Abstract

Technological innovation requires major adjustments in organizations, companies and public services. To understand the transformation of libraries it is vital to understand the transformations in access to information and education. Both public and academic libraries, are becoming learning and socialisation areas where information and digital literacy are becoming a highlight in their daily activity.

Abstract

Transparency in public administration is possible if citizens are guaranteed access to documents. In this paper we propose a definition of transparency and analyse the Spanish legislation that addresses the right of access to information. Transparency is also more readily achieved if institutions have organized their archives. We propose essential requirements that must meet the legal and records management standards.

Abstract

We analyze the systems inside an online newspaper that allow access to news outside their own online media. It is important to know how mass media are using these tools because of the sparse documentation and its constant evolution. We propose a model of analysis applied to seven Spanish national newspapers to know how the information services, alternatives to navigation or search, are being used. Spanish newspapers distribution systems incorporate information based on interactivity and personalization: the kind of information you receive, how, when and where. We also emphasize the integration of social tools for sharing and disseminating news outside of the newspaper.

Abstract

Whilst science and religion are arguably compatible as two methods to identify truth, in practice they are divergent in their effects. This has serious implications for the theory and practice of library and information work. By starting with the human right of freedom of expression (which contains the right of freedom of access to information) it is possible to compare religion and science and their tendency towards mystery or transparency. The scientific method is inherently sceptical, testing hypotheses with openly exposed methods and results. Although the purity of science is sometimes reduced by its paymasters (governments, corporations and foundations) and by the scientific establishment itself, it offers a model of transparency. Religion is based on faith in some form of revelation, often encapsulated in a book or books, against which knowledge is tested. In practice this preference for authority and mystery encourages the forceful rejection of ideas and fosters secrecy both intellectual and organisational. It is suggested here that libraries are institutionsthat expose ideas for public use and that they are therefore part of the scientific project. The censorship and suppression of ideas associated with religion needs to be resisted by library and information professionals in whatever form, such as a resurgent emphasis on protection of religion through blasphemy laws, that this tendency manifests itself.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.

Abstract

This study analyses the media coverage of immigration in Melilla, the land frontier between Spain and Morocco andone of the access points where immigrants enter the European Union, and the role that journalists and other agents play in spreading news on immigration. By means of a field study we analyse the type of news professionals and media that are present near the border, the logics followed by institutional press offices when providing information, and the particular conditions in which journalism is practiced in a space of juridical exceptionality. Amongst the results obtained we underscore: the predominance of a media market that, while apparently diverse, is highly dependent on institutional advertising; the relevance of figures like activists or freelance journalists in providing differentiated news on immigration; and the difficulties in working that journalists face due to arbitrariness and obscurantism when accessing images and data.

Abstract

We analyzed the archiving strategies of five citizen mobilizations that have taken place in Spain since 2004. All of them have in common an explicit will of the protagonists to keep the records generated during the events, in order to build an account of what happened “from below” and to achieve recognition of their interests and rights. In this article, we analyze why each group of documents constitutes an archival fonds, the involvement of citizens in its configuration (capture, management, preservation, and dissemination of information), and the response of archival institutions for its preservation and custody. We confirm that citizens want to leave their documentary trace and use archives as a weapon of empowerment. We argue the need for greater involvement of trustworthy public archival institutions to safeguard, beyond the institutional memory, records created by citizens. The archives should make them accessible and should facilitate citizen participation. Their acquisition policies should be transparent and open to all of society.

Abstract

  Transparency in the media has become a fundamental pillar within all democratic societies, as a mechanism for reinforcing government regulation (Anderson, 2009) and citizen trust in institutions (Vos and Craft, 2016). Journalism, which has traditionally acted as a watchdog and a check on power, is now in the midst of a credibility crisis, compounded by polarization and the rise of disinformation. For this reason, various studies advocate that media outlets, just like institutions and governments, should use transparency mechanisms that allow them to respond directly or indirectly to society regarding the content they publish, as an exercise of responsibility. This research aims to evaluate media transparency in the Spanish–Portuguese landscape by means of an index that includes variables studied in the theoretical framework and that come from legislative, academic, and professional sources. These variables have been used to measure corporate and financial transparency, transparency in content production, openness to public participation, and the self-regulation mechanisms of ten media outlets in Spain and Portugal. This study concluded that, with only 43% adherence to the transparency variables analyzed, promoting accountability is still a work in progress for media outlets, and it must be stepped up at both the academic and professional levels.

Abstract

The academic debate on transparency has experienced a boom in recent decades. A review of the scientific literature allows us to identify two key moments in the discussion on digital transparency: the declaration of Barack Obama’s Memorandum on transparency and open government in 2009 and the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The first was linked to a groundswell of enthusiasm for the concept of government transparency, with the promise that it would boost accountability, eliminate corruption, and promote political efficiency in a crisis of institutional legitimacy. The second altered the digital transparency agenda and catalysed a discussion about the need for technology and social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, or Google) to make transparency commitments because of their role in generating a public conversation and the democratic implications. This paper reviews the idea of digital transparency in the scientific literature framed in the field of political communication and tries to reflect the need for more research on its political, social, and cultural implications.

Abstract

Africa is estimated to have great potential for agricultural production, but there are a number of constraints inhibiting the development of that potential. Spatial data are increasingly important in the realization of potential as well as the associated constraints. With crop production data generated at 5-minute spatial resolution, the paper applies the spatial tobit regression model to estimate the possible impacts of improvements in transport accessibility in East Africa. It is found that rural accessibility and access to markets are important to increase agricultural production. In particular for export crops, such as coffee, tea, tobacco, and cotton, access to ports is crucial. The elasticities are estimated at 0.3–4.6. In addition, the estimation results show that spatial autocorrelation matters to the estimation results. While a random shock in a particular locality would likely affect its neighboring places, the spatial autoregressive term can be positive or negative, depending on how fragmented the current production areas are. Document type: Book