Making visible the invisible through the analysis of acknowledgements in the humanities

Purpose: Science is subject to a normative structure that includes how the contributions and interactions between scientists are rewarded. Authorship and citations have been the key elements within the reward system of science, whereas acknowledgements, despite being a well-established element in scholarly communication, have not received the same attention. This paper aims to put forward the bearing of acknowledgements in the humanities to bring to the foreground contributions and interactions that, otherwise, would remain invisible through traditional indicators of research performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a comprehensive framework to understanding acknowledgements as part of the reward system with a special focus on its value in the humanities as a reflection of intellectual indebtedness. The distinctive features of research in the humanities are outlined and the role of acknowledgements as a source of contributorship information is reviewed to support these assumptions. Findings: Peer interactive communication is the prevailing support thanked in the acknowledgements of humanities, so the notion of acknowledgements as super-citations can make special sense in this area. Since single-authored papers still predominate as publishing pattern in this domain, the study of acknowledgements might help to understand social interactions and intellectual influences that lie behind a piece of research and are not visible through authorship. Originality/value: Previous works have proposed and explored the prevailing acknowledgement types by domain. This paper focuses on the humanities to show the role of acknowledgements within the reward system and highlight publication patterns and inherent research features which make acknowledgements particularly interesting in the area as reflection of the socio-cognitive structure of research.Comment: 14 page

Reviewing, indicating, and counting books for modern research evaluation systems

In this chapter, we focus on the specialists who have helped to improve the conditions for book assessments in research evaluation exercises, with empirically based data and insights supporting their greater integration. Our review highlights the research carried out by four types of expert communities, referred to as the monitors, the subject classifiers, the indexers and the indicator constructionists. Many challenges lie ahead for scholars affiliated with these communities, particularly the latter three. By acknowledging their unique, yet interrelated roles, we show where the greatest potential is for both quantitative and qualitative indicator advancements in book-inclusive evaluation systems.Comment: Forthcoming in Glanzel, W., Moed, H.F., Schmoch U., Thelwall, M. (2018). Springer Handbook of Science and Technology Indicators. Springer Some corrections made in subsection 'Publisher prestige or quality

The Teaching of English Vocabulary through the Multisensory Approach to Older Adults in a Private Nursing Home in Pereira, Colombia

El siguiente documento es un proyecto de investigación cualitativo cuyo objetivo es integrar la teoría andragógica y el enfoque multisensorial para facilitar el aprendizaje de vocabulario en inglés a adultos mayores. Adicionalmente, este estudio es una iniciativa para incluir a los adultos mayores en un proceso de educación bilingüe ya que esta población casi no ha sido tomada en cuenta para la realización de proyectos bilingües. Por esta razón, este proyecto propone nuevas oportunidades para futuras investigaciones El presente estudio fue implementado en el hogar del anciano Casa Santa María en Pereira, Colombia. Este proyecto fue llevado a cabo en 10 clases en las cuales las participantes aprendieron 47 palabras relacionadas con su contexto inmediato. Las participantes del proyecto fueron cuatro mujeres, quienes tenían más de 60 años de edad. Las cuatro fueron consideradas como un proceso de muestreo típico intencional para recopilar los datos, los cuales fueron interpretados por los investigadores. Además, durante la implementación del estudio, tres métodos de recolección de datos fueron empleados: observaciones, diarios de campo, y entrevistas. Los datos recogidos fueron analizados aplicando la teoría fundada, y después de este análisis los datos sugirieron que a) las estrategias de aprendizaje autodirigido pueden facilitar el éxito del aprendizaje de vocabulario y b) los sentidos de los adultos mayores tienen diferentes usos dependiendo de la etapa de la clase. Para concluir, el enfoque multisensorial es efectivo para enseñar vocabulario en inglés a adultos mayores junto con los principios andragógicos

Supporting Research in Area Studies: a guide for academic libraries

The study of other countries or regions of the world often crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries in the humanities and social sciences. Supporting Research in Area Studies is a comprehensive guide for academic libraries supporting these communities of researchers. This book explores the specialist requirements of these researchers in information resources, resource discovery tools, and information skills, and the challenges of working with materials in multiple languages. It makes the case that by adapting their systems and procedures to meet these needs, academic libraries find themselves better placed to support their institution's�� international agenda more widely. The first four chapters cover the academic landscape and its history, area studies librarianship and acquisitions. Subsequent chapters discuss collections management, digital products, and the digital humanities, and their role in academic projects. The final chapter explores information skills and the various disciplinary skills that facilitate the needs of researchers during their careers

Scientific output in library and information science: A comparative study of the journals Anales de Documentación and BiD textos universitaris en biblioteconomia i documentació

In recent years, academic journals have evolved to become a vehicle for scientific communication that is acknowledged by the official organizations that certify their quality. This enables assessments to be performed, determining how a discipline has evolved through the analysis of bibliometric indicators and the keywords used to index the articles. In the field of library and information science, it is particularly interesting to study the articles published in the journals specializing in this area but few studies have performed an in-depth analysis of the discipline. In order to gain a detailed view of the evolution of library and information science, we have carried out a bibliometric and thematic study of the journals Anales de Documentación (AD) and BiD textos universitaris en biblioteconomia i documentació (BiD) between 2000 and 2013. The analysis focuses on the number of articles and authors, the evolution of the sections and the contents. In addition, a thematic study determines the level of similarity between the two journals' contents, the subject areas they belong to and whether there is any subject continuity during the period analysed. The results confirm that in BID, practitioner-focused subject matter is double that of the academic content, unlike AD, which shows a preference for academic content. The thematic study confirms that there is little similarity between the content of the two publications; that the subjects where there is overlap are basically concerned with information units, information technologies, auxiliary sciences and techniques, and library science; and that there is little continuity in the subjects covered during the period analyse