Suchergebnisse

Purpose There is a general inquisition regarding the monetary value of a research output, as a substantial amount of funding in modern academia is essentially awarded to good research presented in the form of journal articles, conferences papers, performances, compositions, exhibitions, books and book chapters etc., which, eventually leads to another question if the value varies across different disciplines. Answers to these questions will not only assist academics and researchers, but will also help higher education institutions (HEIs) make informed decisions in their administrative and research policies. Design and methodology To examine both the questions, we applied the United Kingdom's recently concluded national research assessment exercise known as the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 as a case study. All the data for this study is sourced from the openly available publications which arose from the digital repositories of REF's results and HEFCE's funding allocations. Findings A world leading output earns between £7504 and £14,639 per year within the REF cycle, whereas an internationally excellent output earns between £1876 and £3659, varying according to their area of research. Secondly, an investigation into the impact rating of 25315 journal articles submitted in five areas of research by UK HEIs and their awarded funding revealed a linear relationship between the percentage of quartile-one journal publications and percentage of 4* outputs in Clinical Medicine, Physics and Psychology/Psychiatry/Neuroscience UoAs, and no relationship was found in the Classics and Anthropology/Development Studies UoAs, due to the fact that most publications in the latter two disciplines are not journal articles. Practical implications The findings provide an indication of the monetary value of a research output, from the perspectives of government funding for research, and also what makes a good output, i.e. whether a relationship exists between good quality output and the source of its publication. The findings ...

Information for Sustainable Development is a landmark publication that examines the perspectives, challenges and progress towards achieving the targets of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), through the lens of information science. Written by an author team with extensive experience in the research and practice of information and sustainability, the book provides a thorough introduction to the SDGs and the impact of information, data, people and society on measuring performance and assessing progress in achieving the SDG goals.Split into four distinct sections, the book provides an introduction to the landscape for information, data and metadata in the context of the SDGs, before exploring key topics such as: (1) how metadata is used in measuring progress and success, and the challenges and complexities of calculation methods and the interpretation of data; (2) digital literacy and the digital divide across different countries and regions, and how critical information skills are in achieving success in the SDGs; (3) specific human and social challenges associated with the SDGs; (4) education for sustainable development and the role of environmental literacy; (5) examination of the research and development in the information sector around green libraries, climate change and sustainability, including a proposed research and training framework for future information science research.

Young informal carers (YICs) are non-professional young individuals providing care and support in various forms, usually to immediate family members, afflicted from a diverse range of both long- and short-term health conditions. Although there is significant knowledge about the information needs of adult carers in general, information needs and information seeking characteristics of the YICs community is understudied and are different. This study aims to identify the information needs of young informal carers communicated over the internet and understanding their information seeking characteristics through a three-stage qualitative content analysis of posts written by YICs on two notable internet forums. The analysis of 323 posts dated between March 2010 and April 2019 finds YICs needs are categorised by two types of online expression of needs, situational and information. Situational needs are illustrations of current difficult conditions and information needs are direct requests for information. Under situational and information needs, we identify four types of needs expressed: personal and professional growth, health (self and caree), finance and relationships. Additionally, the findings indicate 94.36% posts in the sample as situational needs, which depict the uncertainty experienced by YICs under caring circumstances. The findings can assist government organisations and charities by improving the indexing of advice pages of their websites appropriate to the young informal carers' search words, better availability of information and advertising, in addition to building quality mobile applications or digital support tools.

This study investigates the issue of digital exclusion resulting from the digitisation of government and council services within the United Kingdom. An initial analysis of customer support log data from a council in a large UK city helped identify the most commonly queried services and modes of support. The main findings are based on qualitative analysis of 10 interviews, structured around the results from the log analysis, conducted with front-line staff members at the central library of the same council. The study identifies a range of issues associated with the provision of e-government services and the subsequent under-utilisation by the public, including poor design, issues with effective access and the level of digital literacy among end users. The study also proposes the concept of the 'digital carer', a friend or family member who is relied upon by users unable to interact with e-government services themselves. The findings of this study have implications for the way in which these services are designed and delivered and point to the need for further work that can contribute to the UK digital economy by facilitating better access to e-government services and reduce digital exclusion, especially for elderly and marginalised users.