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UCL online ›› Info Studies ›› Research ›› Ciber |
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CIBER's expertise lies in the mapping, monitoring and evaluating of digital information systems, platforms, services, roll-outs and environments, using robust, big picture and innovative research methods, especially deep log analysis. CIBER is policy-led, consumer-driven, interdisciplinary and independent. It seeks to inform by countering idle speculation and uninformed opinion with the facts. It engages in funded studies, contract research, scholarship and dissemination events in its areas of expertise. Its location within a world-class university, University College London, and funding support in excess of £3 million ensures that its work meets the highest internal and external quality standards. CIBER National e-Books Observatory reports now available
CIBER's project overview report ... November 2009 ... plus the technical reports that underpin that analysis: Scholarly e-books usage and information seeking behaviour: a deep log analysis of MyiLibrary November 2009 This report includes detailed data from the deep log analysis of the MyiLibrary platform that took place from September 2007 to December 2008. The deep log analysis looked at how users discovered, navigated through and used the 26 course text e-books that were made available on the MyiLibrary platform. In addition, the use of 10,000 other e-books on the MyiLibrary platform were analysed for comparison. There is an executive summary for quick reference that highlights findings on subject differences, reading times, searching, user locations, etc. Download report here soon Headline findings from the user surveys November 2009 This report provides an overview of the exit user survey undertaken in January 2009 and compares the key findings with the entrance user survey that took place in January 2008. The surveys explored user’s awareness, perceptions and attitudes towards e-books and course text e-books. Together these surveys received over 52,000 responses making them the biggest user survey on e-books ever undertaken in the world. Download report here soon Key findings from the first user survey April 2008 This report provides an overview of the findings from the first user survey undertaken in January 2008. The data gathered provides a benchmark against which the changes in user’s attitudes, perceptions and awareness of e-books can be measured. There were over 22,000 responses to this survey. Download report here soon Analysis of the free text fields from the first user survey May 2008 This report provides an analysis of the responses to two open questions in the entrance user survey. The first was ‘In your opinion, what were the biggest advantages that e‐book offered, compared with a printed book?’. This elicited 11,624 responses. The second question was ‘Is there anything that you want to add regarding course texts, print or electronic, or about your university library?’ In total 4809 comments were received to this question. Download report here soon Assessing the impact of electronic course texts on print sales and library hard copy circulation November 2009 This report looks at the impact of free at the point of use course text e-books licensed for the Observatory project on publisher’s retail sales and library circulation data. It is an extremely interesting report that uses transparent data. Download report here soon The Charleston Information Observatory
A CIBER survey of the economic downturn and its impact on libraries November 2009 Click thumbnail for the key survey findings The Observatory, established in Spring 2009, is a mechanism by which the exciting ideas and challenges raised at the annual Charleston Conference can be researched further and the results reported back to Conference to provide continuity and build. The Observatory is the research adjunct for the Conference, the medium by which the ideas generated are turned into robust research projects, which provide the evidence base for strategic planning. The Observatory is a place where information experiments can be undertaken, where evidence can be collected in a robust and validated manner, and where diverse communities can come together and share their data to the benefit of all. The Observatory will promote international research collaboration; global problems require global solutions. The Observatory’s first project is a global library survey to understand challenges, trends, changes and best practices in tough economical times. More specifically the study will; a) examine the changes that libraries are making, where budgets and resources are being focused and why; b) determine practical/positive things being done; and assist the community as a whole by increasing co-operation, share best (innovative) practice, and identify priorities. This project is co-sponsored by ebrary and Baker & taylor's YBP Library Services. CIBER will report to Conference in November 2009. The study is being conducted by David Nicholas, Ian Rowlands and Katina Strauch, College of Charleston Library. The e-Journals Revolution: How the Use of Scholarly Journals is Shaping Research
