The Irish Research electronic Library initiative – levelling the playing field?

Purpose - The Irish Research electronic Library (IReL) is a nationally funded electronic research library providing online access to full text articles from thousands of peer-reviewed publications in a range of disciplines. This paper examines the opportunities that have arisen for academic libraries at a local level in terms of how they expose resources and promote the initiative. It discusses the challenges that have arisen as libraries enhance, or indeed introduce, value added services to their research community. It examines the results of an in-depth national survey which yielded invaluable insights into how Irish researchers were using library services. Finally, it reflects on the challenges libraries face in facilitating and nurturing research behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – In the first quarter of 2007, seven university libraries asked their researchers for feedback on how they use IReL resources and their awareness of the initiative in the form of a national survey. These results and in particular the feedback from DCU researchers are further analysed. Focus groups and visits to research centres also provided more in-depth analysis. Findings- This paper finds that a collaborative approach to the negotiation of a single national licence for seven academic libraries, with associated training and a discount for consortium contracts has been highly successful. However, it has also posed significant challenges for all libraries in terms of ensuring that the resources are fully exploited and that the necessary support structures are in place to facilitate the provision of appropriate services to the growing research community. Originality/Value –This paper will be useful to libraries planning services for fourth level researchers and in particular, services that promote access to online resources

Graduate employment: issues for debate and enquiry

Recent European studies have shown most graduates to be in quite reasonable employment situations a few years after graduating. While concerns continue to be expressed by some employers that many graduates do not possess the right skills and competencies, there is also considerable industry in many universities to improve the employability of their graduates. Does the evidence justify optimism

Information and Communication Technologies as means for self-improvement at remote universities: the example of Urgench State University, Uzbekistan

This paper describes the research conducted at the Information Resource Center of Urgench State University, located in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan, on the possibilities and challenges the students and lecturers face in their pursuit for self-improvement and self-education. The article discloses new qualitative approaches and IT methods in the teaching and educational processes in higher education of Central Asian countries in transition, the overall aim of which is to close the gap and shape the spiritual values of the young generation in the globalizing world. The framework conditions for this have been set by the Government of Uzbekistan through particular Decrees, aiming at the creation of e-education at universities and institutions throughout the country and specifically in the remote regions as to improve the access to regularly updated information, to motivate the use of IT in classes as well as to enhance the responsibility of the information services of universities for assuring the quality of research and teaching (pedagogical) activities of the lecturers. The research showed that the Internet can function inter alia as a controlling device when education is delivered through the web. Collection, analysis and preparation of educational-methodological materials on specific subjects and extracurricular activities require specific knowledge on IT and information literacy both in the teaching staff and the students

Diversity and Polarization of Research Performance: Evidence from Hungary

Measuring the intellectual diversity encoded in publication records as a proxy to the degree of interdisciplinarity has recently received considerable attention in the science mapping community. The present paper draws upon the use of the Stirling index as a diversity measure applied to a network model (customized science map) of research profiles, proposed by several authors. A modified version of the index is used and compared with the previous versions on a sample data set in order to rank top Hungarian research organizations (HROs) according to their research performance diversity. Results, unexpected in several respects, show that the modified index is a candidate for measuring the degree of polarization of a research profile. The study also points towards a possible typology of publication portfolios that instantiate different types of diversity

Grid infrastructures for secure access to and use of bioinformatics data: experiences from the BRIDGES project

The BRIDGES project was funded by the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to address the needs of cardiovascular research scientists investigating the genetic causes of hypertension as part of the Wellcome Trust funded (£4.34M) cardiovascular functional genomics (CFG) project. Security was at the heart of the BRIDGES project and an advanced data and compute grid infrastructure incorporating latest grid authorisation technologies was developed and delivered to the scientists. We outline these grid infrastructures and describe the perceived security requirements at the project start including data classifications and how these evolved throughout the lifetime of the project. The uptake and adoption of the project results are also presented along with the challenges that must be overcome to support the secure exchange of life science data sets. We also present how we will use the BRIDGES experiences in future projects at the National e-Science Centre

Modern Solutions For Economic Higher Education In The Knowledge-Based Society

The use of modern solutions specific to contemporary society, together with stakeholders’ involvement, will lead to a substantial increase in the practice-oriented approach of the teaching process. The objective of this paper is to present directions for the implementation of modern teaching solutions in the economic higher education. It highlights the implications that knowledge-based economy brings for the economic higher education. It analyzes the virtual campus as a modern solution for collaborative higher education and the level of knowledge in the use of mobile devices and technologies in the learning process of students from three faculties of the Academy of Economic Studies. The analysis is based on a survey conducted among students enrolled in three faculties of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies. A series of indicators is proposed to assess the efficiency of human resources training activities, developed in order to enhance the relevance of economic higher education for the labor market and knowledge-based society. The research results consist in identifying modern solutions for the use of mobile technologies by students in the educational process.knowledge society, higher education, e-learning, m-learning, information technology

Local use of metrics for the research assessment of academics: The case of Poland

This article discusses the use of bibliometric indicators for the assessment of individual academics. We focused on national indicators for the assessment of productivity in Polish higher education institutions. We analysed whether institutions (N = 768) adopted national templates for their own sets of criteria for intra-institutional evaluations. This study combined an analysis of internal policy documents with semi-structured interviews with deans from institutions in different fields of science. Our findings showed that, despite their high levels of institutional autonomy, the majority of institutions adopted the national criteria for the evaluation of individual academics. This article concludes with recommendations for reducing the negative consequences of local use of national indicators for the assessment of researchers.This work was financially supported by the National Science Centre in Poland (Grant Number UMO-2017/26/E/HS2/00019)

Higher education decision making and decision support systems

The authors illustrate several issues in decision support and decision support systems (DSS), state of the art research in these fields, and also their own studies in designing a higher education DSS. The final section contains our contribution in outlining the modules of the DSS, involving the present systems and databases of FSEGA and UBB, results and activities belonging to FSEGA students, teaching and research staff, to assist decisions for all the actors implicated in the processes, in various specific situations.decision support, decision support systems (DSS), higher education institutions, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)