Juan D. Machin-Mastromatteo

Piracy of scientific papers in Latin America An analysis of Sci-Hub usage data

Sci-Hub alberga copias pirateadas de 51 millones de articulos cientificos de editoriales comerciales. Este articulo presenta las caracteristicas del sitio, critica que pueda ser percibido como un componente de facto del movimiento Open Access, replica un analisis publicado en Science usando sus datos de uso disponibles, pero limitandolo a Latinoamerica, y es por esto sitio para profesionales de la informacion, universidades y bibliotecas.Sci-Hub hosts pirated copies of 51 million scientific papers from commercial publishers. This article presents the site’s characteristics, it criticizes that it might be perceived as a de-facto component of the Open Access movement, it replicates an analysis published in Science using its available usage data, but limiting it to Latin America, and presents implications caused by this site for information professionals, universities and libraries.

The arrival of information literacy

Paul Zurkowski coined the term Information Literacy in 1974, since then it has evolved into a dynamic research area within library and information science, with many milestones achieved in Europe and the United States, reflected in English-written literature. This issue of Developing Latin America traces an alternative route, exploring the arrival of information literacy to the region and its main developments.

Latin American science is meant to be open access Initiatives and current challenges

Latin American open access (OA) initiatives were built upon the foundations laid by the regional cooperative information networks, databases and indexes that started to be developed from the 1970s. OA had an early start in the region in the 1990s, because it preceded the first worldwide OA declaration. This article summarizes the reasons behind the emergence of OA in the region, offers details and data about the most relevant initiatives and discusses some of the current challenges to keep advancing in this arena.

Four theories to improve justice in Latin America

The theories of justice according to Rawls, Dworkin, Habermas and Sen, although from a predominantly Anglo-Saxon background, are useful for the Latin American reality. Such views of justice bring forward the requirement for developing indicators with a wider scope, so that they measure diverse aspects such as: income, commodities, freedoms, economic, cultural, educative, political and well-being factors. Concluding remarks summarize relevant aspects of justice that can enrich the needed reflection and discussion for new Latin American models of justice.

Recovering troubled cities through public spaces and libraries: The Caracas Metropolitan Strategic Plan 2020

The Caracas Metropolitan Strategic Plan 2020 (CMSP2020) is an instance of urban and environmental planning that seeks to construct a collective ‘city pact’ for Caracas, currently among the most troubled and violent cities in Latin America. Its main idea is to recover the city through the rescue of its public spaces, by centering on six strategic axes for transforming Caracas: accessibility and mobility; public safety, public spaces and housing improvement; environmental sustainability; productivity and entrepreneurship; governability; and the development of a constructive and responsible citizenship. This model, partly inspired by Medellin’s Library Parks, may be useful for other large cities in the region that suffer similar socio-political fractures, as well as accessibility, mobility, environmental, productive, governance and safety issues.

Assessing Spanish-Speaking University Students’ Info-Competencies with iSkills, SAILS, and an In-House Instrument: Challenges and Benefits

In its ongoing assessment of information literacy competencies (ILC), CETYS Universidad first developed an in-house instrument and then applied the standardized tests, SAILS and iSkills. This paper analyzes the design of these instruments as well as data gathered from their implementation. This comparison aids in finding similarities in the ILC they measure, describe how they measure them, and study their differences. The objectives of this analysis are to describe the evolution of the Institution’s ILC assessment over the past four years while providing the basis for making an evidence-based decision about improving the in-house instrument and pushing to develop a Spanish-language multi-institutional tool, and/or the continued use of international instruments.

Scientific production in Mexican universities Rates and expectations toward competitiveness

This article analyzes emerging issues that Mexican universities are experiencing with scientific production processes, their impact on assessment indicators that determine their level of competitiveness, and the identification of assessment dimensions and criteria related to the activities of professors and researchers. Examples of previous research on universities’ competitiveness are offered to provide suggestions for recognizing the need for legitimized models that allow assessing scientific production in Mexican universities.

Piracy of scientific papers in Latin America

Sci-Hub alberga copias pirateadas de 51 millones de articulos cientificos de editoriales comerciales. Este articulo presenta las caracteristicas del sitio, critica que pueda ser percibido como un componente de facto del movimiento Open Access, replica un analisis publicado en Science usando sus datos de uso disponibles, pero limitandolo a Latinoamerica, y es por esto sitio para profesionales de la informacion, universidades y bibliotecas.Sci-Hub hosts pirated copies of 51 million scientific papers from commercial publishers. This article presents the site’s characteristics, it criticizes that it might be perceived as a de-facto component of the Open Access movement, it replicates an analysis published in Science using its available usage data, but limiting it to Latin America, and presents implications caused by this site for information professionals, universities and libraries.

The most “perfect” voting system in the world

Elections are indispensable for democracy, but their trustworthiness demands transparency and impartiality from governments, even more so for automated elections. This work presents common criticisms to e-voting systems, focusing on the Venezuelan case, where there have been around 15 elections of this kind in the last 17 years. The Venezuelan government calls it “the most perfect voting system in the world”, but its results have been questioned, studied and contested.

Is information enough to save the region

Latin America does not exist. These 42 diverse and developing countries are hardly a union. However, they share geographical proximity, history, strangely unique elements, and the wish to progress. This first issue of a new column, ‘Developing Latin America’, explores some information issues, literacy rates, regional prominence in scholarly publications, and relevant topics taken from Information Development’s publication history.