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Second Life is a user‐created online virtual world, which is a place where people with shared interests can meet and be together and share information. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Second Life communities foster and nurture social capital, whether social capital within Second Life is related to social capital outside the virtual world, whether some characteristics affect the likelihood of users having social capital, and whether some existing measure of social capital can be modified and used to study social capital in Second Life.

The study was based on a statistical analysis of data gathered in a web survey of a convenience sample (n= 67) of Second Life residents. The social capital measure used was based on Bullen and Onyx.

Second Life is an environment that fosters the emergence of social capital. Residents who consider themselves producers have higher levels of social capital than those who consider themselves non‐producers. Having social capital within Second Life is unrelated to having social capital outside the virtual world. The consistency of the instrument proved to be excellent for measuring social capital within Second Life and good outside the virtual world.

The small sample size and the composition of the research population limit the ability to generalise the findings.

Second Life is a potent environment for community building and collective action. However, communities and collective action within Second Life cannot be based on social activity outside the virtual world.

The present study is the first systematic investigation of social capital in Second Life.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the tweeting behavior of 37 astrophysicists on Twitter and compares their tweeting behavior with their publication behavior and citation impact to show whether they tweet research-related topics or not.

Astrophysicists on Twitter are selected to compare their tweets with their publications from Web of Science. Different user groups are identified based on tweeting and publication frequency.

A moderate negative correlation (ρ=−0.339) is found between the number of publications and tweets per day, while retweet and citation rates do not correlate. The similarity between tweets and abstracts is very low (cos=0.081). User groups show different tweeting behavior such as retweeting and including hashtags, usernames and URLs.

The study is limited in terms of the small set of astrophysicists. Results are not necessarily representative of the entire astrophysicist community on Twitter and they most certainly do not apply to scientists in general. Future research should apply the methods to a larger set of researchers and other scientific disciplines.

To a certain extent, this study helps to understand how researchers use Twitter. The results hint at the fact that impact on Twitter can neither be equated with nor replace traditional research impact metrics. However, tweets and other so-called altmetrics might be able to reflect other impact of scientists such as public outreach and science communication.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first in-depth study comparing researchers’ tweeting activity and behavior with scientific publication output in terms of quantity, content and impact.

The aim of this paper is to define both theoretically and empirically the concept of Library 2.0.

Written answers to the question “What is Library 2.0?” given by practitioners and researchers (n=29) interested in Library 2.0 issues were analyzed by using co‐word analysis to map the underlying elements of the concept.

The study resulted in a model of Library 2.0, containing seven building‐blocks of the phenomenon: interactivity, users, participation, libraries and library services, web and web 2.0, social aspects, and technology and tools.

The model provides a basis for framing Library 2.0 as a research object and to map central themes of future research.

A comprehensive model enables both researchers and practitioners to frame the phenomenon more clearly, evaluate existing and planned services and their proximity to what is Library 2.0.

Unlike earlier proposals for a definition of the notion Library 2.0, the present study presents an empirical and consensual crowd‐sourcing approach of defining the concept Library 2.0 and provides basis for discussing the future evolution of the notion and its implications for library and information science research and library practices.

The purpose of this paper is to present a study about gender differences in the climate change communication on Twitter and in the use of affordances on Twitter.

The data set consists of about 250,000 tweets and retweets for which the authors’ gender was identified. While content of tweets and hashtags used were analysed for common topics and specific contexts, the usernames that were proportionately more frequently mentioned by either male or female tweeters were coded according to the usernames’ stance in the climate change debate into convinced (that climate change is caused by humans), sceptics, neutrals and unclear groups, and according to the type or role of the user account (e.g. campaign, organization, private person).

The results indicate that overall male and female tweeters use very similar language in their tweets, but clear differences were observed in the use of hashtags and usernames, with female tweeters mentioning significantly more campaigns and organizations with a convinced attitude towards anthropogenic impact on climate change, while male tweeters mention significantly more private persons and usernames with a sceptical stance. The differences were even greater when retweets and duplicate tweets by the same author were removed from the data, indicating how retweeting can significantly influence the results.

On a theoretical level the results increase the understanding for how women and men view and engage with climate change. This has practical implications for organizations interested in developing communication strategies for reaching and engaging female and male audiences on Twitter. While female tweeters can be targeted via local campaigns and news media, male tweeters seem to follow more political and scientific information. The results from the present research also showed that more research about the meaning of retweeting is needed, as the authors have shown how retweets can have a significant impact on the results.

The findings contribute towards increased understanding of both gender differences in the climate change debate and in social media use in general. Beyond that this research showed how retweeting may have a significant impact on research where tweets are used as a data source.

This paper aims to answer the question of how the Polish representatives of social communication and media sciences communicate the most recent scientific findings in the media space, i.e. what types of publications are shared, what activities do they exemplify (sharing information about their own publications, leading discussions, formulating opinions), what is the form of the scientific communication created by them (publication of reference lists' descriptions, full papers, preprints and post prints) and what is the audience reception (number of downloads, displays, comments).