A Research Information Network podcast July 2009 Click thumbnail to hear the podcast The Research Information Network organised a one day event day at the Royal College of Medicine on 1 July 2009 at which the initial findings of CIBER's study into the use of e-journals were shared with members of the research community. The podcast is just under 28 minutes long. 03:37 Professor David Nicholas of University College London's CIBER Group talks about the methodology and objectives of the RIN study on e-journals, and explains some of the key findings so far. 09:18 Chris Banks of the Library and Historic Collections of the University of Aberdeen shares data on the use of e-journals at her university. 12:45 Richard Gedye Research Director at Oxford University Press, responds to the early findings from a publisher's perspective. 18:34 Dr Emily Lyons of Imperial College London discusses the impact of e-journals on researchers at all levels. 22:46 Dr Ian Rowlands of UCL's CIBER Group explains what Phase II of the RIN study will involve and how today's discussions will influence its direction. The Provision and Use of Research Support Services
A study funded by the Research Information Network and OCLC Research September 2009 Click thumbnail for details (live link to follow shortly) CIBER has won a contract for a study on research support services. Universities are developing a range of information-based services to meet and support the needs of their researchers, including institutional repositories, expert and grant award databases, bibliometric analysis capabilities, and the like. This study sets out to map the range and extent of these services in a sample of UK and US universities. The aim is to identify areas of good practice and to provide librarians and information professionals, research support staff, university administrators and research funders with a clear and detailed set of conclusions and recommendations about how they might develop their services to meet the needs of researchers. Journal Publishing Ethics
Two recent CIBER projects August 2009 Click thumbnail for more information about COPE's research programme Peter Williams has recently completed a study with COPE, The Committee on Publication Ethics, examining how and why and how journals retract articles in order to enable COPE to develop guidelines for authors. The study explored editors’ experiences of the retraction process and the nature of retraction statements. The study was mentioned in the Times Higher Education of 2 September 2009. Link to coverage in the Times Higher here Ian Rowlands has also been working with COPE and Wiley-Blackwell on an international survey of journal editors and their attitudes towards and experience of ethical issues. The resulting paper has been accepted by the BMJ's Journal of Medical Ethics and will be published in the October issue. Link to the Journal of Medical Ethics here The UK’s Share of World Research Output
A CIBER report for the Research Information Network June 2009 Bibliometrics have come to play an increasing role in assessing the performance of researchers in the UK, as indeed in other parts of the world. But the complexities of both the data sources and the methods of analysis used are little understood by many of those who wish to make use of the results. Even the relatively simple matter of measuring the UK’s share of the global production of scientific publications is much more complex than appears at first sight, with traps for the unwary and huge differences in the published figures. Our new report The UK’s share of world research outputs: an investigation of different data sources and time trends highlights important issues both for those who produce bibliometric analyses of research performance, and for those who commission and make use of such work. The figures given in different published reports for the UK’s percentage share in world science vary by as much as 40%: figures between 6.5% and 9.1% have been reported for the year of 2002 for example, and there is not even agreement if the UK’s share is rising or falling from year to year. With such major differences, it is difficult for policy-makers and others concerned with the health of the UK research base to get a clear picture of how well it is performing. The RIN report explains how these difference arise, and reflects on the implications for the measurement of UK scientific performance. It highlights that producers and publishers of bibliometric data must make much more transparent the choices they have made as to data sources and methodology, and the implications of those choices. Policy-makers and others interested in the health of the UK research base must also take greater care to interrogate the figures that they use and to present them accurately. Otherwise the risk is that policy and related decisions will be made on the basis of false assessments. Copycats? Digital Consumers in the Online Age
A CIBER report for the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy June 2009 Click thumbnail for executive summary Copycats? Digital Consumers in the On-line Age, was commissioned by the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property Policy (SABIP) and examines online consumer behaviour in the UK and its potential impact on business and government policy. It is the first piece of research to look at evidence from across the copyright industries and across all age ranges. The report states that new generation broadband access at 50 Mbs per second (mbs) can deliver 200 mp3 files in five minutes; a DVD in three minutes and the complete digitised works of Charles Dickens in less than ten minutes. David Lammy, Minister of State for Intellectual Property said, “We know that the copyright industries in the UK are suffering huge losses due to illegal downloading. The report helps put the scale of the problem into context and highlights the gaps in the evidence which need to be filled. It is important that we understand how on-line consumer behaviour impacts on the UK economy and the future sustainability of our copyright industries. Illegal downloading is not an issue confined by national boundaries. I am sure other EU States and their copyright industries will find this report of use in the development of policy.” Dame Lynne Brindley, SABIP Board member, said, “CIBER’s work is a huge step forward in understanding on-line consumer attitudes across the generations. This new evidence can develop a clear research strategy to support policy development in this fast moving area.” The main report may be downloaded in two sections
