Usage of Reference Management Software at the University of Torino

• Information

  DESCRIPTION

  145-174 p.

  NOTE

  • Il saggio, frutto di una tesi di master, si propone di indagare la popolarità e l'utilizzo del Reference Management Softwares tra i ricercatori e gli studiosi dell'Università di Torino, Italia, e il ruolo che le biblioteche universitarie possono assumere al riguardo. Lo studio, basato su un approccio qualitativo, è un'indagine descrittiva composta da un questionario online e da interviste dirette e rivolte alla comunità dei professori e ricercatori dell'area STM dell'Università di Torino. Questa ricerca evidenzia il comportamento degli utenti in una grande università italiana, confermando i risultati forniti dalla letteratura: abitudinarietà dei comportamenti che si esprime nello scarso utilizzo di Reference Management Softwares nella pratica di studio e di ricerca. Si sottolinea infine il ruolo che potrebbero rivestire i bibliotecari nell'assistere gli studiosi, fornendo loro informazioni e strumenti appropriati per migliorare il processo di ricerca. [Testo dell'editore].
  • The present research, originally a master thesis, aims to investigate the popularity and usage of Reference Management Softwares among researchers and scholars of the University of Torino, Italy, and the role that university libraries can assume about the subject. This study, based upon a qualitative approach, is a descriptive survey composed of an online questionnaire and direct interviews addressed to the population of professors and researchers of the STM areas at the University of Torino. A qualitative analysis was made across the 187 responses from the questionnaire and the 13 interviews performed.
  • 7 key concepts were outlined and discussed. The knowledge of Reference Manage Softwares is high among the respondents, but their adoption is not. EndNote is the most known and used software, while other alternatives are more scarcely considered. Scholars, hindered by time issues, rely on old habits and are very unlikely to discover new ways to manage the literature they need. Virtual collaboration is absent from the common research practice.The research gives light on the users' behaviour in a large Italian university, confirming the results provided by the literature. Librarians should assist scholars by providing informations and support about the proper tools to improve the research process. [Publisher's Text].

  KEYWORDS

  • Academic libraries, References, References Management Software, Users
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