Dear Sabrina
I think I am the sort of person you are looking for. It struck me at the York conference (which incidentally I found very useful and enjoyable) that nobody seemed to be questioning the use of bibliometrics to measure research impact, which I found strange, but from the other replies you have had, it would seem that it is me who is strange. I have actually created a role for myself in bibliometrics at the University of Birmingham - there is no real push for it from anyone else. I did it because I felt our researchers needed to be informed about the pros and cons of bibliometrics, and I approach it from the point of view of how can it help the individual researcher, but making sure they know the limitations as well. I do this as part of my role of research support within my job of subject librarian for engineering and physical sciences. I am now considered the bibliometrics 'expert' so I don't fall into the category of librarians who are scared of this tool.
My concerns are largely around whether you are comparing like with like. For example comparing two Physics departments you may have very different balances of sub-disciplines, which effects the bibliometrics. Also, in the case of the H index how do you compare researchers of different ages, or researchers who publish solo or work with big teams? There are always different metrics to take account of such things. Do the people who use them really understand them though? We have all had an object lesson in using instruments you don't understand from the banking sector, and this really worries me. There are also going to be influences on scholarly communication and indeed the type of resea4ch undertaken to get the right statistics. I already have researchers persuading people to cite their work to increase their H index, even though the maths of this measure buffers the index against this practice. (I don't understand the maths of the H index, but have got this information from reading articles by folk who do).
I know there are people out there who do understand bibliometrics more than I do, so I'm feeling a bit brave/foolish. However, I do think this is a debate we need to have, even though I definitely do not consider myself an expert. I'd be very interested to hear more about what our German colleagues think on this topic.
Regards
Linda
Linda Norbury
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-----Original Message-----
From: A bibliometrics discussion list for the Library and Research Community [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sabrina Petersohn
Sent: 13 August 2014 17:05
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Academic librarians who reject bibliometrics?
Dear list members,
some of you may already know that I am currently conducting a study comparing bibliometric working practices in German and British libraries in the course of my PhD. At the past Bibliometrics in Libraries Meeting in York I have also presented my research in progress.
In my German expert interviews I have encountered some librarians who actually don't consider bibliometrics a useful service area for several reasons. It might either be a bias in my sample or an important indication that I have not yet encountered a a British Information professional who is not convinced about the usefulness of bibliometrics for academic library services.
Do you know any library colleagues who share a certain reservation about bibliometrics and who might be interested in taking part in an expert interview? Of course, asking this in such a specialized mailing list may seem obscure. Is there a more general mailing list that I could address with this question?
Many kind thanks and best wishes
Sabrina
Sabrina Petersohn, M.A.
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin BMBF Verbundprojekt „BibPro“
BibPro: Forschungsevaluation im Wandel: Die Institutionalisierung der Bibliometrie als interdisziplinäres Forschungsfeld und professionelles Expertenfeld (Teilvorhaben GESIS) GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8
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