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1 – 10 of 429Laura Sinay, Maria Cristina Fogliatti de Sinay, Rodney William (Bill) Carter and Aurea Martins
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the influence of the algorithm used on scholarly search engines (Garfield’s algorithm) and propose metrics to improve it so that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the influence of the algorithm used on scholarly search engines (Garfield’s algorithm) and propose metrics to improve it so that science could be based on a more democratic way.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used a snow-ball approach to collect data that allowed identifying the history and the logic behind the Garfield’s algorithm. It follows on excerpting the foundation of existing algorithm and databases of major scholarly search engine. It concluded proposing new metrics so as to surpass restraints and to democratize the scientific discourse.
Findings
This paper finds that the studied algorithm currently biases the scientific discourse toward a narrow perspective, while it should take into consideration several researchers’ characteristics. It proposes the substitution of the h-index by the number of times the scholar’s most cited work has been cited. Finally, it proposes that works in languages different than English should be included.
Research limitations/implications
The broad comprehension of any phenomena should be based on multiple perspectives; therefore, the inclusion of diverse metrics will extend the scientific discourse.
Practical implications
The improvement of the existing algorithm will increase the chances of contact among different cultures, which stimulate rapid progress on the development of knowledge.
Originality/value
The value of this paper resides in demonstrating that the algorithm used in scholarly search engines biases the development of science. If updated as proposed here, science will be unbiased and bias aware.
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Koraljka Golub, Xu Tan, Ying-Hsang Liu and Jukka Tyrkkö
This exploratory study aims to help contribute to the understanding of online information search behaviour of PhD students from different humanities fields, with a focus on…
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory study aims to help contribute to the understanding of online information search behaviour of PhD students from different humanities fields, with a focus on subject searching.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on a semi-structured interview within which the participants are asked to conduct both a controlled search task and a free search task. The sample comprises eight PhD students in several humanities disciplines at Linnaeus University, a medium-sized Swedish university from 2020.
Findings
Most humanities PhD students in the study have received training in information searching, but it has been too basic. Most rely on web search engines like Google and Google Scholar for publications' search, and university's discovery system for known-item searching. As these systems do not rely on controlled vocabularies, the participants often struggle with too many retrieved documents that are not relevant. Most only rarely or never use disciplinary bibliographic databases. The controlled search task has shown some benefits of using controlled vocabularies in the disciplinary databases, but incomplete synonym or concept coverage as well as user unfriendly search interface present hindrances.
Originality/value
The paper illuminates an often-forgotten but pervasive challenge of subject searching, especially for humanities researchers. It demonstrates difficulties and shows how most PhD students have missed finding an important resource in their research. It calls for the need to reconsider training in information searching and the need to make use of controlled vocabularies implemented in various search systems with usable search and browse user interfaces.
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Kenning Arlitsch, Jonathan Wheeler, Minh Thi Ngoc Pham and Nikolaus Nova Parulian
This study demonstrates that aggregated data from the Repository Analytics and Metrics Portal (RAMP) have significant potential to analyze visibility and use of institutional…
Abstract
Purpose
This study demonstrates that aggregated data from the Repository Analytics and Metrics Portal (RAMP) have significant potential to analyze visibility and use of institutional repositories (IR) as well as potential factors affecting their use, including repository size, platform, content, device and global location. The RAMP dataset is unique and public.
Design/methodology/approach
The webometrics methodology was followed to aggregate and analyze use and performance data from 35 institutional repositories in seven countries that were registered with the RAMP for a five-month period in 2019. The RAMP aggregates Google Search Console (GSC) data to show IR items that surfaced in search results from all Google properties.
Findings
The analyses demonstrate large performance variances across IR as well as low overall use. The findings also show that device use affects search behavior, that different content types such as electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) may affect use and that searches originating in the Global South show much higher use of mobile devices than in the Global North.
Research limitations/implications
The RAMP relies on GSC as its sole data source, resulting in somewhat conservative overall numbers. However, the data are also expected to be as robot free as can be hoped.
Originality/value
This may be the first analysis of aggregate use and performance data derived from a global set of IR, using an openly published dataset. RAMP data offer significant research potential with regard to quantifying and characterizing variances in the discoverability and use of IR content.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0328
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of smartphones among young people in everyday life, focusing on the activity of online search. This paper addresses the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of smartphones among young people in everyday life, focusing on the activity of online search. This paper addresses the following research questions: What framings of the smartphone can be identified in the way that young people use, and describe, smartphones? What is the role of online search within these framings? By elucidating framings of the smartphone, this paper also seeks to discuss why and how smartphone use becomes contested in various contexts and situations.
