Museum libraries in Spain: A case study at state level

Special libraries are essential information and documentation centres for university teachers and researchers due to the quality and richness of their collections. In Spain, it is estimated that there are 2456 special libraries, although many are unknown either generally or among information professionals. These include museum libraries, which are important centres with valuable collections of bibliographic heritage for the area of Humanities and Social Sciences. The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of the real state of these information units and promote the social value of museum libraries in Spain. To do this, a survey was sent to the libraries of state-owned and -managed museums under the General Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Property (Ministry of Culture and Sports) of the Government of Spain. This general objective will be accompanied by a review of the scientific literature on various aspects of museum libraries at national and international level. After addressing the research methodology, the results obtained will be discussed and will include the following topics: collection management, library services and staff, economic and technological resources and finally, library management. Conclusions include recommendations for museum librarians and reveal that institutional cooperation is a strategic issue to improve both museum libraries visibility and their social recognition as cultural and research centre

Análisis del estado actual de apertura de datos en salud a nivel autonómico a través de los portales de datos abiertos

Se analiza el nivel de apertura de datos de las Comu-nidades Autónomas en España a través de sus porta-les de datos, centrando el análisis en el estado actual de publicación de datos abiertos en materia de salud. Para ello, se han desarrollado un totalde diez indica-dores que han sido organizados por dominios. Han sido publicados un total de 485 conjuntos de datos de salud, que equivalen al 2, 5% del total de los conjuntos de datos. Las estadísticas sanitarias son los datos quemás se publican en la categoría. El 62, 4% de las co-munidades autónomas publica en formatos reutiliza-bles y no propietarios. Este análisis refleja una publi-cación a varias velocidades y la existencia de unas co-munidades autónomas más adelantadas que otras en la publicación de este tipo de datos. The level of data openness of the autonomous regions of Spain through their open data portals is researched, focusing the analysis on the current state of publication of open data on health. For this, a total of ten indicators have been developed and organized by domains. A total of 485 health data sets have been published, equivalent to 2.5% of all data sets. Health statistics are the most widely published data in the category. The 62.4% of the autonomous regions publish in reusable and non-proprietary formats. This analysis reflects a publication at various speeds and the existence of some autonomous regions more advanced than others in the publication of this type of data

Evaluación de la investigación con encuestas en artículos publicados en revistas del área de Biblioteconomía y Documentación

Introducción y objetivo: La investigación con encuestas es un método utilizado con frecuencia en el área de Biblioteconomía y Documentación. El objetivo principal de este estudio es evaluar si los estudios realizados en el ámbito de la Biblioteconomía que utilizan encuestas como método de investigación proporcionan información comple-ta y detallada sobre su diseño y ejecución. Métodos: Se seleccionaron de la base de datos Web of Science los artículos publicados en 2019 en revistas del área de Library Science incluidas en el Journal Citation Reports que empleaban encuestas como método de investigación cuantitativa. Para valorar el grado de cobertura informativa se creó una herramienta formada por 32 elementos utili-zados en diversas guías y recomendaciones.Resultados y conclusiones: La mayoría de los artículos basados en encuestas en el área de Biblioteconomía y Docu-mentación presentan una grav e deficiencia en la información proporcionada. Es necesario mejorar y completar infor-mación sobre el procedimiento de muestreo, desarrollo y administración del cuestionario, así como sobre el análisis de sus resultados. Esta información permitirá valorar los potenciales errores cometidos y, en consecuencia, la calidad y validez de las conclusiones del estudio

Impacto de las revistas españolas de biblioteconomía y documentación y repercusión de las autocitas en su índice h