part one
and
part two
Further information about SABIP can be found here E-journals: Their Use, Value and Impact
A CIBER report for the Research Information Network April 2009 E-journals: their use, value and impact' takes an in-depth look at how researchers in the UK
use electronic journals, the value they bring to universities and research institutions and the
contribution they make to research productivity, quality and outcomes. Journal publishers began to provide online access to full-text scholarly articles in the late 1990s,
triggering a revolution in the scholarly communications process. A very high proportion of journal
articles are now available online – 96 per cent of journal titles in science, technology and medicine, and
86 per cent of titles in the arts, humanities and social sciences. It’s clear that e-journals have given researchers an unprecedented level and convenience of access to
knowledge in scholarly articles, but what effect have they had on the ways in which researchers seek
information? Do they provide good value for money to higher education libraries and what are the
wider benefits for universities and research institutions? Our report examines how researchers interact with journal websites and whether enhanced access to
journal articles has led to greater productivity, research quality and other outcomes. It finds that
researchers are savvy when it comes to using e-journals, finding the information they need quickly and
efficiently, and that higher spending on e-journals is linked to better research outcomes.
Based on an analysis of log files from journal websites and data from libraries in ten universities and
research institutions, our report starts to build a clear picture of how e-journals are shaping the
information landscape – a picture that we’ll add to as our research in this area continues. Read Tom Wilson's review of our report here Read an interview with Ian Rowlands here Black and Minority Ethnic staff representation in libraries
A policy report for CILIP July 2009 This study raises a number of important
issues which provide ample reasons why LIS may not be the most attractive career for
a Black and Minority Ethnic person. Several questions emerge from the findings,
such as whether there are different problems or issues specific to LIS workers from
different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. If so, the question is raised of how these
individual differences might be addressed. A second question is the extent to which
the same problems highlighted in this study apply to other areas of the United
Kingdom. Much still needs to be done to address the issues raised in this report, both
in terms of research and possible practical action. Dispelling the Myths about E-books with Empirical Evidence
A CIBER report for JISC Collections March 2009 There is a demand from academic libraries for taught course texts to be made available online but publishers are not currently meeting this demand. This is due to the uncertainty about potential revenue loss that publishers may experience from a drop in student sales. In response to this demand and uncertainty in the market place JISC has funded the JISC national e-books observatory project. This project aims to understand how e-books are being used on a national scale. It will provide an evidence base to answer these questions; Will making textbooks available online cause a decline in print sales? Will students use e-textbooks? What are the best models for licensing? What should be the basis for pricing? Is it worth spending the library budget on them? This briefing paper, released at the 2009 JISC Conference in Edinburgh dispels some of the myths surrounding e-books. It reports the key findings of a deep log analysis of the e-book platform as well as those from a huge nationwide survey of students and faculty with more than 50,000 responses. More information about the JISC national e-books observatory may be found here Digital Consumers: Reshaping the Information Profession
Edited by David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands, Facet Publishing, 2008 Click thumbnail to view the table of contents
The information professions - librarianship, archives, publishing and, to some extent, journalism - have been rocked by the digital transition that has led to disintermediation, easy access and massive information choice. Professional skills are increasingly being performed without the necessary context, rationale and understanding. Information now forms a consumer commodity with many diverse information producers engaged in the market. It is generally the lack of recognition of this fact amongst the information professions that explains the difficulties they find themselves in. There is a need for a new belief system that will help information professionals survive and engage in a ubiquitous information environment, where they are no longer the dominant players, nor, indeed, the suppliers of first choice. The purpose of this thought-provoking book is to provide