la ciència oberta a les universitats, amb una atenció especial a l’accés obert, les dades de recerca i l’avaluació de la ciència.

Metodologia: es van analitzar les respostes dels vicerectors de recerca de les setanta-sis universitats espanyoles integrades a la CRUE en una enquesta feta entre el setembre i el novembre del 2021. El qüestionari, en línia, el componien cinquanta-tres ítems integrats a tretze preguntes. La CRUE va enviar el qüestionari.

Resultats: amb una taxa de resposta del 36,8 %; majoritàriament les competències de la ciència oberta requeien al vicerectorat de recerca. Destaca la baixa freqüència (18 %) amb què les universitats especifiquen criteris per avaluar el seu compromís amb la ciència oberta, i la disponibilitat en gairebé totes d’un repositori. S’han considerat factors afavoridors la coordinació entre els vicerectorats i els serveis bibliotecaris, la importància que es concedeix a la recerca en l’agenda política i el convenciment institucional amb el canvi, entre altres factors. Pel que fa a l’avaluació, els vicerectors rebutgen l’ús del factor d’impacte de la revista, a favor de fer una valoració qualitativa de l’article, de l’ús de les citacions i de la consideració de l’impacte social.

Audiovisual genres in BookTubers’ productions: a quantitative analysis

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Figura 1. Assignació d'etiquetes de gènere audiovisual en els títols dels vídeos

Using Bakhtin's concept of genre (1982), this article presents a quantitative analysis of the most popular genres among the productions of Spanish-speaking BookTubers (Book + YouTubers). Its aim is to determine which discourses are the most dominant discursive forms in their production and the repercussions these audiovisual genres have on their audiences through quantitative indicators of popularity (views, likes/dislikes/comments). We quantify the presence of audiovisual genres in a random sample of videos published in 2017 (n=368) using digital methods, through the informatic script YouTube Data Tools to obtain information about the videos (Title, Description, Number of Views, Comments, Likes and Dislikes). Evidence shows that BookTubers are able to use a great variety of audiovisual genres that come both from other YouTubers (such as vlogs, challenges, hangouts, hauls or unboxings) and from other media (reviews, rankings, lists, interviews). The most prominent in our corpus are the review, the list and the wrap-up, which fit a traditional recommendation function; however, the most popular among their audiences, in terms of views, comments and likes, are those in which the BookTuber performs a thematic selection of several books, such as lists, rankings or wrap-ups. This reinforces the curatorial value of their work as reading mediators.

Wikimedia 2030 movement strategy: How an inclusive open strategy process has placed people at the centre

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Figure 1. Scheme of the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy Process organized by phases, subphases, involved actors and the strategy practices in terms of the degree of openness

Objectives: In 2017, the Wikimedia Movement embarked on an open strategy process to decide the scope of action towards the horizon of 2030. Contrary to the development of a traditional strategy, an open strategy process allows numerous people to generate, discuss, and evaluate ideas. This study examines how this open strategy process and its output documents support inclusivity and address people’s needs.

Methodology: Inclusivity practices employed in the different phases of the open strategy process are reviewed — encompassing aspects such as modes of participation, transparency, and decision-making. Through discourse analysis, the aim is to highlight the main characteristics of the strategy product created and how it has been interpreted by the Wikimedia Movement, online communities, and affiliates.

Results: The results of the study are two-fold. Firstly, a wide array of participation modes employed to include the Wikimedia Movement actors have been identified. Secondly, it has been found that the resulting strategy documents place people at the centre of the discourse, not only in the proposed new strategic direction but also in the strategic principles and recommendations that were produced. Thus, this paper extends the understanding of open strategy in large and collaborative environments, showing that inclusivity practices help elaborate proposals of changes that need to be implemented later by relevant stakeholders.