El número de citas que recibe un artículo es un indicador de su impacto en la comunidad científica. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el impacto de los artículos más citados que han sido publicados en las dos revistas españolas de Biblioteconomía y Documentación incluidas en el Journal Citation Reports (JCR), así como determinar la influencia de las autocitas en su índice h. Los resultados muestran que los artículos son citados principalmente por autores y revistas iberoamericanas, con un impacto internacional muy bajo debido, prácticamente en su totalidad, a la presencia de artículos escritos en inglés. Las revistas más citantes son las mismas para ambos casos, la revista mexicana Investigación Bibliotecológica, las revistas españolas El Profesional de la Información (EPI) y Revista Española de Documentación Científica (REDOC), y una revista internacional (Scientometrics). La tasa de autocitación conjunta de revistas y autores es muy alta (40 %); la eliminación de las autocitas de revista afecta al índice h y proporciona una medida más objetiva y real del impacto. The number of citations article paper receives serves as an indicator of its impact in the scientific community. This paper performs an analysis of the impact of the most frequently cited papers published in two Spanish Library and Information Science journals included in Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and determines the influence of self-citations on their H index. Results show that the papers are cited largely by Latin-American authors and journals with little international impact, whose scant impact, in fact, is almost entirely due to papers written in English included in the journal. The most frequently citing journals for both papers are the Mexican journal Investigación Bibliotecológica, the Spanish journals, El Profesional de la Información (EPI), and Revista Española de Documentación Científica (REDOC), and the international journal Scientometrics. The self-citation rate of these journals and authors is very high (40%); and the elimination of self-citations impacts the H-index while yielding a more objective, realistic measures of impact

Evaluación y acreditación de las aplicaciones móviles relacionadas con la salud

Las aplicaciones móviles relacionadas con la salud han incrementado su presencia en el mercado y su uso, cada vez más frecuente, forma parte de la vida cotidiana de una gran mayoría de ciudadanos. La tecnología móvil puede suponer una importante innovación en la asistencia médica, ya que pueden ayudar al paciente a tener un control más activo de su enfermedad, dado que se fomenta el autocuidado y el empoderamiento. Sin embargo, el empleo de este tipo de herramientas tecnológicas aún es lento y limitado. En este contexto surgen dudas sobre la calidad, fiabilidad y utilidad clínica de las aplicaciones móviles debido, principalmente, a la falta de evaluación y acreditación de las mismas. En el presente estudio se analizaron las iniciativas más destacadas de evaluación y acreditación de aplicaciones móviles a nivel nacional e internacional, así como las escalas más usadas para evaluar este tipo de tecnologías. Mobile applications related to health have increased their presence in the market and their use, increasingly frequent, is part of the daily life of a large majority of citizens. Mobile technology can be an important innovation in medical care, since it can help the patient to have more active control of their disease, because it promotes self-care and empowerment. However, the use of this type of technological tools is still slow and limited. In this situation, questions arise regarding the quality, reliability and clinical utility of mobile applications and a factor that contributes to this uncertainty is related to the lack of evaluation and accreditation of them. This paper analyzed the most outstanding initiatives for the evaluation and accreditation of mobile applications at the national and international level, as well as the most widely used scales to evaluate this type of technology

Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible y Aprendizaje Servicio en la docencia universitaria: un estudio de caso en el área de Biblioteconomía y Documentación

Las universidades se configuran como instituciones clave para responder activamente al cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la “Agenda 2030” de la ONU. A pesar de que han surgido algunas iniciativas para responder a dicho reto, se constata la necesidad deincrementar las acciones que respondan a tal finalidad yque emerjandesde el ámbito universitario. A dicho enfoque se vincula el estudio de caso que se presenta. Se ha desarrollado una expe-riencia de docencia universitaria en el área de Bibliote-conomía y Documentación, sustentada en establecer una vinculación entre la metodología docente de Aprendizaje Servicio (ApS) y la incorporaciónde una perspectiva basada en los ODS en la formación de los futuros bibliotecarios, archiveros y documentalistas. Universities are key institutions to respond to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN "2030 Agenda". Although some initiatives have emerged to respond to this challenge, more university actions and initiatives have to be taken. This research is a case study based on the approach mentioned. A teaching experience at university level has been developed in the Library and Information Science area to link the Service Learning (SL) methodology with an innovative teaching approach focused on the SDGs to improve librarians, archivists and information professionals training

Recommendations of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (COESANT) for selecting antimicrobial agents and concentrations for in vitro susceptibility studies using automated systems

Automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing devices are widely implemented in clinical microbiology laboratories in Spain, mainly using EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing) breakpoints. In 2007, a group of experts published recommendations for including antimicrobial agents and selecting concentrations in these systems. Under the patronage of the Spanish Antibiogram Committee (Comité Español del Antibiograma, COESANT) and the Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents (GEMARA) from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), and aligned with the Spanish National Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (PRAN), a group of experts have updated this document. The main modifications from the previous version comprise the inclusion of new antimicrobial agents, adaptation of the ranges of concentrations to cover the EUCAST breakpoints and epidemiological cut-off values (ECOFFs), and the inference of new resistance mechanisms. This proposal should be considered by different manufacturers and users when designing new panels or cards. In addition, recommendations for selective reporting are also included. With this approach, the implementation of EUCAST breakpoints will be easier, increasing the quality of antimicrobial susceptibility testing data and their microbiological interpretation. It will also benefit epidemiological surveillance studies as well as the clinical use of antimicrobials aligned with antimicrobial stewardship programs

Relation of IL28B Gene Polymorphism with Biochemical and Histological Features in Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Liver Disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Polymorphism at the IL28B gene may modify the course of hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection. Our aim was to study the influence of IL28B rs12979860 gene polymorphism on the biochemistry and pathology of HCV-induced disease in the clinical course from mild chronic hepatitis C to hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: We have determined the rs12979860 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) upstream IL28B gene in two groups of patients with HCV-induced chronic liver disease: 1) 268 patients (159 men) with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C, to analyse its relation with biochemical, virological and histological features; and 2) 134 patients (97 men) with HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma. The distribution of the analysed SNP in hepatocellular carcinoma patients was compared with that found in untreated chronic hepatitis C patients. All patients were white and most were Spaniards. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis ALT values were higher (P = 0.001) and GGT values were lower (P<0.001) in chronic hepatitis C patients homozygotes for the major rs12979860C allele as compared with carriers of the mutated rs12979860T allele. Steatosis was more frequent (Odds ratio = 1.764, 95% C.I. 1.053-2.955) and severe (P = 0.026) in carriers of the rs12979860T allele. No relation was found between the analysed SNP and METAVIR scores for necroinflammation and fibrosis, and there were no differences in the distribution of the analysed SNP between hepatocellular carcinoma and untreated chronic hepatitis C patients. CONCLUSION: The IL28B rs12979860 polymorphism correlates with the biochemical activity and the presence and severity of liver steatosis in chronic hepatitis C

Shells and humans: molluscs and other coastal resources from the earliest human occupations at the Mesolithic shell midden of El Mazo (Asturias, Northern Spain)

Human populations exploited coastal areas with intensity during the Mesolithic in Atlantic Europe, resulting in the accumulation of large shell middens. Northern Spain is one of the most prolific regions, and especially the so-called Asturian area. Large accumulations of shellfish led some scholars to propose the existence of intensification in the exploitation of coastal resources in the region during the Mesolithic. In this paper, shell remains (molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms) from stratigraphic units 114 and 115 (dated to the early Mesolithic c. 9 kys cal BP) at El Mazo cave (Asturias, northern Spain) were studied in order to establish resource exploitation patterns and environmental conditions. Species representation showed that limpets, top shells and sea urchins were preferentially exploited. One-millimetre mesh screens were crucial in establishing an accurate minimum number of individuals for sea urchins and to determine their importance in exploitation patterns. Environmental conditions deduced from shell assemblages indicated that temperate conditions prevailed at the time of the occupation and the morphology of the coastline was similar to today (rocky exposed shores). Information recovered relating to species representation, collection areas and shell biometry reflected some evidence of intensification (reduced shell size, collection in lower areas of exposed shores, no size selection in some units and species) in the exploitation of coastal resources through time. However, the results suggested the existence of changes in collection strategies and resource management, and periods of intense shell collection may have alternated with times of shell stock recovery throughout the Mesolithic.This research was performed as part of the project “The human response to the global climatic change in a littoral zone: the case of the transition to the Holocene in the Cantabrian coast (10,000–5000 cal BC) (HAR2010-22115-C02-01)” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. AGE was funded by the University of Cantabria through a predoctoral grant and IGZ was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through a Juan de la Cierva grant. We also would like to thank the University of Cantabria and the IIIPC for providing support, David Cuenca-Solana, Alejandro García Moreno and Lucia Agudo Pérez for their help. We also thank Jennifer Jones for correcting the English. Comments from two anonymous reviewers helped to improve the paper