The authors present the results of analysis conducted on the presence of the most recent (2017–2019) publications by the Polish representatives of the widely understood social communication and media sciences in three selected social networking services for scientists: ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Academia.edu. The analyses covered 100 selected representatives of the scientific environment (selected in interval sampling), assigned, according to the OECD classification “Field of Science”, in the “Ludzie nauki” (Men of Science) database to the “media and communication” discipline.

The conducted analyses prove a low usage level of the potential of three analysed services for scientists by the Polish representatives of social communication and media sciences. Although 60% of them feature profiles in at least one of the services, the rest are not present there at all. From the total of 113 identified scientists' profiles, as little as 65 feature publications from 2017 to 2019. Small number of alternative metrics established in them, implies, in turn, that if these metrics were to play an important role in evaluation of the value and influence of scientific publications, then this evaluation for the researched Polish representatives of social communication and media sciences would be unfavourable.

The small presence of the Polish representatives of the communication and media sciences in three analysed services shows that these services may be – for the time being – only support the processes of managing own scientific output. Maybe this quite a pessimistic image of scientists' activities in the analysed services is conditioned by a simple lack of the need to be present in electronic channels of scientific communication or the lack of trust to the analysed services, which, in turn, should be linked to their shortcomings and flaws. However, unequivocal confirmation of these hypotheses might be brought by explorations covering a larger group of scientists, and complemented with survey studies. Thus, this research may constitute merely a starting point for further explorations, including elaboration of good practices with respect to usage of social media by scientists.

This paper aims to provide an overall picture of the application of Web 2.0 technologies in Chinese university libraries. The focus of the research is what types of Web 2.0 technologies were applied in such libraries as well as their function and user interface.

The top 30 Chinese university libraries were selected to investigate the application of Web 2.0 technologies. Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. Data were collected by accessing these 30 university libraries web sites within five weeks.

Two‐thirds of Chinese university libraries deployed one or more Web 2.0 technologies. Only one‐tenth of libraries adopted more than four Web 2.0 technologies. RSS was the most widely applied, while Wiki was the least. The application of Web 2.0 technologies among Chinese university libraries was not extensive and profound enough.

The findings can be utilized to evaluate the status of Web 2.0 technology applications. The statistical data are very useful and authentic sources for improving the level of Web 2.0 technology application. It may enable future research to analyze other aspects (e.g. the application of RSS or Blogs for services).

This unique study explores the application of Web 2.0 mainly in Chinese university libraries that deployed any types of Web 2.0 technologies. This study is very useful for Chinese university libraries in evaluating/deploying Web 2.0. Library managers, librarians, and other libraries may also find this helpful, once they decide to implement such technologies in their libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical discussion of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries already engaged in bibliometric practices. It offers practical recommendations based on the work of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) Working Group on Metrics. This work is in the beginning phase and summarizes literature on the topic, as well as the experiences of the members of the Working Group. The discussion reflects today's growing popularity of (quantitative) research assessment which is seen in enthusiasts introducing new metrics (i.e. altmetrics) and by critics demanding responsible metrics that increase objectivity and equity in evaluations.

This paper is the result of the Working Group on Metrics of the European Association for Research Libraries (LIBER) that critically discussed the practicality of the Leiden Manifesto for libraries.

Full compliance with the Manifesto is time-consuming, expensive and requires a significant increase in bibliometric expertise with respect to both staffing and skill level. Despite these apparent disadvantages, it is recommended that all libraries embrace the Manifesto’s principles. To increase practicality, it is advised that libraries collaborate with researchers, management and other libraries at home and around the world to jointly design and provide services that can be reused within the library community.

Libraries have increasingly been confronted with questions about research assessment, responsible metrics and the role of digital products in evaluations and funding decisions. Although a wide range of recommendations and initiatives are available (e.g. DORA San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment), many recommendations are not straightforward enough to be implemented from a library perspective. This paper provides assistance for libraries to implement these principles by acknowledging the heterogeneous backgrounds the libraries may stem from.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the considerable Ag₂SO₄ content on the electrical and dielectric properties of (AgPO₃)_1−x(Ag₂SO₄)_x ion glass system as well as to extract thermodynamic parameters.

Glass samples of (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x with different mole ratios of Ag₂SO₄ [x = 0.00, 0.10,0.15,0.20 and 0.25] have been synthesized and used. X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis were used to investigate structural and thermal properties, and then the electrical characterizations of the bulk glasses were performed in different frequency and temperature range.

For different ratios of Ag₂SO₄ on AgPO₃, the bulk conductivity is enhanced with increasing the amount of Ag₂SO₄ until the composition of x = 0.20, after which the conductivity decreases. The general behavior of both ε’ and ε” decreases with increasing frequency and increases with increasing temperature. Complex impedance analysis studied by Z‘−Z’ and Cole–Cole plot at different temperatures revealed that bulk resistance decreases with temperature.

The calculated values of activation free energy, enthalpy and entropy change for different compositions of (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x showed an increase in activation energy and enthalpy when Ag₂SO₄ ratio is increased in (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x composition up to 20%, and then there is a decrease in their values at x = 25%, which may be explained based on non-bridging oxygen.