Scipedia: Documents published in 2014

The information economy, industry and market in 2013

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:38 +0200

Characteristics and economic data of the information market come from various sources and are somewhat mixed. Specific aspects and products discussed are the valuation of the global information market, corporate acquisitions, major scientific publishers, publishing markets (countries), cost of WoK and Scopus databases, revaluation of economic information since the 2008 crisis, journal price increases, open access market, evolution of computing costs (Moore’s Law) and major vendors.

Reseñas de informes: Comunicación científica

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:30 +0200

Análisis

Communication and information science: two converging but different disciplines

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:22 +0200

The present study makes a comparative analysis between two Spanish academic communities, Communication and Library and Information Sciences. The set-up of these academic programmes in Spain, along with their size and the international scientific production of each community, is briefly described and compared. These communities are relatively new, being Library and Information Sciences the more recently implemented.The numbers differ greatly, both in the universities that offer these studies and in the size of their communities; there are five times as many professors in Communication as in Library and Information Sciences. In contrast,Library and Information Sciences has an international scientific productivity three times that of Communication, with articles published in journals with a higher impact factor.

To whom do academic articles belong? Moral rights and ownership rights to scientific work

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:15 +0200

Can an article previously published in a journal or newspaper be gathered together with others by the author as an anthology or collection? Can the author perform this action without consulting the publisher, who is the assignee of the economic rights of the work, which include the reproduction, public communication or disposal rights, and without receiving their authorization? Can the author retain the rights to the previous version or drafts of the article, or does the license also imply that the copyright holder has the exclusive rights to successive versions of the work? Does the place in which the publisher has its operation center, or the country of the platform to which the author posts the collection of his or her works, have any influence on the applicable jurisdiction to solve the legal problems that may arise? All those questions are posed briefly in this paper, along with a modest proposal to adjust the different interests of the parties.

Rejected papers: fracaso y oportunidad

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:08 +0200

The system of scientific publication subjects the submitted manuscript to review, and it is common that many studies are rejected, for various reasons. Some researchers improve the study and achieve publication in another journal, while others abandon the effort and the work remains unpublished. The rejected papers that eventually achieve publication are cited more often than those accepted without changes, because the peer review process improves the quality.

An attempt to provide new services to the repository network in the UK: the UK RepositoryNet+ Project

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:50:01 +0200

The JISC-funded UK RepositoryNet+ (aka RepNet) project aims to build a socio-technical infrastructure for enhancing the institutional repository network at UK Higher Education institutions. The RepNet ran from Aug’2011 to Jul’2013 in its project stage, and has now been extended two years (undergoing a name change along the way), during which it aims to become a new service. So far, the RepNet has brought together existing repository projects and/or services under a common umbrella and has devised an ITIL-based workflow for actually turning repository projects into new repository services. This note describes the different repository working areas the RepNet has identified, the services it covers and the pending work.

The gold route to open access in the Web of science

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:54 +0200

Web

Deep indexing and the application of metadata to supplemental materials in journal publishing

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:47 +0200

Among the best practices of academic journals publishing, this note focusses on the NISO recommendation about the inclusion of supplemental materials. The paper justifies the need to give special treatment to these materials, which require specific metadata. Finally it relates these practices with the deep indexing trend among bibliographic database producers such as ProQuest.

Megajournals: toward a fusion of journals and repositories?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:40 +0200

The evolution of information sources before and after the Internet also raises the opportunity to discuss the information system and scientific communication. The article presents the possible scenarios for the creation of a megajournal in Information Science, considering its evolution from scientific journals or from the repositories. The possibility of rethinking the number of scientific journals is also considered. This includes the debate about issues such as impact factor, peer review and databases.

The challenges of scientific communication

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:32 +0200

Scientific communication faces a number of challenges, many of them not solved by the rise of the Internet: use and presence in social media networks, publication as a measur eof research, open access and its evolution, quality validation, academic marketing and audiovisual content. These challenges are discussed, together with some trends and developments, concluding with the importance of Information Science to solving some of the problems and answering the questions that are generated.

Scientific communication in 2013. Reflections on the informetric community: more networked than ever

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:25 +0200

The peg of this report is the 14th edition of the International Society for Informetrics and Scientometrics (ISSI) Conference, which was held in Vienna in 2013 and was by far the biggest event in this field. Based on this conference the author discusses the hottest and most controversial topics, which bibliometricians and scientometricians will have to face within the next years and even beyond. These are, amongst others, the adjustment of the peer review process to the challenges of the digital era, the crucial role of research data, the rise and necessity of new metrics, as well as the reconsideration of our proxys. Furthermore it is pointed out to which degree all these novel possibilities in the dissemination and promotion of research output will inevitably influence the role of future scientists. Finally, a short reflection on the scientometric community during this crucial period of change is given.

Reseñas de informes: Gestión de información

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:16 +0200

Análisis

Proceedings papers or journal articles: A tension in the scientific communication?

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:08 +0200

The interest among those who work in Youth Information Centres in several key areas is highlighted: the selection and proper dissemination of the information content that affects the daily life of young people; overcoming the obstacles of accessibility and understanding of the information with which they are faced; and the importance of interactin with them in the context of social networking platforms. Because of the value associated with the virtual sociability within which young people and their interactions develop, we must boost its intermediary role by adopting the role of “connectors” as far as possible. To do this, we should detect those signs that suggest a “collaborative information behaviour” and encourage these actions. Among the concepts and ideas discussed in this brief analysis are “hyperdyadic dissemination” of Christakis and Fowler, mediation as “Information DJ” of Matt Lieberman, and the “information scent” of Pirolli.

Information and knowledge management as the key to success for social activism

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:49:01 +0200

One of the many effects of the economic crisis is that public and private organizations are cutting back on Knowledge Management initiatives. This might also be interpreted as a sign of organizational skepticism towards their true value and/ or the benefits they entail. However, in social activism platforms these benefits are clearly perceived, and it could be argued that the management of information and knowledge has proved to be the key to their success.

Has the transition begun? Goodbye Marbi, Hello MAC

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:54 +0200

The advancing Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME) is described, emphasizing that with the publication of the minutes of the MARBI Midsummer meeting on 2013 this committee was officially dissolved. MARBI has been operative for 30 years. It is noteworthy that at the same meeting the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC) was created with the aim of continuing the maintenance of the MARC 21 format, but also fostering the development of BIBFRAME, as MARBI had done so far. This factre presents a hiatus in cataloguing. Resource: Description and Access has already entered into production, as well as the development of Europeana Data Model and its adoption by various international projects, most notably the Digital Public Library of America. Finally, we examine whether these important processes are objectively having any impact on the Spanish libraries.

The new thesaurus standard: UNE ISO 25964-1

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:47 +0200

The first part of the Spanish translation and adaptation of the ISO 25964 Information and documentation standard is analyzed: Thesauri and interoperability With Other vocabularies - Part 1: Thesauri for information retrieval will become the new UNE ISO 25964-1. Innovations and implications are presented and discussed, with particular attention to the developments that have been implemented toensure that thesauri become fully interoperable technically and linguistically, so that all the advantages that they offer in an increasingly globalized and interconnected environment can be promoted, offering their strengths to the Semantic Web project.

Process maps and process-oriented document management

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:40 +0200

The process map is a tool that helps in transforming company management to a process orientation. Records and information maps are a useful tool to determine the records in the processes and their characteristics. Their purpose is to support records management and ultimately information governance. The recommendation is made to move towards a complete cartography of information governance, mapping other aspects such as risk management, IT maps applications, and systems and information security.

A perfect fit: ISO 30300 and integrated business management systems

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:33 +0200

This reflection is based on practical experience with the redefinition of a document management system based on ISO 30301 in a company that has adopted an integrated management system. Records and documents management is being reoriented from paper files and large quantities of scanned documents, towards electronic document management and the paperless office. We have designed a system that fits perfectly in the integrated system so that the Records Management System becomes a keys trategic element for organizational change.

Reseñas de informes: Bibliotecas

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:26 +0200

Análisis

Libraries and the need to protect authors’ rights

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:17 +0200

The position of libraries as society’s guarantors of thefreedom of access to knowledge persists despite barriers to lending digital content, to the collection of digital content in order to preserve it from the “digital black hole” and to the development of digital collections in libraries. The evidence of the lack of minimum international legal standards in a digital environment and in our library sector has raised concerns over the global legal framework that is needed to facilitate the use of digital content in a way that is balanced for both libraries and copyright. The article includes a brief introduction about initiatives by library associations such as IFLA, working together with WIPO to boost TLIB, an international treaty on exceptions and limitations to copyright for libraries, and the EBLIDA campaign, ‘The Right to e-Read’.

The library and the new challenges of communication. The disoriented librarian

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:48:07 +0200

Communication with the library user is being changed by the loss of the library’s information monopoly, the dematerialization of the book and the importance of technology in the non-face-to-face relationship. Within the new ways of communication, the ability to become used to tools and devices in a daily and non-work environment is essential. Library professionals must begin to understand the new ways of communication as a balance between the personal and profesional domains.

Bursting the libraries bubble in Facebook: the challenge of communication

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:59 +0200

In general, with few exceptions, libraries are not exploiting the opportunities that Facebook offers, like talking to the users, creating authentic communities or extending their reach. The key element that explains the cause of this deficiency is the way libraries communicate, often modeled on a one-way bulletin board. Several communication objectives that should be incorporated permanently into the social media strategy of the library, and some ideas to improve the performance in Facebook, are provided. To be successful, libraries must know and adapt to the medium, and try to meet users’ interests.