Web analytics for open access academic journals: justification, planning and implementation

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Figure 1. Overview of the audience of the BiD journal for 2020 compared to 2019. Source: Google Analytics account for BiD

An overview is presented of resources and web analytics strategies useful in setting solutions for capturing usage statistics and assessing audiences for open access academic journals. A set of complementary metrics to citations is contemplated to help journal editors and managers to provide evidence of the performance of the journal as a whole, and of each article in particular, in the web environment. The measurements and indicators selected seek to generate added value for editorial management in order to ensure its sustainability. The proposal is based on three areas: counts of visits and downloads, optimization of the website alongside with campaigns to attract visitors, and preparation of a dashboard for strategic evaluation. It is concluded that, from the creation of web performance measurement plans based on the resources and proposals analysed, journals may be in a better position to plan the data-driven web optimization in order to attract authors and readers and to offer the accountability that the actors involved in the editorial process need to assess their open access business model.

Teens and digital image creation on social media: informal learning, transmedia skills and professional profiles

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Objectives: This paper presents results from the Transmedia Literacy (H2020) project, carried out with teenagers from eight countries in Europe, Latin American and Oceania. The principal aim is to explore how teens construct their digital image on social media, focusing particularly on those participants who are professionalising their online activity and on the skills and practices they employ. We also look at the correlation between the observed skillsets and the skills profiles of communication professionals like community managers.

Methods: A short-term ethnography approach is used (Pink; Morgan, 2013) together with a variety of data collection methods (questionnaires, creative workshops, interviews, media diaries and online observation).

Results: The results show that some teens acquire skill profiles compatible with professional practice through informal learning in social media environments. A small number of the participants are developing professional-level skills and have even begun to monetise their social media activity. The data suggest that formal education must broaden its horizons to cater for and build on the knowledge and potential that teens are acquiring informally across a range of digital settings.

Videos on social networking sites and corporate blogs: analysis of the usage and interactions of Catalan public libraries during the first month of confinement of COVID-19

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El propòsit principal d’aquest article és estudiar la presència dels vídeos als perfils de les xarxes socials i els blogs corporatius de les biblioteques públiques catalanes durant el primer mes de confinament (del 13 de març al 14 d’abril de 2020) amb un doble objectiu. El primer és saber si han creat o difós vídeos a les xarxes socials. El segon és delimitar-ne la tipologia i concretar el canal on s’han publicat. Com a pas previ, cal saber si les biblioteques públiques catalanes han estat actives a les xarxes socials durant aquest període independentment del contingut difós.

Per a realitzar aquesta anàlisi s’ha creat un conjunt de dades d’accés obert, que compta amb criteris d’inclusió i exclusió, partint d’un fitxer de la Generalitat de Catalunya, que inclou dades geogràfiques, el nom de la biblioteca, els seus perfils de xarxes socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter i YouTube) i blogs. Per a avaluar les publicacions s’han definit dues tipologies de contingut, extern i propi, s’ha creat una escala de valoració (d’A a D) i s’han agrupat els vídeos en cinc tipologies (entrevistes, tutorials, entreteniment, ressenyes i live streaming). Sobre els resultats obtinguts cal comentar que, dels 507 registres inclosos, 372 (73,37 %) han tingut activitat; dels 886 perfils analitzats, 797 (89,95 %) han estat actius, i dels 4.377 vídeos estudiats, els més compartits han estats els d’entreteniment (3.110, 71,05 %). En les conclusions es detallen alguns aspectes observats a YouTube, Facebook i Twitter per a conèixer com es treballa el format vídeo a les biblioteques públiques catalanes.

A avaliação bibliométrica de instituições de pesquisa para além da comunicação científica: o caso Embrapa

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Figura 1 – Balanço Social da Embrapa

