Academic Librarians’ Knowledge of Bibliometrics and Altmetrics

Malone, Tara; Burke, Susan K.

doi:10.18438/b85g9j

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Originally heavily used in the sciences, in recent years research impact metrics have also begun to be applied to the arts, humanities, social sciences, and professional disciplines (Wilsdon et al, 2015). Although several studies have examined the use of research impact indicators by researchers, faculty members, and university administrators, most of these studies focused on citation-based metrics and not necessarily on how academic librarians use a diverse set of research impact indicators (Corrall, Kennan, & Afzal, n.d.;Malone & Burke, 2016).…”

Section: Citation-based Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a survey administered to university libraries throughout Sweden, LIS scholars and doctoral students responded that altmetrics tools are fun but not useful for research evaluation; surveyed librarians responded that altmetrics were complementary to traditional citation-based metrics (Nordfeldt, 2015). In the United States, a small study of academic librarians found that there is "a dearth of knowledge among academic librarians in Oklahoma about altmetrics tools" (Malone & Burke, 2016).…”

Section: Altmetricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scholarly Communication Librarians’ Relationship with Research Impact Indicators: An Analysis of a National Survey of Academic Librarians in the United States

Miles

Konkiel

Sutton

2018

Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

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INTRODUCTION Academic librarians, especially in the field of scholarly communication, are often expected to understand and engage with research impact indicators (or the collective quantitative and qualitative measures of research impact). However, much of the current literature only speculates as to how academic librarians are using and implementing research impact indicators in their practices. METHODS This study analyzed the results from a 2015 survey administered to over 13,000 academic librarians at Carnegie-classified R1 institutions in the United States. The survey concentrated on academic librarians' familiarity with and usage of research impact indicators. RESULTS This study uncovered findings related to academic librarians' levels of familiarity with research impact indicators and their uses of these indicators in their professional development and in their library job duties. DISCUSSION In general, academic librarians with regular scholarly communication support duties at R1 institutions tend to have higher levels of familiarity with research impact indicators. Overall, academic librarians are most familiar with citation counts and usage statistics and least familiar with altmetrics. During one-on-one consultations with faculty, certain research impact indicators, such the JIF, were more likely to be addressed than others. In addition, the findings suggest that faculty who are concerned with tenure, promotion, and grants are more likely to have an interest in research impact indicators. The survey results also hint toward a growing interest in altmetrics among academic librarians for their professional advancement. CONCLUSION Academic librarians are continually challenged to keep pace with the changing landscape of research impact metrics and research assessment models. By responsibly employing research impact indicators in their own practices, academic librarians can provide a crucial service in educating the wider academic community.

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Section: Citation-based Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Altmetricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scholarly Communication Librarians’ Relationship with Research Impact Indicators: An Analysis of a National Survey of Academic Librarians in the United States

Miles

Konkiel

Sutton

2018

Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication

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“…Two words define research support services as they currently exist in Australia: (Blatchford, 2016;Malone & Burke, 2016;Primary Research Group, 2016).…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Australian academic libraries have recognised the opportunity by including altmetrics tools in their institutional repositories and in information about altmetrics in their webpages (Mamtora & Haddow, 2015), but altmetrics services are somewhat in limbo. In part this is due to the uncertainty around what the metrics actually mean and it also relates to librarians' lack of knowledge (Malone & Burke, 2016). Presumably, the very few altmetrics tools that are subscribed to or supported by libraries is associated with these issues.…”

Section: Discussion and Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Research Support in Australian Academic Libraries: Services, Resources, and Relationships

Haddow

Mamtora

2017

New Review of Academic Librarianship

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In the last decade Australian academic libraries have increasingly aligned their research support services with assessment criteria used in the national research evaluation exercise (Excellence for Research in Australia). The same period has seen growing interest in research impact outside of traditional measures, such as bibliometrics. Social media has provided opportunities for research dissemination and new tools, altmetrics, to measure these activities have emerged. This paper reports on research into the extent and nature of research support services at Australian academic libraries, how the services are managed, and the factors that influence their development and delivery. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to compare the findings with an earlier study and to provide a deeper understanding of research support in Australia. Three key themesservices, staff and resourcing, and relationships -are discussed in relation to the management and challenges faced in providing research support.

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“…Why librarians and information professionals should engage with altmetrics (Malone & Burke, 2016) research concluded that there is little hard data in the literature showing if and how librarians are using altmetrics. This paper proposes there are two main drivers why librarians should engage with altmetrics.…”

Section: Beyond the Journal Article As Sole Academic Outputmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting the research feedback loop

Tattersall

2017

PMM

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ReuseUnless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. AbstractPurpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the opportunities altmetrics offer to library and information professionals as part of their research support provision. This paper examines what altmetrics are and how they can offer another useful metric to help academics engage with a variety of interested parties over the web. Design/methodology/approach The paper considers the emergence of altmetrics as a research measurement and scholarly communication tool and the impact on academic libraries. Identifies existing metrics and explores their shortcomings as well as how these can be bridged by altmetrics. Findings Altmetrics offer a wealth of opportunities for library and information professionals to make better strategic decisions, explore their own institution's research output and provide scholarly communications intelligence to their research community. Originality/value The value in this paper lies in encouraging academic librarians and information professionals to explore altmetrics for themselves and align any new knowledge with existing services and skills, in particular around metrics and digital media.

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Academic Librarians’ Knowledge of Bibliometrics and Altmetrics

Cited by 26 publications

References 25 publications

Scholarly Communication Librarians’ Relationship with Research Impact Indicators: An Analysis of a National Survey of Academic Librarians in the United States

Scholarly Communication Librarians’ Relationship with Research Impact Indicators: An Analysis of a National Survey of Academic Librarians in the United States

Research Support in Australian Academic Libraries: Services, Resources, and Relationships

Supporting the research feedback loop

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