LIDA 2014
Altmetrics in the humanities:
perceptions of Italian scholars
Anna Maria Tammaro
(University of Parma)
A.M.Tammaro
Zadar, 16-20 June 2014
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Digital Humanities
“The digital humanities, also known as humanities
computing, is a field of study, research, teaching, and
invention concerned with the intersection of computing and
the disciplines of the humanities. It is methodological by
nature and interdisciplinary in scope. It involves
investigation, analysis, synthesis and presentation of
information in electronic form. It studies how these media
affect the disciplines in which they are used, and what
these disciplines have to contribute to our knowledge of
computing.”
Matthew Kirschenbaum 2010
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Zadar, 16-20 June 2014
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DH Manifesto
“The diversity of digital
media and publication
genres need to be
accepted as genuine
means of scientific
communication”,
including “
repositories,
publication platforms,
social media networks
and blogging”,
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Digital humanities in Italy
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Pioneers: 1945-1980
Networked: 1980-2011 Research centers
for connected communities
Collaborative: 2011- infrastructure for
collaboration
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Pionieri: Roberto Busa (1913-2011)
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AIUCD Italian Association IU

From 2011

Website http://www.umanisticadigitale.it
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Collective Blog Leggere Scrivere Far di conto
http://infouma.hypotheses.org
List http://mailman.humnet.unipi.it/ listinfo/aiucd-l
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/aiucd/
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Zadar, 16-20 June 2014
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Typologies of research output

More and more
research output is
happening outside
the traditional
journal or book.
Dictionary,
Concordances,
Data Bases, Data
sets
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Literary editions

Websites, Blogs

Archives and Digital
Libraries

OER, MOOC

Software tools
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Evaluation methods
ITALY
EUROPE

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Project EICSTES
(European Indicators,
Cyberspace and the
Science-TechnologyEconomy System)
Wiser Project Web
indicators for Science
Technology and
Innovation Research
A.M.Tammaro
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Anvur italian Agency Quality
Journals distribution in two
categories of quality GEV A&B
Combination of Impact Factor
with peer review evaluation

What? Only books and
articles in pdf format
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Peer review

DARIAH/NINES

Centernet
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Altmetrics

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The definition of altmetrics stands for
alternative metrics and is a way to measure
the impact of a scholarly article or project
by charting social media mentions as well
as blog posts and bookmarks.
Altmetrics Mendeley group
(www.mendeley.com/groups/586171/altmet
rics/papers/)
A.M.Tammaro
Zadar, 16-20 June 2014
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Research Life Cycle

Many platforms and tools try to support the
research life cycle
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Social media
Access
Register
Discuss
Recommend Cite
Counter
Citeulike
Twitter
Nines
Scopus
Insitutional
Repositorie
s
Delicious Facebook
Academia. Linkedin
edu
Reviews
Web of
Science
Virtual
Research
Environmen
t Slideshare,
Bamboo/DI
RT
Mendeley,
Zotero
Academic
blogs
Printed
Articles
Wikipedia
Printed
articles
Google
Scholar
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Academic
blogs
Wikipedi
a
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Aims ad objectives
Aim:

to propose alternative methods of evaluation of digital
publications in the humanities
Objectives:


make evident the usage and the perceptions of the
creators of digital resources for evaluation by Altmetrics;
understand barriers and obstacles to evaluation by
Altmetrics
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Zadar, 16-20 June 2014
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Methodology
First phase

Third phase
Inventory of communities Final Report will be
and research projects
discussed by thematic
and artefacts
focus groups
Second phase

Questionnaire followed
by interviews with
experts in each
disciplinary sector
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DH Research Center
1 Accademia della Crusca
2 CELCT (Center for the Evaluation
of Language and Communication
Technologies)
3 CIBIT (Centro Interuniversitario
Biblioteca Italiana Telematica)
4 CISI (Centro Interstrutture di Servizi
Informatici e Telematici per le
Facoltà Umanistiche)
5 CILTA (Centro Interfacoltà di
Linguistica Teorica e Applicata)
6 CTL (Centro di elaborazione
informatica di testi e immagini
nella Tradizione Letteraria)
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7 DIGILAB. Centro intertipartimentale di
ricerca e servizi
8 Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale
9 ILC (Istituto di Linguistica
Computazionale)
10 LABIUM
11 OVI (Opera del Vocabolario Italiano)
12 SIGNUM (Centro di ricerche informatiche
per le discipline umanistiche)
13 SISMEL (Società Internazionale per lo
Studio del Medioevo Latino)
14 UNIPR CoLab (Co-Laboratorio
dell'Università di Parma)
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Projects and artefacts
http://linclass.classics.unibo.it/udwiki
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Data collection tool
Quantitative
What indicators would you
use to evaluate the
quality of humanities
research? include in the
reply the indicators that
have been used (VQR,
ASN), but do not restrict
to these

Number publication,
citation, page rank,
subscribers and
followers, preferences
Qualitative

Citations, Wikipedia,
Peer review and
recommendations
http://www.surveymon
key.com/s/GZSB27
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First findings
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The perceptions of scholars for evaluation using
social media is critical.
“Many alternative channels from which to collect the
assessment mean much more work for the scholar”
“Preferences can be constructed artificially, what
scientific credibility likers can have?”
The peer review is the preferred evaluation
method
Trust-building is needed
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To be continued....
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Whereas the traditional humanities typically value
originality, authority, and authorship—an ethos based in
part on the scarcity of information and the perceived
need for gatekeepers—the Digital Humanities Manifesto
instead promotes remixing, openness, and the wisdom
of the crowd....
Whereas the traditional humanities are text based and
nontechnical and value solitary, specialized work
resulting in a book, the digital humanities are
collaborative and technical, value design, and are built
upon shared information resources
Lisa Spiro 2012
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