that overarching vision. Buy the book: it is an important review of the state of the art in these early years of the 21st century and worth its price. INFORMATION RESEARCH A key feature of the studies collected in this book is the impressive research undertaken by the authors...The chapter on the Google generation is perhaps the best of all. Again very well researched, it debunks several myths about this far from homogenous group of young people, their information seeking skills and the analysis of their use of both Google and libraries...This is an interesting and thought-provoking read… ONLINE INFORMATION REVIEW Facet Publishing (the publishing arm of CILIP as the Library Association is now called) must be congratulated on a growing list of books relevant to publishers…Most members will find it of interest…PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION It is time for a different way of looking at things - a new philosophy, where disintermediation rules and Consumer is King. Ignore it at your peril. Professional meltdown is nigh...the book requires us to question what we think we know about our users, hold it up, turn it round and look at it from completely different angles...Voicing the mantra of every good Evolutionist - adapt or die! This is a very thought-provoking book relevant to librarians, publishers, journalists and archivists alike. INTERNET RESOURCES NEWSLETTER Live research projects Digital information use at the House of Commons Funded by the UK Parliament (February to May 2009). The objectives are: (a) To determine how users are navigating to information; (b) To evaluate the use of the pre-prepared written briefings known as Research Papers, Standard Notes and Debate Packs, by name, subject and date/time; (c) To obtain data on the use of subscription external subscription databases; (d) To evaluate and analyse use according to whether users are Information Services staff or customers, MPs, or their researchers; and (e) To evaluate referrer link data. The study is yet to report and is likely to be extended in scope and duration. E-journals: use, impact and outcomes Funded by the Research Information Network (April 2009 to January 2010) Click thumbnail to visit RIN website
The first phase created a robust and substantial evidence base on the actual use and information-seeking behaviour of UK researchers in respect to e-journals, relating these data to research performance indicators, library investment and other institutional factors. The very act of compiling the evidence base has raised further questions to be answered in a second, survey and qualitative stage. The aims and research questions of the project are, via questionnaire and interview:
To test and challenge the log findings and establish their robustness. To establish a deeper understanding of what lies behind the patterns of use and information-seeking behaviour portrayed by the logs. To obtain explanations for the diversity in information-seeking behaviour and usage that has been discovered, especially in regard to research status, institutional size, and discipline. To determine how online searching and use relates to overall information seeking, use, reading and citing behaviour, and to overall scholarly and research workflows. Derive estimates (on the basis of interviews and surveys) as to the levels of usage by researchers on the one hand and students on the other. Build a longitudinal data set so that trends in journal investment, use, research outcomes can be seen. A longitudinal approach will also allow publication lags to be taken into consideration and further test the validity of the phase I CIBER models. EuropeanaConnect: putting Europe's cultural heritage online Funded by the European Commission (June 2009 to December 2010) Click thumbnail to visit Europeana website
The project will provide real-time monitoring and evaluation of the use (and users) of the different services developed as part of Europeana. This will be undertaken through the use of an advanced, bespoke methodology - deep log analysis, which is specifically designed for making sense of ALL information seeking behaviour in a virtual space, something which then enables service providers to point to the positive outcomes and impacts of using their service. Specific areas of investigation are:
Analyse the transaction logs of the Europeana Prototype, launched in November 2008 to: (a) see how people have used it; (b) demonstrate the potential data yield (deep log analysis can provide data on 29 separate characteristics of information behaviour in the virtual space). On the basis of the above, specify logging requirements for Europeana and establish a system by which we can maximise the capture of user and use data so that the service will always remain close to user needs and developments, and respond directly and immediately to them. Investigate the best means of regularly reporting on the usage logs for Europeana and establish deep log analysis as a routine method of reporting on Europeana usage, users and outcomes. Feeding results of log analysis back into the improvement and further development of Europeana, including personalization services (MyEuropeana). Create a set of recommendations for personalisation development. EUROCANCERCOMS: Cancer information flows in Europe Funded by the European Commission (June 2009 to December 2010) The aim is to establish a European-wide benchmark study of cancer digital information consumers. This will profile their: demographic characteristics; information seeking behaviour; patterns of usage and topics sought; attitudes and perceptions; barriers/obstacles, levels of satisfaction and health outcomes. It will provide the essential context for the broader study by describing and visualizing a strategic component of the virtual cancer communication space. The study will establish whether: poor communication can be blamed for poor health outcomes and whether a `EuroGoogle-cancer’ or `one stop shop’ for all cancer patients and their families and carers might offer a viable way forward. Evaluating the use and impact of electronic course texts on a national scale Funded by JISC (April to July 2009) Click thumbnail to visit JISC national e-books observatory website