The deactivated librarian

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:51 +0200

The economic crisis and the rapid advances of information technology have led to reflection about how libraries should face the digital challenge and the need to adapt daily work routines and professional profiles. This paper considers whether libraries are restrained environments that can have an inhibiting effect on their profesional staff, harming their adaptation to the new digital environment. There are several reasons for this: technology dependence, a workplace model that gives priority to established structures, the rigidity of the structures involved in the decision-making process, and attachment to our traditional roles.

Libraries 2013: Deconstruction in 6 decalogues

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:43 +0200

The Durga group focuses its efforts on reflections about the reality, or rather realities, of libraries. This is why we propose here a systematic review of the year 2013 divided into six decalogues: 10 key numbers, 10 media headlines, 10 milestones, 10 professional issues, 10 looks at the future and, finally, 10 intriguing —positive and negative— aspects and experiences observed in our libraries.

More about university education, employment and recession

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:35 +0200

Analysis of the status of the professions of librarian, documentalist and information scientis tin Spain, studying the influence of the curriculum in the labour market. Forty percent of employers believe that graduates should have more knowledge about specific sources of information: legal, economic, health, education, etc. The profession and its programme of studies are poorly understood by society, and the terminological inconsistency between degree titles, the field of knowledge and professional institutions contributes to this problem. The number of graduates in Spain reached its maximum in 2005 (1,727) and this amount has steadily declined, to 667 in 2012.

Octava edición del Anuario ThinkEPI

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:28 +0200

Con

Reseñas de informes: Formación y profesión

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:19 +0200

Análisis

The information professional as an eCommerce manager

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:11 +0200

Spain is among the countries where online sales are growing fastest, with well over 2,000 activeo nline stores. However, there are not yet many trained and experienced eCommerce professionals, which presents an opportunity for those with knowledge of Information Management to colonize an immature labour niche. The article describes some of the “skills” that eCommerce managers need today, and howthisfits the profile of the Information Management graduate curriculum. Related skills include classifying and describing products, diagnosing search engine optimization problems, designing SEO strategy, coordinating internal and external communities of users, managing suppliers, conducting online market researchthrough competitive intelligence, studying the usability of the website and design / redesigning the interaction of the same, analyzing user interactions with web analytics tools, or even managing digital advertising.

20 anniversary of IweTel mailing list

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:47:03 +0200

The article analyses the IweTel mailing list about Library and Information Science in its 20 anniversary. With so many social networks, communication platforms and collaborative work methods, the merits of e-mail distribution lists, whether monodirectional newsletters or discussion forums, are questioned in the 2.0 world. Do they still make sense or are they obsolete? Given the large number of mailing lists that are working effectively, and seeing their evolution over the recent years, the author concludes that mailing lists will survive for many more years.

Two worldwide deontological codes for all information and documentation professionals: Ifla and Sedic-Fesabid

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:56 +0200

For the first time, Spain has a deontological standard for all professionals in Library and Information Science, with the adoption in 2013 of a professional ethics code by SEDIC and FESABID. This is in addition to a similar document adopted by IFLA, which wasthe first international text for professionals in libraries and information services. Both initiatives help to strengthen collective identity and social prestige, also reflecting its dependence on the institutions that employ them. Finally, the codes can also be interpreted as responses to threats of “economicism” and misfeasance of technology.

Expectations and deficiencies in educational visits to libraries and documentation centers: the lost opportunity

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:49 +0200

Visiting libraries and documentation departments is a common activity in information management teaching and training programs. However, these visits very often lack the necessary elements tomake them productive training experiences and not merely social activities. Prior preparation and identification of the students’ objectives and responsibilities, planning that ensures the visits are dynamic, andthe subsequent evaluation and sharing of the new ideas generated are some of the essential factors that foster reflection, critical thinking and participation.

Information schools. 2013 perspectives and trends

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:41 +0200

The information schools (iSchools) constitute the main academic network of international importance in Information Science. Since the network was established in 2005, more than 50 universities have been admitted to membership, with an increasing European presence and activity. A broad view about the iSchools is presented, including the typology of academic departments that make up the network, a qualitative sample of the current degree and master portfolios, research topics, and main challenges and opportunities for this academic network.

Sumario

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:35 +0200

Moocs: viable, unsettling and consistent

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:28 +0200

The massive online open course (mooc) has had a great impact in the landscape of higher education. Analysts say the MOOCs will have a disruptive effect on universities and teaching practice. Universitieswill be forced to change. The psychopedagogical substrate of the moocs is the “flipped education” model in which learning takes place from discussions with fellow students and teachers. We analyze the impact of moocs in university libraries.

Information professionals in Spain, three years later

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:46:20 +0200

To update "Fesabid's report on information professionals in Spain” published in 2011, we review “Statistics on Spanish libraries 2012”. The impact of the economic crisis on the profession is assessed. We analyze whether the conclusions of Fesabid's study have been taken into account and are still valid.

University Programs in Library and Information Sciences in Spain: 2012 Data

Scipedia content — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 10:45:36 +0200

A picture is presented of the state of library and information sciences programs in Spanish universities. Statistics are provided about the number and type of university programs, describing existing institutions, degree levels, student enrolment and instructors.

Reviews

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:03:49 +0100

Visual stories: Conflicts and cultural exchanges in media II

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:03:17 +0100

The Key Elements of Viral Advertising. From Motivation to Emotion in the Most Shared Videos

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:02:54 +0100

From its origins in the mid ‘90, the application of the concept of virality to commercial communication has represented an opportunity for brands to cross the traditional barriers of the audience concerning advertising and turn it into active communicator of brand messages. Viral marketing has been based, since then, on two basic principles: offer free and engaging content that masks its commercial purpose to the individual and use of using a peer-to-peer dissemination system. The transformation of the passive spectator into an active user who broadcasts advertising messages promoted by sponsors, and who responds to needs and motivations of individuals and content features which has been described by previous research in this field, mainly through quantitative methods based on user perceptions. This paper focusses on those elements detected in its previous research as promoters of the sharing action in the 25 most-shared viral video ads between 2006 and 2013 using content analysis. The results obtained show the most common features in these videos and the prominent presence of surprise and joy as dominant emotions in the most successful viral videos.

Common Uses of Facebook among Adolescents from Different Social Sectors in Buenos Aires City

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:02:22 +0100

In this article, we analyze the common uses that adolescents of the City of Buenos Aires display in the Facebook platform. From the review of the state of the art and the empirical evidence gathered by 30 in-depth interviews, 24 months of daily virtual observation and the analysis of 200 profiles in Facebook, it is displayed that for both groups of adolescents the social network is their central entertainment and communication environment. At the same time, the primary uses they give to Facebook within the site refer to self presentation, interchanging personal information between friends, sex-affective relationship searches, and exploring different aspects of their sociability and identity. We examine the most «popular» posts between adolescents (photos, personal texts). Besides, we describe the most usual ludic-communication uses: chat, upgrading status, photographic prosumption and streaming. In this sense, we acknowledge that daily use of the resource bythis population is the sharing of intimate performances with the goal of increasing sociability between peers and accomplish a higher visibility both in and out of the site. Thus, by studying the images in the timeline’s of adolescents, evidence is exposed showing that gender representations are in conflict with traditional models and new forms of masculinity and femininity.

Adolescent Television Consumers: Self-perceptions about their Rights

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:01:53 +0100

The paper analyses the perceptions of a representative sample of the Spanish population aged between 12 and 18 with respect to the protection of their rights by television channels. To this end, a survey was distributed with 59 questions designed specifically for much wider research to analyse the opinion of minors on the protection of their rights on television and the Internet. No question in the survey referred to specific channels or programmes identified by the researchers and the information on these arose from the adolescents’ own opinions. The results presented refer to data on television and, more specifically, the respect of the fundamental rights of television viewers in general and those of minors in particular. From these results, we can conclude that adolescents clearly perceive the infringement of the following rights: equality, dignity and privacy; objective, accurate and pluralistic information; free expression and opinion – particularly when this refers to children. Likewise, they demonstrate a critical position which rejects types of programmes that do not respect their rights. Researchers propose that this critical ability of younger viewers be utilised from a dual perspective: on the one hand to create a school of citizenship and, secondly, to encourage social change to bring about a more just and equitable society.

Perceived Social Support as a Factor of Rural Women’s Digital Inclusion in Online Social Networks

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:01:13 +0100

This article presents the results of a study on the digital inclusion of rural women in social networks. Its main objective is to understand the social support perceived by these women within online social networks and its relation to digital inclusion, considering also whether there are differences in the degree of support depending on age, family status and employment status. To do this, we applied two scales measuring perceived social support and digital inclusion to 478 women from rural areas of Andalusia aged 18 to 65. The results showed a medium level of support, with significant differences found in the social support perceived by women depending on their age, family status and employment status. Women, who were young, students, single, with no children and who use Tuenti and Facebook perceived a higher level of social support in social networks. We also observed a strong relation between perceived social support and the digital inclusion of women in social networks, with similarities appearing in studies carried out in different contexts and social groups. The discussion looks at implications for the formation of an active and participatory citizenship of women in social networks.