Design/methodology/approach
The material has been produced through ethnographic fieldwork. Focus groups and observations have been carried out with teenagers, age 13–16 years, in three schools in Sweden. In total, 39 pupils participated in the focus groups. Interviews, classroom observations and go-alongs have also been performed.
Findings
In this study, three framings of the smartphone are identified: the entertainment framing, the easy-access framing and the challenging co-presence framing. The framings highlight the way that both the smartphone and online search is viewed, and carried out, in various situations. The smartphone is primarily viewed as a tool for entertainment, by adults and young people alike, yet the findings illustrate that the smartphone is used for more activates than what is immediately apparent.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the field interested in bridging the gap between in-school teachings of information literacies and out-of-school activities by showing how online search happens in various situations. Also, to the field concerned with people’s use of general web search engines in everyday life.
Originality/value
This paper explores the relation between online search and smartphones, a topic which has not been in focus in previous research. The topics of online search and smartphone use have primarily been researched separately but are here researched in conjunction.
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Jan Maluleka, Marcia Nkwe and Patrick Ngulube
In the wake of the fourth industrial revolution, where most information is accessible online, archives should be visible online for them to fulfil their legislated mandate and…
Abstract
Purpose
In the wake of the fourth industrial revolution, where most information is accessible online, archives should be visible online for them to fulfil their legislated mandate and facilitate access to information resources. The Covid-19 pandemic has further underscored the importance of online platforms in making archives accessible without the public having to visit archival institutions physically. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which public archival institutions of South Africa are visible online with the view to deepen their understanding of how archives promote themselves online.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed content analysis to establish the online content of public archival institutions in South Africa. A google search was conducted using the names of the archival institutions as search terms. The top results obtained after the search were recorded for further analysis.
Findings
The findings suggest that public archival institutions in South Africa have limited online presence. Only the National Archives of South Africa had an active website with collections that are accessible online. Some provincial archives had websites hosted by their parent bodies while others had no websites at all. Only the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provincial archives had their Facebook pages in the top results. There were no signs of other social media sites in the top results.
Originality/value
The study concludes that public archival institutions are not visible online. All provincial archives need to have websites where they can be accessed. The use of social media platforms needs to be prioritised. In this fourth industrial revolution age, people communicate and interact online. Public archival institutions should therefore make it their primary mandate to take the archives to where the people are currently meeting.
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Miguel Angel Moliner and Vicent Tortosa-Edo
The objective of this research is to analyze how omnichannel consumer journey design (OCJD) influences the online customer experience (OCE) and e-satisfaction in consumers'…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this research is to analyze how omnichannel consumer journey design (OCJD) influences the online customer experience (OCE) and e-satisfaction in consumers' multirooming behavior (searching for information in online and offline channels and purchasing the product online).
Design/methodology/approach
The problem-solving theory and experiential marketing perspective are the theoretical background that enables the establishment of five hypotheses. A survey is conducted on multiroomers who had purchased a product online, following an online and offline research journey.
Findings
The results showed that OCJD directly and indirectly (through online consumer experience) influences e-satisfaction. Females and younger individuals exhibited higher levels of e-satisfaction.
Originality/value
First, this research analyzes consumers' multichannel search strategies. Second, the consumer journey is incorporated into the study of multichannel retailing. Third, an emergent typology of cross-channel free-riding behavior is analyzed: multirooming.
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Laszlo Hetey, Eddy Neefs, Ian Thomas, Joe Zender, Ann-Carine Vandaele, Sophie Berkenbosch, Bojan Ristic, Sabrina Bonnewijn, Sofie Delanoye, Mark Leese, Jon Mason and Manish Patel
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft. The KMS collects knowledge acquired during the engineering process that involved over 30 project partners. In addition to the documentation and technical data (explicit knowledge), a dedicated effort was made to collect the gained experience (tacit knowledge) that is crucial for the operational phase of the TGO mission and also for future projects. The system is now in service and provides valuable information for the scientists and engineers working with NOMAD.
Design/methodology/approach
The NOMAD KMS was built around six areas: official documentation, technical specifications and test results, lessons learned, management data (proposals, deliverables, progress reports and minutes of meetings), picture files and movie files. Today, the KMS contains 110 GB of data spread over 11,000 documents and more than 13,000 media files. A computer-aided design (CAD) library contains a model of the full instrument as well as exported sub-parts in different formats. A context search engine for both documents and media files was implemented.
