Abstract

This article examines the relation between teenagers and printed media. The conclusions emphasize that the low indexes of reading are due to, on the one hand, the importance of electronic leisure in the today’s teenagers life and, on the other hand, the modification of reading habits. They also emphasize that adolescents like the same topics both in audiovisual and printed media.

Abstract

The digital era has perpetuated new pedagogies of collective participation in networks that requires reflection in the conventional education area, because of YouTube, as audiovisual platform of outstanding international recognition, concentrates an extensive repertoire of informal learning practices among young people. In this case, the research focuses on a form of literary expression driven by the new Booktube community, which is dedicated to the recommendation of books and the promotion of reading by focusing their messages through the videoblog format. This aspect, closely popularized in the platform, allow us to deepen new youth practices outside classroom that refer to the promotion of books and critical and judicious expression on aspects related to content, formats, genres and authors in a context supported by the media ecology. In order to deepen the reasons why youth reads currently, we developed a literature review starting with the transmedia literacy concept evaluating narrative and aesthetic competences and applying a content analysis and a case study that collects channels of two Spanish booktubers with high impact and community: Javier Ruescas and Fly like a Butterfly. Results discern an affinity space linked to the opinion of peers that promotes reading and writing, and the ability to interpret, describe, compare and reflect about the literary context.

Abstract

In the last few years, Thomson Reuters has launched two new scientific data sources: Book citation index and Data citation index. The renowned family of citation indexes has been expanded to six members, including journal articles, proceedings papers, books, book chapters and research data. For the first time ever we have the chance to include this wide variety of scientific formats in developing bibliometric tools such as university rankings. For some, this would end the serious coverage limitations derived from their exclusive reliance on journal articles. In this short article we suggest the creation of a ranking of Spanish universities based on the various citation indexes and we reflect on their potential interest as well as on their limitations.

Abstract

Libraries now have the challenge of managing a wide variety of materials, from books and journals on paper to the existing range of electronic resources. Information is packaged in various forms, and libraries must sign on to big deals as well as acquire single titles, single articles, open access works, ebooks, etc. Integrated library systems (ILS) are improving little by little to help in these tasks; various brands and models are cited.

Abstract

In 2010 Thomson launched a new citation index devoted to books: the Book citation index. This new database has opened new possibilities for analyzing fields such as the Humanities and Social Sciences from a bibliometric point of view. However we still know little about their coverage and especially about the scientific publishers that have been taken into account in the construction of this citation database. In this paper we analyze the BKCI coverage: countries, languages, concentration of publishers and finally we compare the database with Scholarly publishers indicators (SPI), produced in Spain by CCHS/CSIC. The conclusion is that Thomson is making the same mistakes as before: a clear Anglo-Saxon bias, a large concentration of publishers and an absence of a number of reputable publishers.

Abstract

The traditional book, which is losing its central position as a paradigmatic record of information and knowledge, is a “cultural exception” within the communication environment of the human species. Although vanishing as a norm, as a standard, the book undertakes new tasks and assumes the role of a symbol, even an ethnographic value.

Abstract

Books and the public libraries that house them are immersed in a society that is undergoing continuous transformation and are influenced by the growing commercialization of culture, which combines commercial and social needs and interests. Public libraries, as a public service, must serve the public interest even as, in their efforts to provide more and better service to citizens, they find that they need to employ certain commercial techniques, such as those used by bookstores.

Abstract

Publishers of scholarly books about library and information science and communications are analyzed, as well as their publishing processes. The research method was a questionnaire sent to 263 Spanish researchers and teachers in these areas. The survey response rate was 35.5%. Thanks to these responses, main quality indicators for publishers were identified. Researchers’ working habits, opinions and attitudes related to the selection, editing and publishing processes of their books are also examined. Finally, as a more pragmatic result, the most prestigious Spanish and foreign publishers are identified.

Abstract

The problematics, context, concept and design trends of electronic books are discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of the electronic book versus the traditional one are analyzed. Finally, its impact in the ecology of book production, preservation and dissemination and in its different stakeholders is assessed, both market-oriented firms and libraries.

Abstract

In media and content industries, the main effect of digitization has been a radical transformation of information formats and displays. In fact, these formats and displays are responsible for the shifting perceptions of users-consumers concerning how they relate and interact with information. However, in spite of its considerable relevance, the bidirectional relationship between formats/displays and users has been seldom studied. This brief paper presents an overview of the evolution of displays and devices in some key media and content subsectors -publishing and distribution of books and newspapers- with the main objective of hinting at the next steps in their evolution.