Use of the Internet in Educative Informal Contexts. Implication for Formal Education

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:00:55 +0100

Media use plays an important role in the social, emotional, and cognitive development of young individuals and accounts for a large portion of their time. For this reason it is important to understand the variables that contribute to improve the use of the Internet as a source of information and knowledge in formal and informal contexts. How is it possible to exploit the huge potential of this tool to help people learn? What are the cognitive and social characteristics that help individuals experience the Internet without being overwhelmed by its negative effects? What skills are needed to select and manage information and communication? What type of Internet use creates new relationships and ways of learning? A sample of 191 subjects was examined to determine certain characteristic differences between subjects with high and low levels of Internet use. The results show that individuals with high levels of Internet use have higher extroversion and openness scores. The research analyses the use of the Internet in informal contexts to determine the benefits that may result from Internet use in education which may include the development of the skill set necessary to evaluate information critically and analytically and build independent attitudes.

eRubrics in Cooperative Assessment of Learning at University

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:00:32 +0100

Teamwork is one of the most widespread teaching methods used to achieve learning skills. Despite the difficulty of finding out the degree of individual learning taking place in each member of the group, these methods are having an increasingly greater importance in university teaching. The present article shows the results of an R+D+i1 project aimed at «analysing the impact of eRubrics ?electronic rubrics? on the assessment of university learning in various forms». Likewise, it aims to show the scope of eRubrics in improving cooperative skills, which are achieved through teamwork and cooperative assessment of tasks in the computer lab. The experiment takes place in three groups selected from a total of six groups of students from the First Year of Primary Education Teaching during the 2011-12 academic year. From the three groups, one acted as the control group and the other two as the experimental groups in which eRubrics were used. Differences were found in students’ results in a written test taken by all the groups, as the group using eRubrics achieved better results than the other two. Additionally, a qualitative analysis was conducted, by classifying the answers of students in the control group with regard to the evaluation criteria that they used, in order to check for coincidences with the eRubric criteria used by students in the experimental groups.

Managing Creativity in Collaborative Virtual Learning Environments e: A DL Corporate Project

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:00:07 +0100

There is a currently ongoing discussion regarding the most effective methodologies for establishing collaborative virtual learning environments (VLEs) and the true contribution to student creativity and innovation in such environments, particularly in the corporate sphere. Educational social networks based on collaborative learning have grown exponentially in recent years, with countless networks now established in nearly all fields. However, stimulation of creativity among VLE users in general, and specifically in the corporate sphere, has become an important issue in educational research. Utilizing experiences of corporate distance learning (DE) in Brazil, the present paper proposes a means of evaluating the presence of creativity indicators among students in collaborative virtual teaching and learning environments. Case studies are used to compare a corporate VLE project that uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) under a creative and educommunicative approach with a project that uses ICTs under a traditional approach. The study was conducted in partnership with the consulting and e-learning company Perfectu. The results obtained suggest that the pedagogic model adopted and the manner in which ICTs are employed determine whether ICTs lead to innovative results, not the use of ICTs alone. The average level of creativity in the group that used the creative and educommunicative model was higher than that of the group that used the traditional paradigm.

The Digital Divide in the University: The Appropriation of ICT in Higher Education Students from Bogota, Colombia

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:59:37 +0100

The growth and integration of ICTs in the global economy has created conditions that profoundly affect our society, dividing communities between those who effectively appropriate these resources and those who do not, the «digital divide». This exploratory study seeks to propose and validate ways of assessing this phenomenon in higher education, from the construction of a model and comprehensive methodology that values contextual conditions, in addition to measuring access factors and motivation for use, that have been employed in previous research. To obtain indications about the behavior of this phenomenon, we developed research with students from three universities in Bogota, administering 566 surveys in four phases that would test the variables proposed in the model. The results show that the variables of the model link causally, with the strongest relations between education, attitude towards ICTs and ICT application. Although students have good access to ICTs and high levels of education, no strong relationship was found in regards to «perceived impact on production». This may be explained by a superficial appropriation of ICT, due to a context that is alien to its conditions of origin (industrialism, innovation), poor quality of education and economies not centered around R&D.

Educating Teens about the Risks on Social Network Sites. An intervention study in Secondary Education

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:59:07 +0100

The growing popularity of social network sites (SNS) is causing concerns about privacy and security, especially with teenagers since they show various forms of unsafe behavior on SNS. Media literacy emerges as a priority, and researchers, teachers, parents and teenagers all point towards the responsibility of the school to educate teens about risks on SNS and to teach youngsters how to use SNS safely. However, existing educational materials are not theoretically grounded, do not tackle all the specific risks that teens might encounter on SNS and lack rigorous outcome evaluations. Additionally, general media education research indicates that although changes in knowledge are often obtained, changes in attitudes and behavior are much more difficult to achieve. Therefore, new educational packages were developed –taking into account instructional guidelines- and a quasi-experimental intervention study was set up to find out whether these materials are effective in changing the awareness, attitudes or the behavior of teenagers on SNS. It was found that all three courses obtained their goal in raising the awareness about the risks tackled in this course. However, no impact was found on attitudes towards the risks, and only a limited impact was found on teenagers’ behavior concerning these risks. Implications are discussed.

Media Education and Brazilian Educational Policies for the Enhancement of Learning

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:58:36 +0100

As media education concepts and practices have been disseminated and strengthened in European countries and Americas, the policies responsible for that expansion remain little known, particularly in countries where the achievements have been recently noted. That is the case for Brazil, where there have been new opportunities for media education, considered as a valuable resource to help accomplish goals of the educational system. This paper looks into the contribution of media education to the enhancement of teaching and learning in the context of innovations brought by recent policies of the Brazilian Ministry of Education. After educational reform programmes which brought the opportunity for emerging fields such as media education, we produced teaching material and conducted a series of workshops with students and teachers from state secondary schools. By reading and producing multimedia information about local public services available to young people, pupils learned about democracy, citizenship, civic engagement, media language, and identity. Lessons from our experiment are discussed against the backdrop of education policies being implemented to ameliorate harsh conditions resulting from the recent economic crisis. We suggest that media education can help by creating a learning environment in which the students become aware of the value of educational attainments.

Knowledge and Assessment of Crowdfunding in Communication. The View of Journalists and Future Journalists

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:58:22 +0100

In the context of the financial and credibility crisis, which currently permeates the communication sector, the future of journalism is going to be decided by the confidence of the audiences and their involvement and participation in journalistic processes and products. Based on online sociological surveys, this article explores the knowledge and experience of crowdfunding of Andalusian journalists and students of journalism. This approach gives citizens the power to decide, through their contributions, which projects will go ahead, and it has facilitated the start-up of micromedia and other innovative initiatives, including in Spain, especially due to the emergence in the last five years, of virtual platforms specialising in launching campaigns and social media which facilitate their spread. The results show that, although journalists and journalism students are familiar with the phenomenon of crowdfunding, there are training gaps and few of them have direct experience as initiators or funders of projects. However, the perception of the potential of this approach for innovation and entrepreneurship in journalism is positive, except for those issues related to the financial independence and viability in the medium-term of the projects which have been started. The use of students and journalists in the sample, moreover, allows us to outline the first prospective view of crowdfunding.

Active Audiences in the Regulation of the Audiovisual Media. Consumer versus Citizen in Spain and Mexico

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:57:56 +0100

Media audience has been conceived, traditionally, as a group of citizens or consumers. In the Media environment, citizens exercise their communication rights and participate in the public sphere; consumers, on the other hand, consume audiovisual products in a specific market. In the citizen perspective, audiovisual communication serves the public interest and democratic values; in the consumer one, it serves private and individual interests. This paper studies the main academic positions referred to the dichotomy citizen – consumer, attending particularly to the investigations of Peter Dahlgren on relations between Media and Democracy; of Richard Collins, on Audiovisual Policy; and of Sonia Livingstone on public sphere, audience participation and Media governance. After this theoretical approach, the paper analyzes the presence of these conceptions of the audience in the audiovisual legal systems of two countries: Spain and Mexico. These two countries are modifying their legal framework. As a conclusion, it appears that the different conceptions of the audience –as consumers or as citizens– are in a close relationship with the different ways of Media control and accountability.

Active Audiences: Social Audience Participation in Television

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:57:39 +0100

The combination of social networks, second screens and TV has given rise to a new relationship between viewers and their televisions, and the traditional roles in the communication paradigm have been altered irrevocably. Social television has spawned the social audience, a fragmentation of the real audience based on how they interact with social networks. This study is an attempt to analyze the factors which contribute to the success or failure of programs with a similar format in relation to their social audience. To do so, the study took as its subject three talent shows launched on the principal mainstream TV channels in Spain in September 2013. The study looked at the impact of these shows on the Twitter network, employing a control form [and developing a categorization and coding system for the analysis with the aim of collating all the data collected]. The results showed that the success of the shows was influenced by the activity in the social network accounts of the presenters and the judges. The conclusions reached in this analysis of the Spanish audience could be used as a development model for social audiences in other countries where social television is not so widespread.