En les últimes dècades, el sorgiment de les noves tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació ha comportat l’ampliació dels estudis bibliomètrics més enllà dels productes de la comunicació científica (articles, ressenyes, etc.) amb la incorporació de l’anàlisi d’altres continguts (pàgines web, repositoris de publicacions tècniques, apunts en xarxes socials, etc.), per mitjà de l’analítica web i de la bibliometria alternativa. Aquest treball presenta les implicacions d’aquest canvi per a l’Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), que els últims anys ha passat a tenir en compte, en el seu sistema d’avaluació del rendiment, el nombre de citacions d’articles científics i el nombre de descàrregues de publicacions tècniques disponibles en el seu portal d’Internet. Com es pot veure en aquest article, els 42 centres de recerca de la institució presenten comportaments diferenciats pel que fa al rendiment en la producció exclusivament científica (nombre d’articles científics i de citacions) i en la producció tècnica (descàrregues de manuals, butlletins i altres publicacions). L’existència d’aquestes diferències està comportant que l’Embrapa consideri, en el seu sistema d’avaluació del rendiment, les particularitats dels seus centres de recerca, ja sigui en l’àmbit del procés de producció de coneixement i tecnologia, ja sigui en les formes de comunicació. A partir d’aquesta experiència, s’arriba a la conclusió que el desenvolupament d’indicadors bibliomètrics adequats per gestionar institucions d’ensenyament i recerca requereix una mirada àmplia, que tingui en compte els acords institucionals, els fluxos d’informació i la influència recíproca entre ciència i societat. — En las últimas décadas, el surgimiento de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación ha supuesto la ampliación de los estudios bibliométricos más allá de los productos de la comunicación científica (artículos, reseñas, etc.) con la incorporación del análisis de otros contenidos (páginas web, repositorios de publicaciones técnicas, apuntes en redes sociales, etc.), por medio de la analítica web y de la bibliometría alternativa. Este trabajo presenta las implicaciones de este cambio para la empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), que en los últimos años ha pasado a tener en cuenta, en su sistema de evaluación del rendimiento, el número de citas de artículos científicos y el número de descargas de publicaciones técnicas disponibles en su portal de Internet. Como se puede ver en este artículo, los 42 centros de investigación de la institución presentan comportamientos diferenciados en cuanto a su rendimiento en la producción exclusivamente científica (número de artículos científicos y de citas) y en la producción técnica (descargas de manuales, boletines y otras publicaciones). La existencia de estas diferencias está comportando que la Embrapa considere, en su sistema de evaluación del rendimiento, las particularidades de sus centros de investigación, ya sea en el ámbito del proceso de producción de conocimiento y tecnología, ya sea en las formas de comunicación. A partir de esta experiencia, se llega a la conclusión que el desarrollo de indicadores bibliométricos adecuados para la gestión de instituciones de enseñanza e investigación requiere una mirada amplia, que contemple los acuerdos institucionales, los flujos de información y la influencia recíproca entre ciencia y sociedad. — In recent decades, the emergence of new information and communication technologies has broadened the remit of bibliometric analysis. Bibliometrics are now used not only to assess products of scholarly communication such as articles or monographs, but to examine technology-related content such as web portals, repositories of technical publications or documents in social networks, which are studied with the help of web analytics and altmetrics. This paper examines the implications of this trend for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), whose criteria for assessing institutional performance have been extended in recent years to include the number of citations of scientific articles and downloads of the technical publications made available at the corporation’s web portal. As the paper shows, Embrapa’s 42 research centres do not all follow the same pattern in the production of scientific articles and citations, on the one hand, and of technical documents on the other (measured by downloads of manuals, bulletins and other publications). For this reason, Embrapa is beginning to tailor its system of performance assessment to the particularities of each centre, whether these involve the way the centre produces knowledge and technology or how it channels scholarly communication. The paper concludes that the development of suitable bibliometric indicators for managing centres dedicated to research and education requires a broad view of the centres themselves and can take on board such varied factors as institutional agreements, information flows and the ways in which science and society influence each other. — Nas últimas décadas, a emergência das novas tecnologias de comunicação e informação levou à ampliação dos estudos bibliométricos para além dos produtos da Comunicação Científica (artigos, revisões, etc.) com a incorporação da análise de outros conteúdos (páginas da internet, repositórios de publicações técnicas, posts em mídias sociais, etc.), por intermédio da webometria e da altmetria. Este trabalho apresenta as implicações dessa mudança para a Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), que passou a contemplar nos últimos anos, em seu sistema de avaliação de desempenho, o número de citações de artigos científicos e o número de downloads de publicações técnicas disponíveis em seu portal da internet. Como poderá ser observado neste artigo, os 42 centros de pesquisa da instituição apresentam comportamentos diferenciados quanto a seu desempenho na produção exclusivamente científica (número de artigos científicos e de citações) e na produção técnica (downloads de manuais, boletins e outras publicações). A existência dessas diferenças está levando a Embrapa a considerar em seu sistema de avaliação de desempenho as particularidades de seus centros de pesquisa, seja no âmbito de seu processo de produção de conhecimentos e tecnologias, seja em suas formas de comunicação. A partir dessa experiência, conclui-se que o desenvolvimento de indicadores bibliométricos adequados à gestão de instituições de ensino e pesquisa necessita de um olhar abrangente, que contemple os arranjos institucionais, os fluxos de informação, e a influência recíproca entre ciência e sociedade.

