Research assessment in the humanities: problems and challenges

Research assessment is going to play a new role in the governance of universities and research institutions. Evaluation of results is evolving from a simple tool for resource allocation towards policy design. In this respect "measuring" implies a different approach to quantitative aspects as well as to an estimation of qualitative criteria that are difficult to define. Bibliometrics became so popular, in spite of its limits, just offering a simple solution to complex problems. The theory behind it is not so robust but available results confirm this method as a reasonable trade off between costs and benefits. Indeed there are some fields of science where quantitative indicators are very difficult to apply due to the lack of databases and data, in few words the credibility of existing information. Humanities and social sciences (HSS) need a coherent methodology to assess research outputs but current projects are not very convincing. The possibility of creating a shared ranking of journals by the value of their contents at either institutional, national or European level is not enough as it is raising the same bias as in the hard sciences and it does not solve the problem of the various types of outputs and the different, much longer time of creation and dissemination. The web (and web 2.0) represents a revolution in the communication of research results mainly in the HSS, and also their evaluation has to take into account this change. Furthermore, the increase of open access initiatives (green and gold road) offers a large quantity of transparent, verifiable data structured according to international standards that allow comparability beyond national limits and above all is independent from commercial agents. The pilot scheme carried out at the university of Milan for the Faculty of Humanities demonstrated that it is possible to build quantitative, on average more robust indicators, that could provide a proxy of research production and productiivity even in the HSS

Search Engine Optimisation in UK news production

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journalism Practice, 5(4), 462 - 477, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17512786.2010.551020.This paper represents an exploratory study into an emerging culture in UK online newsrooms—the practice of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which assesses its impact on news production. Comprising a short-term participant observational case study at a national online news publisher, and a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with SEO professionals at three further UK media organisations, the author sets out to establish how SEO is operationalised in the newsroom, and what consequences these practices have for online news production. SEO practice is found to be varied and application is not universal. Not all UK news organisations are making the most of SEO even though some publishers take a highly sophisticated approach. Efforts are constrained by time, resources and management support, as well as off-page technical issues. SEO policy is found, in some cases, to inform editorial policy, but there is resistance to the principal of SEO driving decision-making. Several themes are established which call for further research

The commercial functions of a trade mark, unconventional trade marks and modern technology

The paper analyses the current legislation within the UK and Europe with respect to trade mark law. A number of legal journals and case reports provide the bulk of research material, with use of direct judicial quotes and key opinions of journal authors providing the framework for research into the state of current trade mark law. The historical functions of trade marks dating back nearly a century are still relevant today, with concepts recognised and enshrined by both domestic UK and European Union courts. Trade marks work as a badge of origin and, by extension, allow similar products to be differentiated. They act as a guarantee of quality and an ambassador for the generation and preservation of goodwill that has been generated within a given trade mark. Gaining a trade mark confers a near monopoly on its use and the legislation provides mechanisms to protect and recognise this. A trade mark allows businesses to build identity, quality and reputation into the core essence and branding of their products. A diverse quantity of ideas and concepts are capable of representation graphically, in both conventional and abstract forms, allowing them to be trade marked. The resulting monopoly granted by the trade mark is of exceptional importance to businesses of all sizes, allowing them to benefit from the breadth of commercial functions that a trade mark can fulfil. Despite the law regularly playing catch-up to new technological advances, the courts are applying flexible and practical solutions to accommodate the developing needs of modern informational technology

Using of Trademarks in Keyword Advertising in Web Search Engines

Use of Trademarks in keyword advertising has been one of the most debatable issues in trademark law for several years. This entirely new way of using Trademarks over the Internet has provoked a discussion concerning the core concepts of Trademark law. Harmonized EU trademark law proved to be ambiguous on whether it amounted to trademark infringement or not. This ambivalence was also exhibited by the case law of EU Member States. European keyword advertisers simply could not tell which use of a competitor‘s trademark was lawful. In recent years CJEU has continuously expanded the scope and reach of trademark protection in the EU .It is notable that Inconsistencies in the court’s system of infringement criteria clearly come to the fore and this approach has been criticized by analysts who believe that the Court should have adopt a more traditional approach to the analysis of trademark infringement, which was suggested by its Advocate General, in order to arrive at the same conclusion. The premise on which the Court rested its ruling, it is believed, missed salient parts of the evidence, circumvented its preexisting jurisprudence, and most of all, threatened to open the floodgates of abusive trademark use in the future. With reference to above , this thesis will address issue of keyword advertising under EU legislations and will evaluate ECJ case law together with national members case law