Young People as Users of Branded Applications on Mobile Devices

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:57:17 +0100

This paper analyzes the role of young consumers in the context of new communication processes arising from emerging technologies. It examines the use of mobile device applications that activate new, more complex social and communicative uses of technology. The applications for smartphones which link to commercial advertising and enable online purchases are a recent priority for communicative actors such as trademarks, banking and technology companies. In this context, this paper describes and encodes qualitatively how young users as prosumers understand, perceive and use these corporate branding applications. Research techniques were applied to four focus groups of Spanish undergraduates of Communication Studies, as they are users that show a predisposition towards an early adoption of these practices. The coding and grouping of their responses enabled us to develop a qualitative analysis of usage and interaction with trademark applications. These focus group responses also allowed us to classify such communicative practices. In conclusion, active consumers interact with commercial content, establishing social networks with the backing of the brand culture and image as a form of group cohesion. Other uses are related to entertainment and enquiries for information, but users are still reluctant to pay for products or services through their mobile devices.

Media prosumers in political communication: Politainment on YouTube

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:57:00 +0100

This article analyzes the role of the political «infotainment» prosumer on Internet. In the second half of the XX century, telecracy was the predominant one-way communication model that not only popularized politics but also transformed politics into entertainment or «politainment». The XXI century began with the conviction that the Internet would lead to a bidirectional communication model in which true dialogue between political power and citizens would emerge. This research explores a new field of study: Web 2.0 «politainment» and prosumers’ attitudes and actions within this new communication sphere. The objective of the study is to identify the kind of political content Internet users consume and produce. To achieve this, we made a case study of the political information produced and consumed on YouTube, and in particular of a speech given by Ana Botella, the Mayor of Madrid, before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September 2013. The 40 most-watched videos on YouTube during the week of the Mayor’s appearance as well as those viewed in the month that followed have been analyzed, in addition to the 3,000 comments on these videos. The conclusion shows that the prosumption of «politainment» on Internet is characterized by massive consumption of information but passive reaction with regard to production and participation.

News Consumption among Chilean Adolescents: Interest, Motivations and Perceptions on the News Agenda

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:56:41 +0100

In today’s context of media proliferation and increasing access to diverse media content, it becomes necessary to address young people’s motivation to consume information. Researching this age group is relevant given that adolescence is a key period in people’s civic socialization. This study explores how 13 to 17 year old Chileans consume news, in a multiple-platform, convergent and mobile media context. There are few studies that focus on the information habits of this particular age group. Using a quantitative self-administered questionnaire applied to 2,273 high school adolescents from four different regions in the country, this paper analyses participants’ news consumption habits, their interest in news, their perception about the importance of different topics, and their motivations to being informed. The results show that surveyed teenagers access information mainly via social media like Facebook, to the detriment of traditional media. These adolescents are least interested in traditional politics, but they think this is the most prominent topic in the news. Their motivations to consume news have to do with their wish to be able to defend their points of view and deliver information to others. Also, they think that their portrayal in the news agenda is both inadequate and negative. These findings suggest that the news industry has a pending debt with young audiences.

Internet as a Haven and Social Shield. Problematic Uses of the Network by Young Spaniards

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:56:16 +0100

Universal access to the Internet among young people has been accompanied by new opportunities associated with online developments and practices, but the problematic use of the digital environment also involves threats. In the current scientific literature, there is no clear consensus on the definition of the behaviors that could arise from inappropriate use of the Web, which, as an attempt, is defined with the term addiction. This article combines a qualitative-quantitative approach, based on a competitive national research project, aiming to identify the main threats posed by digital immersion of Spanish youth between 12 and 17 years old. On the one hand, results obtained from this research confirm the discomfort experienced by young people when they have to be offline during a certain period of time, especially in those intensive users of social networks. On the other hand, it has been shown how damaged or conflicting family relationships lead individuals from 15 years old to spend more time connected to the Internet in an attempt to supplement or protest against their family interactions. This study confirms several trends already mentioned in the specialized literature, and presents new findings that suggest possible future lines of investigation on early detection of cyberpathologies.

Engaged Youth in Internet. The Role of Social Networks in Social Active Participation

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:55:59 +0100

This paper contributes to the analysis of the role that social networks play in civic, social mobilization and solidarity of Spanish young people, considering whether social networks are responsible for active social commitment off-line or if they just intensify an existing or previous tendency towards social participation. This research was undertaken by on-line questionnaire –Likert scale and multiple choice questions– in collaboration with the Spanish social network Tuenti where more than 1,300 young people took part. The results show significant percentages of participation exclusively on-line although there were more than 80% of young people, in a way or another, involved in actions to which they were called by social networks. The study analyzes the forms of participation in solidarity actions and the influence of factors such as geographical, social or emotional proximity to causes on the degree of participation on-line and off-line. The article shows that social networks have changed the meaning of participation. They are encouraging young people not mobilized away from social networks, to take action, so it proposes in its conclusions the need to overcome the dichotomy that opposes on-line and off-line activism and passivity.

Online and Mobilized Students: The Use of Facebook in the Chilean Student Protests

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:55:43 +0100

Considering the relationship between new social media and youth political actions, the purpose of this article is to describe the use of Facebook during the 2011 Chilean student movement, through a content and textual analysis of Facebook’s page of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (FECH). In 2011, Chile experienced massive mobilizations for seven months. These were perhaps the most important social protests in Chile's recent history, where young people played a leading role in the discussion over education. During these events, Facebook was one of the digital social networks most widely used by the mobilized organizations. In FECH’s case, it utilized Facebook mainly to call for protest actions, to highlight the achievements of the movement, and to indicate their opponents. However, most of the content published on this Facebook page was produced by traditional media, demonstrating that conventional communication strategies of social movements are interrelated with new innovative practices. Therefore, this article rejects technological determinism, because it does not recognize the complex characteristics of student and youth movements.

Media Literacy Education for a New Prosumer Citizenship

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:55:29 +0100

Access to technology and the Internet is having a positive impact on all levels, personal, family, professional and social. However, the influence of the media has not been accompanied by the promotion of media literacy. The development of the media skill among citizens, especially young people and children, in order to exercise a critical and active role in relation to the media, is a key development in this society of «media prosumers». This paper discusses the results of a research project at state level, surveying a sample of 2.143 students from Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School, in this study using a questionnaire ad hoc online. The objetive of the research project is to identify levels of media literacy amongst children and adolescents. It can be seen that a significant portion of the sample is proficient in the media, at an acceptable level. However, and despite belonging to the generation of socalled «digital natives» the sample does not possess the skills necessary to practice as a «media prosumers». We conclude the work highlighting the necessity of complementing the digital competence established in the school curriculum with media literacy as a key element into developing a «prosumer culture». This would resolve the convergence of an urgent need to improve the training of young audiences as responsible citizens capable of consuming and producing media messages in a free, responsible, critical and creative way.

Media Prosumers. Participatory Culture of Audiences and Media Responsability

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:55:10 +0100

Research as a strategy for training educommunicators: Master and Doctorate

Scipedia content — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:54:56 +0100

Teaching Media Literacy in Colleges of Education and Communication

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:51:14 +0100

This work is part of an I+D project involving thirteen Spanish universities in which needs and wants in the field of media education in higher education are studied in the areas of Communication (Communication Studies, Journalism and Advertising) and Education (Teaching, Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Education). The objective of this study focuses on analysing the college textbooks directly related to Media Education most used in Education and Communication,. The report has been developed based on six educational competence dimensions: language, technology, interaction processes, production and distribution processes, ideology and values and aesthetics. Using each of these parameters the scope of the analysis and the scope of the expression were taken into account, based on guidelines set by Ferrés and Piscitelli in their well-known proposal of indicators for defining new media competence and which is structured around two areas of work: the production of own messages and interaction with others. The results were obtained by applying a quantitative methodology through a content analysis of semantic fields. The main conclusions point to a greater presence of the «Ideology and Values» dimension, and almost non-existent representation of the «Aesthetics» indicator.

Categorization, Item Selection and Implementation of an Online Digital Literacy Test as Media Literacy Indicator

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:50:58 +0100

This paper aims to measure a population’s level of knowledge and active use of certain digital tools that play a primary role in developing their media literacy. To achieve it, an Online Digital Literacy test was designed to measure the knowledge and active usage of 45 different online software packages. This tool works as a reliable indicator to identify a population’s media literacy development in terms of its linguistic and technological dimensions. More than 1,500 subjects of different gender, age and level of studies were tested in different cities within the autonomous community of Castilla and León in Spain, to measure their competence using these tools. The resulting data has enabled the identification of the level differences between age groups and gender and to formulate proposals in respect of digital literacy to enhance the public’s competence in terms of media education. The general results indicate that people’s Online Digital Literacy level is lower than ideal and that there is a level divide in relation to gender and age and that the average user has a social and recreational profile as a consumer of pre-existing content on the Internet rather than as manager, instigator or creator of his or her own content. This paper’s conclusions therefore raise awareness of these deficiencies and encourage academic institutions to design specific digital literacy educational programmes to help citizens become media empowered.

Influence of Placement on Explicit and Implicit Memory of College Students

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:50:43 +0100

The use of product placement as a marketing communication tool is based on the inclusion of products or brands in the scene where the action is. The use of this tool has benefits for both the producer of the movie, as well as for brands and / or products. There is currently no consensus in the academic world on how to measure the effectiveness of this communication tool. There is scarce scientific evidence in Latin America, and in Chile this format has been used in television programs, and only recently in movies. The objective of this research is to study the influence of placement in movies on explicit memory (unaided recall and brand awareness) and implicit memory (purchase intention) through the implementation of an experiment performed on a sample of 205 Chilean college students, according to the different types of placement in movies: brands as part of the background, used by a main character, and connected with the plot. The results indicate that the higher the degree of integration of the brand with the plot of the film, the higher the probability of stimulating the explicit memory of participants and thereby unaided recall and brand awareness, providing empirical evidence regarding the learning of consumer behavior through placement as a communication tool.