Findings
The conceived KMS design is basic, flexible and very robust. It can be adapted to future projects of a similar size.
Practical implications
The paper provides practical guidelines on how to retain the knowledge from a larger aerospace project. The KMS tool presented here works offline, requires no maintenance and conforms to data protection standards.
Originality/value
This paper shows how knowledge management requirements for space missions can be fulfilled. The paper demonstrates how to transform the large collection of project data into a useful tool and how to address usability aspects.
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Patrick OBrien, Kenning Arlitsch, Jeff Mixter, Jonathan Wheeler and Leila Belle Sterman
The purpose of this paper is to present data that begin to detail the deficiencies of log file analytics reporting methods that are commonly built into institutional repository…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present data that begin to detail the deficiencies of log file analytics reporting methods that are commonly built into institutional repository (IR) platforms. The authors propose a new method for collecting and reporting IR item download metrics. This paper introduces a web service prototype that captures activity that current analytics methods are likely to either miss or over-report.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were extracted from DSpace Solr logs of an IR and were cross-referenced with Google Analytics and Google Search Console data to directly compare Citable Content Downloads recorded by each method.
Findings
This study provides evidence that log file analytics data appear to grossly over-report due to traffic from robots that are difficult to identify and screen. The study also introduces a proof-of-concept prototype that makes the research method easily accessible to IR managers who seek accurate counts of Citable Content Downloads.
Research limitations/implications
The method described in this paper does not account for direct access to Citable Content Downloads that originate outside Google Search properties.
Originality/value
This paper proposes that IR managers adopt a new reporting framework that classifies IR page views and download activity into three categories that communicate metrics about user activity related to the research process. It also proposes that IR managers rely on a hybrid of existing Google Services to improve reporting of Citable Content Downloads and offers a prototype web service where IR managers can test results for their repositories.
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Renato Ribeiro Nogueira Ferraz, Marcus Vinícius Cesso da Silva, Renan Antônio da Silva and Luc Quoniam
The purpose of this paper is to present the use of a free code computational tool, Patent2net, in the search of patents for the implementation of distance learning aimed at…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the use of a free code computational tool, Patent2net, in the search of patents for the implementation of distance learning aimed at Continuing Medical Education.
Design/methodology/approach
This technical report is based on the extraction, organization and availability, in the format of graphs and dynamic tables, and also based on information in other patents on the subject, made available in the Espacenet database.
Findings
As a result, it was possible to identify a Chinese patent, free for reproduction in Brazil, which describes an e-learning system that simulates 3D scenarios for training nursing teams.
Research limitations/implications
The paper has used one unique patent database, but containing more than 100m documents.
Practical implications
The selected patent can contribute to the improvement of care and behavioral techniques of the health professionals.
Social implications
The training of health professionals can improve the public and supplementary health systems.
Originality/value
This is the first paper in that de technometric analisys of patents was used to solve a problem regarding the training of health professionals.
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Simona Ibba, Filippo Eros Pani, John Gregory Stockton, Giulio Barabino, Michele Marchesi and Danilo Tigano
One of the main tasks of a researcher is to properly communicate the results he obtained. The choice of the journal in which to publish the work is therefore very important…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the main tasks of a researcher is to properly communicate the results he obtained. The choice of the journal in which to publish the work is therefore very important. However, not all journals have suitable characteristics for a correct dissemination of scientific knowledge. Some publishers turn out to be unreliable and, against a payment, they publish whatever researchers propose. The authors call “predatory journals” these untrustworthy journals. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the incidence of predatory journals in computer science literature and present a tool that was developed for this purpose.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors focused their attention on editors, universities and publishers that are involved in this kind of publishing process. The starting point of their research is the list of scholarly open-access publishers and open-access stand-alone journals created by Jeffrey Beall. Specifically, they analysed the presence of predatory journals in the search results obtained from Google Scholar in the engineering and computer science fields. They also studied the change over time of such incidence in the articles published between 2011 and 2015.
Findings
The analysis shows that the phenomenon of predatory journals somehow decreased in 2015, probably due to a greater awareness of the risks related to the reputation of the authors.
Originality/value
We focused on computer science field, using a specific sample of queries. We developed a software to automatically make queries to the search engine, and to detect predatory journals, using Beall’s list.
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