The National e-Books Observatory (NeBO) project continues to generate very large quantities of data that represent a significant investment by JISC and CIBER. Even with the current analysis being undertaken by CIBER, further research using this data as a platform is extremely advantageous and the key objective of the research is to put the Deep Log, survey and other analyses in a broader (teaching and learning) context by: a) analysing users’ comments and gaining a better understanding of the demographic factors that shape the demand for electronic course texts; b) evaluating the extent of the changes that have taken place in attitudes and behaviour among students and faculty over the course of the Observatory experiment; c) maximising community engagement with our research by relating all this to the debate around appropriate business models. Understanding the information-seeking behaviour of business and economics students Funded by JISC (April to September 2009) Click thumbnail to read CIBER's working paper The basic aim of the CIBER input to this study is to inform and provide context for an observational study of information-seeking behaviour by business and management students. The study will, in part, employ the huge evidence base built up CIBER during the National e-Books Observatory project. Publishing and the Ecology of European Research (PEER) Funded by the European Commission (May 2009 to August 2011) Click thumbnail to visit PEER website
PEER is a pioneering collaboration between publishers, repositories and the research community, in which at least 16,000 peer-reviewed manuscripts or `e-prints’ destined to become accepted journal articles will be made available for archiving every year for three years. The aim is to understand the impacts that large-scale deposit of Stage II manuscripts have on usage patterns (using deep log techniques). What is the source and nature of usage of deposited manuscripts? What do the usage patterns reveal that is of strategic relevance to the research community, publishers and repositories? Virtual Scholar programme (2004-) The Virtual Scholar programme tidily brings together CIBER's expertise in digital libraries and deep log analysis on the one hand, with scholarly communication and bibliometrics on the other, to explore the changing world of academic information supply and use. Considerable changes are taking place in academic publishing, notably in respect of journals and monographs. The Virtual Scholar aims to provide objective evidence from both user and supply perspectives, and thus support a balanced discussion of some strategic issues facing the academic community. It provides the publishing industry with much of its strategic research in areas such as the digital transition, new business models, social and policy angles (e.g. academic freedom), open access, repositories, the development of robust methodologies and metrics, creative writing, book history, impact of literary prizes, and changes in book retailing. Research opportunities are enormous because, despite its size and importance to the economy, the UK publishing industry seriously under-invests in research and ideas. Few publishing houses have an in-house research capability or access to an independent forum to provide a strategic overview of the issues facing the sector. Evidence that the industry is hungry for robust, objective research comes from the fact that CIBER has been approached by two major publishers and an international trade association to create a series of White Papers to brief the industry on the strategic issues it faces. Digital Health programme (2002-2005) The Digital Health Group was formed in 2002, replacing The Internet Studies Research Group, and becoming part of Ciber. Two factors were at play. The first was that the group had begun to look at services and systems beyond the traditional 'Internet' (such as digital TV applications, some of which incorporated elements of the Internet) and the second was increased funding from the Department of Health, NHS and Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, in a project which also examines health information. The Digital Health Research Group was a multi-disciplinary association of researchers and practitioners, from the related subjects of information science, computer science, health, journalism and electronic publishing who have combined together to study difficult consumer health issues. The broad aims of the group were to examine the take-up of health information delivery through ICTs and to identify the barriers that might constrain the developments of such initiatives. A good deal of the work concerned the collection and analysis of computer transaction logs. These provided a true and insightful record of user behaviour.
New CIBER report on scholarly monographs here Latest press coverage of CIBER's Google Generation study here This page is maintained by Ian Rowlands. |
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