Cyberbullying trough Mobile Phone and the Internet in Dating Relationships among Youth People

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:50:24 +0100

Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that has been extensively analysed amongst adolescents. However, in Spain, there have been few studies of young adults and particularly of their romantic relationships in the digital context. This study analyses cyberbullying in romantic relationships in mobile and digital exchanges between partners, in a sample comprising 336 students using quantitative methodology. The results show that 57,2% of the sample admit to having been victimised by their partner by mobile phone and 27,4% via the Internet. The percentage of victimised males was higher than that of females. 47,6% affirmed that they had bullied their partner by mobile phone and 14% over the Internet. The percentage of males who did so was higher than that of females. The regression analyses showed correlation between having been victimised by a partner via one of these media and having experienced cyberbulling in other by means of the same technological medium. The effects of this interaction highlight that males victimised through the use of mobile phones or the Internet are involved, to a greater extent than victimised females, as the perpetrators in this phenomenon. The results suggest modernisation in the types of violence that young adults experience in their relationships.

The Undesired Effects of Digital Communication on Moral Response

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:50:04 +0100

The current paper is based on the hypothesis that communication through the new digital technologies modifies the moral response of users, and therefore reduces social capital. This approach has been contrasted by designing and conducting an experiment (N=196) using our own adaptation of the Spanish version of the Defining Issues Test on subjects who have been socialized by Internet and who constitute the representative samples of this study. This test on paper was adapted to our research following an expert validation procedure and then transferred onto two types of digital audiovisual formats. Finally, The use of digital communication technologies and students’ fluid intelligence response were evaluated in order to establish whether their response was significant and if it modified moral response. The results confirm the hypothesis and show that the quality of moral response decreases when digital technologies are used instead of pencil and paper. This difference is greater when virtual images of people designed by animation are used rather than visual images of real people. In addition, the results show that fluid intelligence mitigates these modifications.

ARG (Alternate Reality Games). Contributions, Limitations, and Potentialities to the Service of the Teaching at the University Level

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:49:49 +0100

Education’s gamification has represented an opportunity to boost students’ interaction, motivation and participation. ARG (Alternate Reality Games) offer a new highly immersive tool that can be implemented in educational achievements. One of the strongest points of these immersive games is based on applying the sum of students participating efforts and resources (so called collective intelligence) for problem resolution. In addition, ARG combine online and offline platforms a factor that improves the realism on the game experience. In this regard, this present work aims to summarise ARG potentialities, limitations and challenges of these immersive games in higher and further education context. In terms of methodology, this research draws from an appropriate theoretical corpus and, analyses the educational potential of AGR that, in fields like marketing or corporate communication, has already started successfully, but it has still not been studied in depth in education. This study compiles, also, best practices developed in several subjects and academic degrees all around the world and not easily traceable. It concludes that, given the antecedents, potentialities and the exposed analysis, the possibility of incorporating alternate reality games into the university teaching practice in the frame of an educational strategy that determines its aims and more suitable system of evaluation, has to be considered.

Forms of Media Convergence and Multimedia Content – A Romanian Perspective

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:49:37 +0100

This paper addresses two types of technological media convergence: media convergence based on mobile technology, and also convergence based on the unification between IT and media industry. These forms are influenced by the multimedia aspects of the content. The research interest in this study is related to media landscape in Romania and its state. Even if many academics and practitioners consider media convergence only at the content level from journalistic perspective, this topic has many more detail aspects and trends. Thus, media convergence in terms of content can be now interpreted together with the user’s content and takes into consideration the unification between paid, owned, shared and earned content. This paper proposes a theoretical and practical perspective for the relationship between convergence and multimedia for online media products. This perspective belongs both to media producers and to online consumers of information. The paper is interesting in that it reveals the challenges facing the media industries, and shows approaches of convergence that are related to multimedia for media products. The methodological framework uses the content analysis and the hierarchical cluster analysis to discover different forms of convergence in online media. The main conclusion of this study shows that due to various technologies and their partnerships, convergence can be directed both from the users to the media industry, and conversely.

Young Learners’ Objectives Related to Multimedia Use and Homework Completion

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:49:18 +0100

Individuals of all ages are inevitably affected by today’s technology. The main purpose of this study is to explore the objectives of 8th grade students related to the utilization of multimedia instruments ranging from personal computers to the Internet use while they are doing their homework. Specifically, it tries to find out whether there is a significant relationship between «for what purposes 8th graders use multimedia tools» and «which personal traits are reinforced while doing homework with multimedia tools?», where gender differences were also taken into consideration in the analysis of the related items in the questionnaire form. The population of the study is made up of 435 students who were randomly selected from five secondary schools in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. As a data collection method, a questionnaire form with a set of related research questions was used. Findings from the study show that 8th graders in their use of multimedia platforms are provided with a more interactive and independent learning environment where they can find more learning aids while accomplishing their homework objectives. Gender-based evidence from the study shows that digitally, male students are more active and they exploit the fun side of homework more compared to their female counterparts.

Internet Use Habits and Risk Behaviours in Preadolescence

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:48:59 +0100

A striking increase in the use of new information and communication technology has come about in recent years. This study analysed the characteristics and habits of Internet use in a sample of pre-adolescents between 10 and 13 years of age, enrolled in the 6th grade of primary school in Navarra (Spain). Likewise, the existence of differential patterns in Internet use by sex was analysed, and risk behaviours were detected. The sample was composed of 364 students (206 boys and 158 girls) who were evaluated at their schools. Information about socio-demographic characteristics, Internet use habits, and online behaviours was collected using a data-gathering tool specifically designed for the study. The results demonstrated high Internet use by the adolescents studied. Girls used the Internet more for social relationships, whereas boys tended to use it differently, including accessing online games. Moreover, some risky behaviours were found, including interactions with strangers, giving out personal information, and sending photos and videos. Likewise, behaviours associated with «cyber-bullying» were detected. These results indicate the necessity of establishing prevention programs for safe and responsible Internet use.

Academic Plagiarism among Secondary and High School Students: Differences in Gender and Procrastination

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:48:36 +0100

This paper analyses the phenomenon of academic plagiarism among students enrolled in Secondary Education and High School. It is a subject poorly studied at pre-university level and very scantily discussed in the Spanish-speaking context. It investigates the frequency of committing plagiarism and the relationship between gender and procrastination and such practices. A questionnaire was administered to a representative sample (n=2,794). The results show that plagiarism is certainly present and widespread in the secondary classrooms. Furthermore, it shows that men have significantly higher levels of perpetration than women and than students who tend to leave the tasks until the last moment are more likely to plagiarize. The fruits of this research suggest the need to take into serious consideration the magnitude and severity of the problem identified; secondary schools should urgently plan and undertake measures in order to reduce and prevent the commission of this type of academic fraud. Secondly, results are useful to give clear guidance to teachers about the need for them to follow up and apply an effective control of the writing process of academic essays and tasks by students. Improving IT and library competences of the students has been identified as one of the main strategies needed to effectively address the problem.

Are MOOCs Promising Learning Environments?

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:48:20 +0100

This article reflect upon MOOCs as technology enhanced learning environments. The increase in numbers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been dramatic in recent years. MOOCs may be considered to be a new form of virtual technology enhanced learning environments. Two types of MOOCs may be distinguished: cMOOCs as proposed by Siemens, based on his ideas of connectivism, and xMOOCs developed in institutions such as Stanford and MIT. Although they have received a great deal of attention, they have also met with criticism. The time has therefore come to critically reflect upon this phenomenon. While there is still relatively little empirical research on the effects of MOOCs on learning, this study tries to shed light on the issue from a theoretical point of view. It will first explore positive and negative expectations regarding MOOCs. MOOCs might constitute a good option if they can be delivered on a large scale, and this will only be possible for a few big institutions. There is no empirical research which would uphold the claims concerning their positive effects. It will then review classical and more recent learning theories with respect to their capability to explain the process of learning in order to compare traditional online courses, xMOOC and cMOOC with respect to their potential to support learning and its self-regulation.

Evaluation of Digital Didactic Skills in Massive Open Online Courses: a Contribution to the Latin American Movement

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:48:01 +0100

The aim of this article is to present an evaluation of digital teaching skills in a project funded by the National Distance Education System (SINED) in Mexico conducted on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which was designed to develop competences in teachers in the distance learning or classroom setting for the integration of open educational resources (OER). The course was conducted by the Regional Open Latin American Community for Social and Educational Research (Clarise), and posed the question: how are distance learning didactic competences using OER developed? The aim was to identify and evaluate how OER were used and the form they took throughout the stages of the open education movement. The study deployed a mixed methodology with instruments such as emailed questionnaires for the MOOC participants, viewing screens in the discussion forums and anecdotal evidence. The results show that MOOC participants were able to develop digital teaching skills, identify how to use OER and how the training process occurs in the open education movement. Constraints to the development of these skills were also seen in the acculturation in the open education movement, as well as limitations on the design of distance learning models that promote these skills and the recognition of informal learning.