Examining the prospects of library use data integration in university information systems: the Spanish and Greek library stakeholder’s perspective

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Figura 1. Una imatge de la xarxa bibliomètrica sobre analítiques d'aprenentatge (VOSviewer - Leiden University)

Objective. To collect the richly textured viewpoints of academic librarians and students on obstacles to library integration in institutional information systems, namely student success technologies and learning analytics. The aim is to contribute with an initial set of recurring themes to baseline knowledge on Spanish and Greek public university libraries’ prospects of engaging in this new type of intervention.

Methodology. Interviews were conducted between June and November 2016 in two universities in Spain and Greece and were continuously cross-checked against current literature on the academic climate in an interdisciplinary approach. This process helped to effectively outline a conceptual framework for understanding organisational forces and operational issues that could affect the process of connecting library use data to wider student support systems.

Results. Interviewees’ feedback revealed that the practical difficulties involved in systematically tracking in-library student activity workflows and connecting them with campus-wide or even interinstitutional learning analytics initiatives are only some of the operationalisation challenges. Infrastructural capacity-related considerations, the professional development of librarians, user control and strong teacher bias concerns are all high on the stakeholder list of inhibitors that, if they are not tackled, could eventually jeopardize a co-creation and service innovation opportunity of unique value. Easiness of use, voluntariness and feedback were reported among the main criteria with which library data integration in learning analytics systems must comply. A change in data collection practices, the active pursuit of stakeholder engagement and the reconsideration of existing resources, namely infrastructures and funding, were also given as major strategic priorities for the successful implementation of this type of intervention.

Book Fairs in Catalonia: Historical Note and Attempt at Classification

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Figure 1. Chronological distribution of the appearance of book fairs in Catalonia

The aims of this paper are to offer a brief historical account of book fairs in Catalonia based on a review of documentary materials and to provide a broad outline of their variety and typology. The proposed classification is predicated on previous studies that have addressed the characteristics that identify different types of book fair. The results show some degree of proliferation in book fairs in recent years, reflecting an attempt to develop them as tools for economic and cultural promotion. Barcelona is the host city of a large number of the events, but they also take place in 16 other comarcas, or districts, of Catalonia. The vast majority have a regional geographical scope and are intended for the general public. Although there is a diversity of products across the fairs, the predominant focus is on new books generally, not specific subject matter. In terms of the management of the book fairs, cultural institutions are the leading group, but it is also common to find book-related guilds and public administrations in charge of the events.

Why bibliometric indicators break down: unstable parameters, incorrect models and irrelevant properties

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Figure 1. Relation between property and indicator. An indicator is a proxy to measure a property when there is a theoretical model that relates the property to the observations of the indicator.

The spread of bibliometric indicators in research evaluation and policy has been accompanied by an increasing realisation that indicators’ use is often problematic and/or inappropriate. In this article, we propose a parsimonious framework to analyse the conditions under which the use of indicators become problematic. We propose that indicators’ use in evaluation can breakdown for three reasons. First, because the parameters of the models linking properties and indicators are unstable and, as a consequence, indicators cannot be compared across spaces or time. Second, because the underlying models are incorrect. Third, because the property of the indicator is irrelevant for the issue examined. This framework can be particularly helpful in fostering an understanding of the problems of conventional indicators in