Yaşar Tonta

Arts and Humanities Literature: Bibliometric Characteristics of Contributions by Turkish Authors

Scholarly communication in arts and humanities differs from that in the sciences. Arts and humanities scholars rely primarily on monographs as a medium of publication whereas scientists consider articles that appear in scholarly journals as the single most important publication outlet. The number of journal citation studies in arts and humanities is therefore limited. In this article, we investigate the bibliometric characteristics of 507arts and humanities journal articles written by authors affiliated with Turkish institutions and indexed in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI) between the years 1975–2003. Journal articles constituted more than 60% of all publications. One third of all contributions were published during the last 4 years (1999–2003) and appeared in 16 different journals. An overwhelming majority of contributions (91%) were written in English, and 83% of them had single authorship. Researchers based at Turkish universities produced 90% of all publications. Two thirds of references in publications were to monographs. The median age of all references was 12 years. Eighty percent of publications authored by Turkish arts and humanities scholars were not cited at all while the remaining 20% (or 99 publications) were cited 304 times (an average of three citations per publication). Self-citation ratio was 31%. Two thirds of the cited publications were cited for the first time within 2 years of their publications.

Diffusion of latent semantic analysis as a research tool: A social network analysis approach

Latent semantic analysis (LSA) is a relatively new research tool with a wide range of applications in different fields ranging from discourse analysis to cognitive science, from information retrieval to machine learning and so on. In this paper, we chart the development and diffusion of LSA as a research tool using social network analysis (SNA) approach that reveals the social structure of a discipline in terms of collaboration among scientists. Using Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science (WoS), we identified 65 papers with “latent semantic analysis” in their titles and 250 papers in their topics (but not in titles) between 1990 and 2008. We then analyzed those papers using bibliometric and SNA techniques such as co-authorship and cluster analysis. It appears that as the emphasis moves from the research tool (LSA) itself to its applications in different fields, citations to papers with LSA in their titles tend to decrease. The productivity of authors fits Lotkas Law while the network of authors is quite loose. Networks of journals cited in papers with LSA in their titles and topics are well connected.

Scatter of journals and literature obsolescence reflected in document delivery requests

In this paper we investigate the scattering of journals and literature obsolescence reflected in more than 137,000 document delivery requests submitted to a national document delivery service.We first summarize the major findings of the study with regards to the performance of the service.We then identify the “core” journals from which article requests were satisfied and address the following research questions: (a) Does the distribution of (core) journals conform to the Bradford’s Law of Scattering? (b) Is there a relationship between usage of journals and impact factors, journals with high impact factors being used more often than the rest? (c) Is there a relationship between usage of journals and total citation counts, journals with high total citation counts being used more often than the rest? (d) What is the median age of use (half-life) of requested articles in general? (e) Do requested articles that appear in core journals get obsolete more slowly? (f) Is there a relationship between obsolescence and journal impact factors, journals with high impact factors being obsolete more slowly? (g) Is there a relationship between obsolescence and total citation counts, journals with high total citation counts being obsolete more slowly? Based on the analysis of findings, we found that the distribution of highly and moderately used journal titles conform to Bradford’s Law.The median age of use was 8 years for all requested articles. Ninety percent of the articles requested were 21 years of age or younger.Articles that appeared in 168 core journal titles seem to get obsolete slightly more slowly than those of all titles.We observed no statistically significant correlations between the frequency of journal use and ISI journal impact factors, and between the frequency of journal use and ISI- (Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, PA) cited half-lives for the most heavily used 168 core journal titles.There was a weak correlation between usage of journals and ISI-reported total citation counts.No statistically significant relationship was found between median age of use and journal impact factors and between median age of use and total citation counts.There was a weak negative correlation between ISI journal impact factors and cited half-lives of 168 core journals, and a weak correlation between ISI citation halflives and use half-lives of core journals.No correlation was found between cited half-lives of 168 core journals and their corresponding total citation counts as reported by ISI.Findings of the current study are discussed along with those of other studies.

Scholarly communication and the use of networked information sources

This paper examines the use of networked information sources in scholarly communication. Such use is reflected, among others, in the footnotes and bibliographies of scholarly articles published in print journals. Twenty-seven print journals representing a wide range of subjects were identified through the ISIs SCI and SSCI Journal Citation Reports. Journals that were selected were those that published the most influential papers in their respective fields during the period of 1990-1993, and thus consistently ranked at the top in terms of their impact factors. From these top journals, a total of 97 articles were selected for further review. Footnotes and bibliographies of those 97 articles were checked to determine if they contained references to networked information sources such as electronic journals and archives accessible through the network. Only two (out of 97) articles contained such references. Findings were discussed in light of other studies published in the relevant literature. Some explanations were also offered as to why references to networked information sources appear relatively infrequently in scholarly articles published in print journals.