Analysis and Implications of the Impact of MOOC Movement in the Scientific Community: JCR and Scopus (2010-13)

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:47:40 +0100

The emergence of massive open online course (MOOCs) has been a turning point for the academic world and, especially, in the design and provision of training courses in Higher Education. Now that the first moments of the information explosion have passed, a rigorous analysis of the effect of the movement in high-impact scientific world is needed in order to assess the state of the art and future lines of research. This study analyzes the impact of the MOOC movement in the form of scientific article during the birth and explosion period (2010-2013) in two of the most relevant databases: Journal Citation Reports (WoS) and Scopus (Scimago). We present, through a descriptive and quantitative methodology, the most significant bibliometric data according to citation index and database impact. Furthermore, with the use of a methodology based on social network analysis (SNA), an analysis of the article’s keyword co-occurrence is presented through graphs to determine the fields of study and research. The results show that both the number of articles published and the citations received in both databases present a medium-low significant impact, and the conceptual network of relationships in the abstracts and keywords does not reflect the current analysis developed in general educational media.

A Digital Repository of Filmic Content as a Teaching Resource

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:47:21 +0100

The use of video as a teaching resource stimulates the construction of new knowledge. Although this resource exists in several genres and media, the experience of professionals that use this resource in class is not appreciated. Furthermore, online spaces guiding and supporting the appropriate use of this practice are unavailable. In the online learning field, a proposal has emerged for a repository of short videos aimed at instructing how to use them as a teaching resource in order to stimulate the exchange of ideas and experience (fostering and creating knowledge) in the teaching-learning process, which serves as a resource for professionals in the construction of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). A three-stage architecture is methodologically proposed: identification/recognition, dissemination and collaboration in the use of videos as a teaching resource supported by an extensive exploratory research, based on existing educational technologies and technological trends for higher education. And this leads to the creation of a repository of Informational Content Recovery in Videos (RECIF), a virtual space for the exchange of experience through videos. We conclude that through methodologies that facilitate the development of innovative processes and products, it is possible to create spaces for virtual or face-to-face motivational classes (MOOCs) thereby completing an interactive and collaborative learning toward stimulation of creativity and dynamism.

Usability and Satisfaction in Multimedia Annotation Tools for MOOCs

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:47:00 +0100

The worldwide boom in digital video may be one of the reasons behind the exponential growth of MOOCs. The evaluation of a MOOC requires a great degree of multimedia and collaborative interaction. Given that videos are one of the main elements in these courses, it would be interesting to work on innovations that would allow users to interact with multimedia and collaborative activities within the videos. This paper is part of a collaboration project whose main objective is «to design and develop multimedia annotation tools to improve user interaction with contents». This paper will discuss the assessment of two tools: Collaborative Annotation Tool (CaTool) and Open Video Annotation (OVA). The latter was developed by the aforementioned project and integrated into the edX MOOC. The project spanned two academic years (2012-2014) and the assessment tools were tested on different groups in the Faculty of Education, with responses from a total of 180 students. Data obtained from both tools were compared by using average contrasts. Results showed significant differences in favour of the second tool (OVA). The project concludes with a useful video annotation tool, whose design was approved by users, and which is also a quick and user-friendly instrument to evaluate any software or MOOC. A comprehensive review of video annotation tools was also carried out at the end of the project.

Annotations and the Ancient Greek Hero: Past, Present, and Future

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:46:40 +0100

Evidence for annotating Homeric poetry in Ancient Greece is as old as the 5th Century BCE, when the «Iliad» and «Odyssey» were performed by professional singers/composers who also performed annotations to the poetry in answer to questions from their audiences. As the long transition from a song culture into a literate society took place in Ancient Greece from the 8th to the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, annotations were gradually incorporated into written poetic texts. By the 10th Century CE, the quantity of written annotations in the margins of medieval manuscripts has become huge. For the first two versions of «The Ancient Hero», a HarvardX MOOC, it was not possible to implement the set of annotation tools that we requested as a vehicle for close reading and assessment. Using a partial system, we were able to create a semblance of annotations in close reading self-assessment exercises. For the anticipated third version, we expect to have a complete set of textual and video annotation tools developed for HarvardX, including semantic tagging and full sharing of annotations. Such a system, which promises to make the educational experience more effective, will also inaugurate a digital phase in the long history of Homeric annotation.

Challenges in the Creation, Development and Implementation of MOOCs: Web Science Course at the University of Southampton

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:46:21 +0100

Massive is one of the distinctive features of MOOCs which differentiate them from other e-learning experiences. This massiveness entails certain possibilities, but also some challenges that must be taken into consideration when designing and implementing a Massive Open Online Course, in relation to context, work progress, learning activities, assessment, and feedback. This document presents an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the massive aspect of MOOCs, and specifically it narrates the experience of creating a MOOC on Web Science, developed at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) using the new FutureLearn platform, in autumn 2013. In this document, the importance of Web Science as an emerging field is analyzed and its origins explored. The experience gained from the decisions and the work progress developed for the creation and implementation of a specific MOOC is also shared here. The final section of the paper analyses some data from the MOOC in Web Science, including the participation index, the comments and interactions of some participants, tools used, and the organization of facilitation. Challenges involved in running a MOOC related to course design, platform use and course facilitation are also discussed.

A Study on the Pedagogical Components of Massive Online Courses

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:46:03 +0100

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the rapid growth in the MOOC offering brought about a new educational landscape, posing new challenges to teaching and learning, mainly due to massive participation, ubiquity and free enrollment. These courses embody a confluence of technological and pedagogical mediations yet to be fully explored. This study, applying an instrument of educational and interactive indicators on a MOOC (INdiMOOC-EdI) designed by the authors, seeks to ascertain the pedagogical components of MOOCs delivered in the Spanish language in order to establish which course features are platform dependent. An exploratory sequential mixed methods study was carried out on a total of 117 courses within 10 different platforms via an instrument developed and validated ad hoc. The data obtained is subjected to a content analysis for a qualitative perspective; while a quantitative perspective is obtained through a statistical analysis complemented with classification algorithms typical in data mining. The results suggest that the different platform providers condition the pedagogical design of the MOOC in five key areas: learning, activities and tasks, means and resources, interactivity and assessment. It concludes with a series of descriptive, educational and interactive indicators that can be a pedagogical benchmark for future MOOCs.

Design, Motivation and Performance in a Cooperative MOOC Course

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:45:40 +0100

Los cursos MOOC se han entendido como la última evolución del aprendizaje en red, y desde su nacimiento en 2008 se han puesto en práctica en un buen número de universidades. A pesar del éxito social de estas propuestas, tanto el diseño del aprendizaje como la eficacia de sus resultados han sido puestos en duda. Actualmente la mayoría de las publicaciones se centran más en discutir su potencial para ofrecer educación de calidad en todo el mundo a gran escala que en la medición rigurosa de los resultados de aprendizaje. El presente trabajo muestra los resultados de una investigación centrada en el diseño pedagógico de un curso MOOC cooperativo y su influencia en la motivación y en los resultados académicos obtenidos. El diseño se ha validado a través de un estudio Delphi y la variable «motivación» se ha controlado a través de un instrumento estandarizado (Instructional Materials Motivation Survey, IMMS). El rendimiento académico se ha evaluado a través de evidencias de aprendizaje. Se defiende que el diseño, definido por una utilización intensiva de redes sociales y realización de actividades por parte de los estudiantes en sus Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje, influye en el rendimiento, y es la satisfacción con la percepción del diseño la variable que media en dicha relación. Los resultados académicos obtenidos y la motivación de los estudiantes avalan la utilización de cursos MOOC cooperativos en estudios universitarios.

Literature and Practice: A Critical Review of MOOCs

Scipedia content — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:45:22 +0100

This article focuses on a review of both literature and practical experiences concerning MOOCs. The literature analyzed was published in peer-reviewed journals between 2007 and 2013. 268 items were selected for this study, of which 100 were analyzed in detail. The issues raised by this analysis were used as the criteria for the analysis of 10 current empirical MOOC experiences. The literature study highlighted the rapid growth in interest in understanding MOOCs and seeking to understand the pedagogic frameworks most relevant to their adoption and the importance of the concept of openness embodied within them. More recently a new emphasis has been emerging where institutional factors, particularly those concerned with financial viability, certification and retention have been highlighted. The analysis of current practice showed that many of the concerns in the academic literature were absent from not only the practices embodied in current MOOC-based learning experiences but seem to have been ignored in the conceptual phase of implementing a MOOC-based teaching model. In practice therefore, most of the current MOOC offer is only a pale reflection of the conceptualization that gave them rise and has been shown to be significant in the literature. In particular the true essence encapsulated in the concept described as Openness has been largely lost in practice.

The Universal Character of La vida es sueño in the Context of Paul Ricoeur’s triple mimesis

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:17:25 +0100

The universality of La vida es sueño, a unique work within calderonian writing, is studied in this paper under the parameter of the Aristotelian concepts of mimesis and catharsis. Paul Ricoeur’s reading of Poetics in his proposed «triple mimesis» provides tools to analyze the communicative potential of the work. The pre-configuration of the plot from theological debate in its historical context, and its refiguration in certain contemporary determinism such as psychoanalysis, explain the ability of La vida es sueño to enter into dialogue with the most different times stating humanity’s free will.

The Bleeder and the Lady’s Beard: on the Origin and Sense of a Joke made by Coquín in El médico de su honra

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:17:07 +0100

Even though the experts on Calderón do agree that Coquín, a character of El médico de su honra, is an unsuccessfully comical character drowned by the tragic atmosphere of the play, our analysis of the character’s jokes, especially the one about the lady’s beard, reveals that this is only true with respect to the last part of the play. Concerning the rest, Coquín is an extremely funny character, especially in his challenge with don Pedro de Castilla and the already mentioned joke, as is shown throughout the satirical context of the lady’s beard that we reveal, including a probable source of the joke in Lope de Vega’s Rimas de Tomé de Burguillos (1634).

