Abstract

We present the theoretical and methodological basis of a model that offers the managers information about their own social networks. We analyzed the nursing directors social networks of hospitals belonging to the Network of Hospitals for Public Use (XHUP ) of Catalonia, Spain, and studied the information retrieved from these networks. The proposed model is applied to make a comparative analysis of managers surveyed, in order to improve strategies and to enhance outcomes of competitive intelligence projects.

Abstract

The results of a study of social networking by professors’ co-memberships in library and information science PhD juries between 1993 and 2006 are presented. Degree reduction and k-core methods are used to extract sub-networks and a Ward’s hierarchical cluster analysis is performed. The resulting network identifies five classes, whose members are actors occupying similar social positions, and at the same time different mechanisms, based mainly in similarity and physical proximity, are proposed from the interpretative point of view.

Abstract

This paper intends, from a structural point of view, to analyse the network of Flickr’s members who live or were born in Spain. The aim of the study is to know how the network evolves, what is its shape, what groups are detected and what uses are carried out within the network. We identified 663 Flickr members through a double snowball process and harvested their joining date, photos and contacts with a crawler. The results show that the users who joined Flickr in 2004 use the service as a communication medium among amateur photographers, while the subsequent members utilise Flickr as a real social network, using the photos as a way to express personal experiences, opinions and tastes.

Abstract

Improvement of the interfaces and search capacities of the opacs continues to be one of the main challenges for libraries, especially with regard to searching by subject. The visual interfaces can help with retrieval. This paper explores the combination of co-term analysis techniques with social networks for the generation of subject maps of collections. The main conclusion is that the methodology applied is valid, and that the maps could be used for browsing and subject retrieval. It would also be useful for improving the quality of indexing.

Abstract

The field of information behaviour research is dominated by a constructivist vision focused on the individual as a generator of knowledge. Recently, a group of researchers have increased the criticism of this approach and advocate a social turn. From this point of view, methods such as discourse analysis are used to try to learn from the language of users how they generate and share knowledge in the social context. Other methods that could contribute to a better understanding of this aspect include social network analysis. The article describes how this method has been applied to the study of information behaviour, shows a practical application and discusses the professional and methodological implications.

Abstract

  En los últimos años se ha producido un aumento del interés en las redes digitales como medio de comunicación política. Sin embargo su uso se encuentra determinado, entre otros factores, por la naturaleza y estrategias de cada partido político. Esta investigación analiza el uso que los partidos de la confluencia Barcelona en Comú llevaron a cabo durante la campaña de las municipales de 2015, del 8 al 22 de mayo, en la red digital Twitter. El método empleado ha sido el análisis de redes sociales de todos los tweets difundidos por los seis partidos políticos que forman la confluencia. Se profundiza en la relación comunicativa entre estos partidos, así como en la relación entre los partidos y los usuarios en la red digital analizando la bidireccionalidad del proceso comunicativo. El partido que generó más información electoral en Twitter durante la campaña fue Barcelona en Comú.  AbstractIn recent years there has been a great deal of interest in digital networks as political communication tools. However, the use of social media depends on, among other things, the character of each political organization. The main objective of this research is to analyze Barcelona en Comú’s digital communication on Twitter during the municipal election campaign from May 8 to May 22, 2015 in Barcelona. The methodology is based on a social network analysis (SNA) of all the tweets disseminated by the six political parties that formed the confluence. The investigation deepens our understanding of the communicative relationship between the six parties, and between the parties and the users, with the aim of analyzing the bi-directionality of the communicative process. We conclude that the party that generated the most electoral information on Twitter during the electoral campaign was Barcelona en Comú.

Abstract

We live in a dense social network of interactions that connect us to people, information, events and places facilitating or constraining the flow of information, ideas, perceptions, etc., into an instant and massive network communication system. We create cognitive artefacts that integrate data visualization and cognitive processes in order to increase our ability to understand the complexity of the external world, made even more complex with the Internet and rise of social media. In this paper, we combine Twitter , as a type of fieldwork site, and Social Networks Analysis (SNA), as both an analytic framework and set of methods, to capture, analyze, and visualize empirical data, both statically (figure representing point in time) and dynamically (video reflecting longitudinal data). We present Flocker, a tool designed for real-time visualization and representation of network activity using Twitter as an illustrative case.

Abstract

The global health crisis arising from the expansion of Covid-19 has led the WHO to coin the term infodemics to define a situation of fear and insecurity in which the dissemination of false information has become widespread. These hoaxes take advantage of this type of emotion to spread faster than the coronavirus itself, generating fear and distrust in the population. The spread of these lies, part of which circulates on social networks, is dangerous because it affects health and can make the contagion worse and cause people to die. This research aims to analyse and visualise the network created around the false news circulating on Twitter about the coronavirus pandemic using the technique of social network analysis. NodeXL Pro software has been used. Several measures of network centrality have been used to generate the network of connections between users, to represent their interaction patterns and to identify the key actors within the network. In addition, a semantic network has also been created to discover the differences in the way groups of people talk about the topic. The results show that the situation in the USA dominates the conversation, despite the fact that at that time there were hardly any cases, and Europe had become the global epicentre of the Covid-19. Despite reports of inaction by journalists and critics of the Trump government, there are several weeks in which disinformation distracts from taking more effective action and actually preventing contagion. Moreover, among the actors with the most prominent positions in the network, there is little presence of scientists and institutions that help to disprove the hoaxes and explain the hygiene measures. 

Abstract

The structures of hospitals have evolved to make them centre on patients and their pathologies, with care procedures that are both interprofessional and interorganisational. This has given rise to work environments made up of teams obliged to collaborate in their problem-solving, with an essential focus on proper collaborative information behaviour (CIB). The aim was to study this behaviour in a clinical service of a hospital in relation to two aspects: information culture (IC) and the exchange of information. This entailed designing a two-part descriptive study. The first step was to administer a survey based on the information orientation model to know more about the service’s IC. The second phase focussed on the exchange of information from the perspective of an analysis of social networks. The main characteristic of IC was its proactive nature, especially in the use of information to improve one’s own work (mean = 4.58) and to respond to changes and new developments relating to work (mean = 4.18). The factor that least characterised IC was control, particularly in relation to knowledge of the objective of the activity itself (mean = 2.67) and the dispersion of information about hospital processes (mean = 2.64). On social networks, factors contrary to an interprofessional CIB were identified, such as homophily and low reciprocity in terms of relationships. In practice, the results identified a need to reinforce the perception of information as a resource, the proper use of which benefits job performance at both an individual and group level. A need to reinforce flows of internal hospital-related information was likewise evident. From a theoretical and methodological point of view, a useful tool is made available for diagnosing the collaborative information behaviour of an organisation and designing strategies to improve it.

Abstract

In this paper, we wish to examine the perceived credibility of news items shared through Social Networking Sites (SNS) –specifically, as a function of tie strength and perceived credibility of the media source from which the content originated. We utilized a between-subjects design. The Facebook account of each participant (N=217) was analyzed. Based on this analysis, our participants were shown a fictitious Facebook post that was presumably shared by one of their Facebook friends with whom they had either a strong social tie (experiment group), or a weak social tie (control group). All recipients were then asked about their perceptions regarding the news source (from which the item presumably originated), and their perception regarding thecredibility of the presented item. Our findings indicate that the strength of the social tie between the sharer of the item and its recipient mediates the effect of the credibility perception regarding the news source, and the perceived item credibility, as well as the likelihood of searching for additional information regarding the topic presented in the shared item.