Contribution of Turkish Researchers to the World's Biomedical Literature (1988–1997)

The contribution of Turkish researchers to positive sciences is increasing. Turkish scientists published more than 5100 articles in 1998 in scientific journals indexed by the Institute for Scientific Informations Science Citation Index, which elevated Turkey to the 25th place in the world rankings in terms of total contribution to science. In this paper, we report the preliminary findings of the bibliometric characteristics (authors and affiliations, medical journals and their impact factors, among others) of a total of 8442 articles published between 1988 and 1997 by scientists affiliated with Turkish institutions and indexed in the MEDLINE database.

Internet and electronic information management

The number and types of information sources accessible through the Internet are ever increasing. Billions of documents including text, pictures, sound, and video are readily available for both scholarly and every-day uses. Even libraries and information centers with sizable budgets are having difficulties in coping with this increase. More developed tools and methods are needed to find, filter, organize and summarize electronic information sources. This paper is an overview of a wide variety of electronic information management issues ranging from infrastructure to the integration of information technology and content, from personalization of information services to “disintermediation”. It discusses the issues of description, organization, collection management, preservation and archiving of electronic information.

Technological Convergence and Social Networks in Information Management

In these times, public libraries in many countries have increasingly come under pressure from developments within the information landscape. Thus, not least because of the massive digitization of information resources, the proliferation and popularity of search engines, in particular Google, and the booming technologies of Web 2.0, public libraries find themselves in a very complex situation. In fact, the easy-to-use technologies of Web 2.0 challenge the basic principles of information services provision undertaken by libraries. The new digital information environment and social software tools such as blogs, wikis and social networking sites have fuelled a discussion of the future of public libraries as information providers. After all there seems to be a need for public libraries to reorient their aims and objectives and to redefine their service identity. At the same time search engines, and especially Google, are increasingly coming under scrutiny. Thus, analysis results referred to show that the conception of information and the underlying purpose of Google differ from those of public libraries. Further, an increasing amount of criticism is being directed at collaborative spaces (typically Wikipedia) and social networks (e.g. MySpace) and it is pointed out that these social media are not that innocent and unproblematic. In discussing the survival of public libraries and devising an updated role for libraries in the age of Google and social media, attention should be given to fleshing out a new vision for the public library as a provider of alternative information and as an institution supporting information democracy.

Diffusion of nanotechnology knowledge in Turkey and its network structure

This paper aims to assess the diffusion and adoption of nanotechnology knowledge within the Turkish scientific community using social network analysis and bibliometrics. We retrieved a total of 10,062 records of nanotechnology papers authored by Turkish researchers between 2000 and 2011 from Web of Science and divided the data set into two 6-year periods. We analyzed the most prolific and collaborative authors and universities on individual, institutional and international levels based on their network properties (e.g., centrality) as well as the nanotechnology research topics studied most often by the Turkish researchers. We used co-word analysis and mapping to identify the major nanotechnology research fields in Turkey on the basis of the co-occurrence of words in the titles of papers. We found that nanotechnology research and development in Turkey is on the rise and its diffusion and adoption have increased tremendously thanks to the Turkish government’s decision a decade ago identifying nanotechnology as a strategic field and providing constant support since then. Turkish researchers tend to collaborate within their own groups or universities and the overall connectedness of the network is thus low. Their publication and collaboration patterns conform to Lotka’s law. They work mainly on nanotechnology applications in Materials Sciences, Chemistry and Physics, among others. This is commensurate, more or less, with the global trends in nanotechnology research and development.

E-Science and Information Management

This presentation will set out the eScience agenda by explaining the current scientific data deluge and the case for a “Fourth Paradigm” for scientific exploration. Examples of data intensive science will be used to illustrate the explosion of data and the associated new challenges for data capture, curation, analysis, and sharing. The role of cloud computing, collaboration services, and research repositories will be discussed. Bio. Before joining Microsoft, Dr. Hey served as director of the U.K.’s eScience Initiative, managing the government’s efforts to provide scientists and researchers with access to key computing technologies. Before leading this initiative, Dr. Hey was head of the school of electronics and computer science, and dean of engineering and applied science at the University of Southampton. As corporate vice president of Microsoft Research, Dr. Tony Hey is responsible for Microsoft’s collaborative research with universities and research community to speed research, improve education and foster innovation. Dr. Hey is a fellow of the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in the U.S. He is also a fellow of the British Computer Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and the Institute of Physics. He was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to science in 2005.

Preservation of scientific and cultural heritage in Balkan countries

Purpose – The peoples living in the Balkan Peninsula over centuries have created a very rich cultural heritage and the constant political upheavals in the region have affected the development and preservation of their cultures. This paper aims to review the internet infrastructure and networked readiness levels of the Balkan countries, which are conducive to scientific co‐operation and preservation of digitised cultural heritage. It also explores the destructive effects of wars on the cultural riches of the region.Design/methodology/approach – The internet facilities and the scientific production of the Balkan countries were identified using published sources and Thomsons Web of Science database. A game‐theoretic approach was used to expound the consequences of wars and the adverse effects of the nation‐building process on cultural heritage artefacts.Findings – Balkan countries lack sound internet infrastructures, hindering their contributions to the world of science and stifling scientific co‐operation ...