The Cult of the Virgin of Copacabana in Spain and the Date of Composition of La aurora en Copacabana

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:16:44 +0100

This article analyses the possible connection of La aurora en Copacabana by Calderón with the expansion of the cult of the Virgin of Copacabana in Spain, initiated by Miguel de Aguirre. This Augustinian monk arrived in Madrid in 1650, and throughout his life he placed various images of the American Virgin in Spain and Italy, as well as commissioned devotional books dedicated to spreading her history. In conclusion, it is proposed to date the composition of the play between 1664 and 1665.

Calderón, a Hidden Source of Borges’ Poetry?

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:16:32 +0100

The authors of this paper attempt to uncover a possible relationship between Calderón de la Barca and Borges, based on the hypothetical question whether or not the argentine writer read Calderon’s plays. They analyze two key concepts in both writers: the phrase «La vida es sueño» and the problem of free will, describing the different visions of Calderón and Borges. It all ends with an open conclusion: there are more concomitants than those that the reader may find at first glance.

Reviews Caplletra 56

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:57:13 +0100

Reviews Caplletra 56 (Spring, 2014): Pep Vila, ressenya de Marinela Garcia Sempere i M. Àngels Llorca Tonda (ed.), Vides medievals de sants; difusió, tradició i llegenda, Alacant, Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana («Symposia Philologica», 22), 2012, 207 pp.Vicent Josep Escartí, ressenya de Gestes dels comtes de Barcelona i reis d'Aragó. Gesta comitum Barchinone et regum Aragonie, edició i introducció de Stefano M. Cingolani; traducció i notes de Robert Àlvarez Masalias. Santa Coloma de Queralt, Obrador Edèndum / Publicacions de la Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2012, 307 pp.Eduard Baile López, ressenya de Rafael Alemany Ferrer i Francisco Chico Rico (ed.), Literatures ibèriques medievals comparades / Literaturas ibéricas medievales comparadas, Alacant, Universitat d'Alacant / Sociedad Española de Literatura General y Comparada (SELGYC), 2012, 429 pp.Jaume Guiscafré, ressenya d'Antoni Serrà Campins, Set estudis de literatura oral, Palma, Lleonard Muntaner Editor, 2012, 336 pp.Llorenç Soldevila i Balart, ressenya de Rafael Roca (ed.), Teodor Llorente, cent anys després, Alacant, Institut Interuniversitari de Filologia Valenciana («Sympsia Philologica», 23), 2012, 287 pp.Joaquim Martí Mestre, ressenya de Josep Martines, El valencià del segle XIX: el lèxic. L'aportació al Diccionario valenciano de Josep Pla i Costa, Barcelona, Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 2012, 426 pp.Aina Monferrer Palmer, ressenya d'Ona Domènech Bagaria, Traduir del castellà al català. Més enllà de la intercomprensió, Barcelona, Editorial UOC («Col·lecció Manuals Humanitats»), 2012, 103 pp.Antoni Maestre, ressenya de Vicent Salvador (ed.), L'ull despert. Anàlisi crítica dels discursos d'avui, València, Edicions 3i4, 2012, 365 pp.Josep Lluís Martos, ressenya de Peter Cocozzella, Text, Translation, and Critical Interpretation of Joan Roís de Corella's «Tragèdia de Caldesa», a Fifteenth-Century Spanish Tragedy of Gender Reversal, Lewiston/Queenston/Lampeter, The Edwin Mellen Press, 2012, 251 pp.Miquel Nicolás, ressenya de Xavier Laborda, El anzuelo de Platón. Cómo inventan los lingüistas su historia, Barcelona, Editorial UOC, 2013, 183 pp.

Reviews Caplletra 57

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:51:52 +0100

Reviews Caplletra 57 (Autumn, 2014): Lluís Cabré: Bernat Metge, ‘The Dream’ of Bernat Metge / Del Somni d’en Bernat Metge, translated into English by Antonio Cortijo Ocaña and Elisabeth Lagresa, with an introduction and notes by Antonio Cortijo Ocaña, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 2013, 193 pp. Josep Soler-Carbonell: Àngels Massip-Bonet & Albert Bastardas-Boada (eds.), Complexity Perspectives on Language, Communication and Society, Berlín/Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag, 2013, 255 pp. Núria Silleras Fernández: Germà Colón Domènech (ed.), Els escriptors valencians del segle XV, Castelló de la Plana, Universitat Jaume I, Servei de Comunicació i Publicacions, 2013, 257 pp. Josep Martines i Peres / Jordi M. Antolí Martínez: Pere Navarro Gómez, El parlar de Cambrils, Cambrils/Valls, Ajuntament de Cambrils / Cossetània, 2012, 520 pp. Josep Daniel Climent: Santi Vallés Casanoves, Acció Valenciana (1930-1931). La consciència desvetlada, València, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, 2008, 474 pp. Josep Martines i Peres / Jordi M. Antolí Martínez Andreu Bosch i Rodoreda, El lèxic alguerès de l’agricultura i la ramaderia entre els segles XVII i XVIII, Barcelona, Institut d’Estudis Catalans, 2012, 290 pp. Joan Ferrer: Antoni Ferrando Francés, Sant Vicent Ferrer en la historiografia, la literatura, l’hagiografia i l’espiritualitat al segle XV, València, Institució Alfons el Magnànim, 2013, 225 pp. Josep Besa Camprubí: Pilar Alonso, A multi-dimensional approach to discourse coherence: from standardness to creativity, Berna, Peter Lang, 2014, 247 pp. Pere Císcar: Jordi Marrugat, Aspectes de la poesia catalana de la modernitat, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona, 2013, 558 pp. Jordi Sánchez Martí: Albert Lloret, Printing Ausiàs March: Material Culture and Renaissance Poetics, Madrid, Centro para la Edición de los Clásicos Españoles / Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Valladolid, 2013, 316 pp.

Latin and political identity in eighteenth-century Catalonia

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:47:18 +0100

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to show how, in eighteenth-century Catalonia, the use of the Latin language is not restricted to school books, legal documents or devotional and religious writings. As with other European territories, Latin played an important role as the language of political discourse and propaganda in the Catalan-speaking lands at the time, above all during the War of Spanish Succession at the beginning of the eighteenth century. In what follows we will focus on a series of texts, which, for linguistic and literary reasons, have gone unnoticed by historians and philologists. These include documents describing the two sieges of Barcelona in the Autumn of 1705 and in the Spring of the following year. Particular attention will be given to the anonymous Barcino a Carolo propugnata, a poem published in Barcelona after 1708.Key words: War of Spanish Succession, political propaganda, classical tradition, epic latin poetry.

Fighting with quill pens: the political libels defending the Insurrection of the Barretines (1687-1690)

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:47:12 +0100

Abstract: Long seen as mere accounts of proceedings and nothing more than the vehicle of an autonomous discourse, papers have attracted renewed interest in studies of libels and political literature and their idiosyncrasies have now been realized. Based on the Revolt of the Barretines in Catalonia (1687-1690), this article aims to demonstrate how the insurgents’ political writs played a major role in the insurrection. The revolt can be fully understood only if we consider those writings as discourse and action intertwined, embedded within a dense sequence of events and shaped by specific political, social and cultural practices. These practices give the papers their legitimacy as they impose, at the same time, constraints. From this analysis, politics emerges as praxis rather than a closed and standalone discourse.Key words: Barretines, public space, libel, political literature, revolt, satire.

A pulpit without a trhone. Preaching and political interference in the valencian Baroque

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:47:06 +0100

Abstract: Valencian preaching during the Baroque shows some essential differences compared to the Spanish style, such the absence of a gloomy and damning tone. Another divergence is that there is not only less political interference in preaching, but that, in Valencian preachers, the proverbial legitimacy of the monarchy acquires nuances that distinguish it, because the «legitimation» approach is directed more towards the origins of the kingdom — and so towards James I, an almost sacred figure — than in praising the Habsburgs, applauded for being Catholics and enemies of Protestantism. Indirectly, but in a persistent manner, there are notes that can back — albeit in moderation — neoforalistes theses.Key words: Valencian Baroque, preaching, saint Vincent Ferrer and language, political interference, neoforalisme, sacralisation of the territory.

Celebrations of power. Politics and the Press in Catalonia at the Beginning of the Early Modern Period

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:46:59 +0100

Abstract: This article concerns the earliest news pamphlets printed in Catalonia, notably in Barcelona. Especially from the end of the 16th century, these (normally) single item publications played a crucial role in creating public opinion. Indeed, what is argued here is that they constitute, explicitly or implicitly, celebrations of the powers that be: royal, ecclesiastical, military, civic and divine. In particular, the topics covered by the news pamphlets include royal births, marriages and deaths; beatifications, canonisations, miracles and martyrdoms; victories against Moslem, Protestant and (in the case of the Catalan War of Secession) Spanish enemies; the fight against crime and disorder; and the acceptance of God’s will in the face of natural disasters. As in the rest of Europe, thanks to censorship and self-censorship, in Catalonia bad news simply did not find its way into print.Key words: printed news pamphlets, press history, news, public opinion, celebrations of power, censorship, self-censorship.

