Abstract

An analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on the use of Spanish university libraries during 2020 versus 2019 is carried out in this paper. The results have been published in a web tool that allows for deeper analysis of the individual libraries as well as the libraries as a whole. This study is not an evaluation of the libraries themselves but consists of measuring, describing, and quantifying the negative impact that the health crisis had on them during 2020. Visits, loans, user training, and catalog visits are variables that were strongly affected, with a significant positive increase being identified only in visits to library web pages. The use of digital resources according to Counter-compiled data increased considerably in some private university libraries, where possible staff cuts were also identified. The paper concludes by outlining reflections that can be further studied with the experiences of people related to libraries and with additional research, including data for the following years after collection and publication

Abstract

This paper analyses the news on Covid-19 and 2019-nCov in the Spanish media. This is done by using news retrieved from My news database. The analysis includes the total amount of news in Spanish media by type of media; the evolution of the publication in digital media considering various periods of time, and the volume of news in the most used Spanish digital media. The results show that digital media are the most used among other types to publish on the topic, with a significant increase since the beginning of the alarm state. In this sense, some arguments on the function and utility of this type of media during the confinement are exposed. Also, the essential role of digital media covering the population’s information needs is discussed. The digital media with the largest number publications are abc.es, 20minutos.es, and elconfidencial.com. The value of this work is that it can serve as starting point for others in order to carry out content analysis on the subject considering different channels and digital media.