Political literature and «public opinion» in Catalonia’s 17th century wars

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:46:52 +0100

Abstract: This article sets out to show an overview of the interest and the use of «political literature» in current historiography. The author also tries to see how these texts were also popular texts in regular use in the spheres where they circulated, specifically during the 17th century. This period of the early modern era evokes an increasing importance of «public opinion» and the strength of its impact, especially in periods of war. And although that these texts could not be read by everyone, they became well known through other forms of diffusion. The paper describes this by making reference to the instruments of this literature, to the creative authors and, finally, to the people who were the opinion leaders of their day. The text presented here links historiography in general, relating political history to the history of literature and culture, and vice versa.Key words: early modern history, Catalonia, war, literature, politics, first person writings, Europe.

Introduction to the monograph «Literatura política de l'edat moderna»

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:46:46 +0100

Introduction to the monograph sobre «Literatura política de l'edat moderna», number 57 (Autumn 2014) of Caplletra. Revista Internacional de Filologia.

Sociopolitical dynamics and standardization processes in the counties of the Tortosa diocese

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:46:39 +0100

Abstract: The Tortosa diocese spans a geographical area where the autoctonous dialectal variety — called tortosí — is subject to pressures from different linguistic models.The aim of this article is to shed light on the historical processes of socio-political dynamics that have led to the linguistic breakup of this area of reference. The article also assesses formal models of local narrators from the early twentieth-century.The final aim is to show the correlation between the demand for a specific linguistic treatment in the formal dialectal linguistic variety and the dominant identity dynamics in the area.Key words: sociolinguistics, corpus planning, linguistic model, literary language, identity.

Non-situational demonstrative expressions and the cognitive status of their referents

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:45:57 +0100

Abstract: This paper deals with non-situational demonstratives as text-deictic units and discusses the degree of activation or cognitive status of their referents under the scope of Gundel, Hedberg & Zacharski’s (1993) Givenness Hierarchy combined with Centering Theory.In order to determine the cognitive status of the referents of the demonstratives, a narrative corpus consisting of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and two translations of Barrie’s text into Catalan and Spanish is analyzed. Firstly, the situational or non-situational natures of the demonstratives this/these/thus and that/those, and their counterparts in the translations, are determined. Secondly, the cognitive status of the referents of the non-situational demonstratives is discussed.The analyses show that the demonstratives referring to ‘in focus’ entities are frequent. Moreover, there is no one-to-one correspondence among the demonstratives in the source and the target texts. Both results point to changes in the cognitive status of some referents in the process of translation. These results also lead to conclude that some discourse non-identificational constraints should be taken into account when facing the analysis of demonstratives.Key words: demonstratives, reference, deixis, anaphora, cognitive status.

The Catalan language in the Valencian edition of the «Regulae» of Masparrautha (1498)

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:45:50 +0100

Abstract: During the Middle Ages, Latin was taught for beginners in the Romance language in Spain, as well as in other European regions. A number of explanations in the vernacular were incorporated into Latin texts. An example of this tradition is the so-called grammaticae proverbiandi. They are characterized by a proverbium or sentence in the vernacular, which helps to understand the Latin structure better. This is the case of the Regulae by Esteban de Masparrautha, printed in 1492 in Pamplona, with examples in Navarrese-Aragonese, as well as in 1498 in Valencia, with examples in Catalan. Emma Falque (2011) has recently published an edition of the incunabulum of Pamplona, which includes an appendix showing the proverbia in Catalan.In this paper, the characteristic dialectal features of Western Catalan — more specifically, from the Southern area — will be determined by linguistic analysis of the abovementioned examples. Features that do not have any dialectal connotation, as they were generally common in medieval texts regardless of their origin, will be also discussed. Some of these latter features still show in certain subdialects, while others have disappeared.Key words: Catalan language, history of language, dialectology, Valencian, Aragonese.

The narrative of Vicenç Riera Llorca: literature and historical conscience

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:44:50 +0100

Abstract: The article offers the first study of the complete narrative of Vicenç Riera Llorca — thirteen novels and two anthologies of stories — published between 1946 and 1991. It provides an analysis of the author’s historical, social, political and literary motivations and puts forward an explanation for the question of why he chose fiction and not journalism, which he had previously worked in. It also raises the issue of hisrole in the construction of the historical conscience of Catalan society based on his experiences between 1931 and 1945, with one single novel set in 1962. The article also takes into consideration Riera’s essays as literary critic for Pont Blau and Xaloc as well as his memoirs, one volume about his youth in Catalonia and another one on his exile; the letters he exchanged with critic Domènec Guansé, and the critical reception of his work up to the present day (Molas, Triadú, Ramió, Saladrigas [interview], Faulí). The article situates Riera’s work in its context and discusses its value in relationto the emerging Catalan novel since 1946. It also looks for the literary sources and the European and North American trends of thought that have had an impact on his work. It also contains representative examples that can be traced back by quotes preceded by the abbreviated titles of the novels.Key words: Riera Llorca, novel, historical conscience, exile, realism, human nature, narrative techniques.

Estudi de les unitats fraseológiques de la tercera esfera des d'una perspectiva diacrònica

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:42:27 +0100

Fins ara, les unitats fraseològiques havien estat tradicionalment estudiades en sincronia o, a tot estirar, tenint en consideració un punt concret en el passat. Amb
aquest estudi, pretenem fer una anàlisi diacrònica —de l’evolució— d’algunes UFs que considerem especialment representatives, com ho són les de la tercera esfera, que,
segons Corpas, són els enunciats fraseològics. Iniciarem l’article amb una breu descripció del concepte d’unitat fraseològica i, posteriorment, ens centrarem en les unitats
que conformen la tercera esfera. Tractarem amb més profunditat la definició, l’origen i el tipus d’unitats que s’apleguen sota aquest terme. A continuació, analitzarem amb més aprofundiment un parell d’exemples representatius, com són una oronella no fa estiu i fer orelles sordes. Aquests exemples ens permetran observar les característiques generals del processos de fraseologització i canvi fraseològic.

El concepte de "posar en lloc resguardat" en català. Estudi diacrònic

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:42:21 +0100

En aquest article estudiem l’evolució semàntica que han experimentat els verbs que han arribat a expressar en català el sentit [posar en lloc resguardat] o que s’hi han aproximat. Cronològicament, l’estudi ateny fonamentalment des de les primeres atestacions fins al segle xvi. Malgrat això, també estudiem, més parcialment,
la documentació posterior fins a l’actualitat, especialment a través de les obres lexicogràfiques. Després de descriure semasiològicament cada unitat lèxica, mirem
d’establir les interrelacions que s’han pogut produir entre aquests mots en el cas que hagen coincidit en l’ús sincrònic. Per aconseguir-ho, partim del despullament dels
textos literaris i no literaris que ens ofereixen les dades del "Corpus Informatitzat de Català Antic" (CICA). Ens basem en la metodologia que aporta la semàntica cognitiva, especialment quant al paper que fan les projeccions metafòriques i metonímiques en l’explicació dels canvis semàntics. Tot plegat és el marc general per a explicar l’evolució semàntica dels verbs que han servit per a expressar el sentit esmentat i quina relació històrica han mantingut entre ells.

Subjectivació i inferència en l'evolució semàntica i en l'inici de la gramaticalització de "jaquir" (segles xi-xii))

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:42:14 +0100

Estudiem en aquest article els primers passos en l’evolució semàntica i en la gramaticalització del verb "jaquir". Aquest germanisme pertany a un estrat lèxic del
català que va començar a fer-se menys usual a la darreria del s. xv, desplaçat per altres sinònims, en aquest cas "lleixar-deixar". La recerca es fonamenta en un corpus de
documentació en llatí i en català dels segles xi i xii. L’objectiu és descriure, en aquella primera documentació, la gènesi dels significats que ja apareixen ben establits durant el període literari. Seguim un enfocament metodològic d’orientació cognitivista (estudi de la subjectivació i de la inferència com a mecanismes del canvi semàntic) i donem un paper important a la visió comparada dels cognats de jaquir en les llengües romàniques (sobretot, gal·loromàniques) i en germànic (fràncic i alemany).

La inferència en l'aflorament de valors evidencials en català antic

Scipedia content — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:42:08 +0100

En aquest article volem descriure els valors evidencials que desenvolupen el verb "parèixer" i la perífrasi verbal "deure + infinitiu" en català antic i explicar com s’han generat. Es tracta de dos recursos bàsics per a l’expressió de l’evidencialitat inferencial que han seguit un procés de canvi semàntic paral·lel. L’estudi d’aquest procés, que s’ha fet amb dades de corpus analitzades amb una metodologia cognitiva, revela que l’aflorament dels nous valors es pot explicar com a resultat d’un procés de gramaticalització en què, a poc a poc, hi ha una major subjectivació, tendència que s’explica, en darrer terme, pel mecanisme de la inferència invitada (Traugott & Dasher 2002). A més, l’anàlisi dels diferents valors evidencials ens ha permès constatar que cal una classificació més detallada de la tipologia tradicional d’evidencials d’inferència (Willet 1988), i és per a superar aquestes limitacions que hem aplicat la proposta de Squartini (2008). En definitiva, tot plegat ens ha possibilitat obrir una línia de recerca sobre els marcadors
evidencials d’inferència i el procés de canvi lingüístic que els genera en llengües com el català en què no hi ha una categoria gramatical evidencial.