Presentation from Referencing Reboot: Tools, Tech and Twinkle on 4 June 2014 (English Faculty, University of Cambridge). Kathy works at the University of Cranfield.

1. Citations and Donuts :
Altmetrics in discovery
Kathy Sadler, Systems Librarian
Cranfield University
Wordle: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajc1/6795008004//
Rebooting Referencing: Tools, Tech and Twinkle
CILIP ARLG Eastern, Cambridge University, 4th June 2014
http://www.cilip.org.uk/academic-and-research-libraries-group/events/rebooting-referencing

2. It’s all about impact.
• We want to help our researchers to find the best
articles
• Our researchers want to know if their
publications are being used
• Our institutions care about impact for the
REF

3. Measuring impact
Traditional metrics for academic impact
• Journal Impact Factor
• Citation counts
…which are slow to accumulate.
Alternative metrics for impact on society and the online community
• Press coverage
• Reference managers
• Pageviews, downloads
• Blogs, commentary
• Social media reach: shares, likes, tweets
…quicker, more timely

4. There are lots of altmetrics initiatives and companies. A couple of examples:
Some altmetrics players
“Tell the story of your research impact”.
Researchers need an ORCID. Free,
open source. Useful blog.
https://impactstory.org/#/about
Commercial product for libraries,
recently acquired by EBSCO.
Measures influence via usage, captures,
mentions, social media, and citations.
http://plumanalytics.com/metrics.html

5. Altmetric.com
• Aggregates usage, captures, mentions, etc
• Calculates an item’s “score”
• Publishes free embed codes and tools to allow libraries,
researchers (in fact anyone) see an item’s Altmetric score
attractively visualised in an eyecatching colour coded “donut”
At Cranfield University we have embedded an Altmetric widget into
our discovery service, EBSCO Discovery, to show the donut.

6. It has proved popular.
Image: http://www.thesimpsons.com/services/wallpaper.php?image=/_ugc/images/wallpapers/1920x1080_Homer.jpg
Mmmm…
…donuts!

7. Altmetrics in EBSCO Discovery
SearchPoint, our EDS instance (login required)

8. Altmetrics in EBSCO Discovery
Scroll down…

9. Altmetrics in EBSCO Discovery
Widget below the item details
This item has 1 tweet.
Click for more details…

10. Altmetrics in EBSCO Discovery
The tweet can be read in an iFrame

11. Here’s another one
This item has 3 blog mentions.
Right-click >
View in new tab

12. Links to the blogs themselves

13. When Altmetric has no score

14. When there’s no Altmetric at all
The link goes to another article
that does have an Altmetric
score.

15. Linked example of Altmetric

16. Viewing the details
Tabs across the top to explore
the altmetric components

17. Unpacking the score

18. Demographics: who’s involved?

19. Technical niggles
Expect “no show”s
• Not everything has a DOI
• Not everything with a DOI has an Altmetric score
• The widget shows on every item in our EDS but it isn’t really relevant
for something like a book from the library collection.
• Altmetrics are more likely to accumulate for recent things with online
coverage and attention so older items will score lower if at all

20. Imperfect de-duplication
These two are the same article from Nature, harvested 2 different ways
No altmetric at all!

21. A little caution
Altmetrics are relatively new and their credentials still being established
• Popularity and quality are not the same thing. Altmetrics can’t report:
– Quality of content
– Quality of people using the content
• Ambiguity of actions being counted:
– Viewing or downloading doesn’t mean actually using or
appreciating
– People might tweet something because it is really bad!
Altmetrics aren’t an alternative to using citations… but rather an alternative
to using ONLY citations.
See: Cat Chimes, Altmetric.com Altmetrics: Where are we and where are we going?
https://www.filepicker.io/api/file/2LI3QD8rSlCmSY9rAgdB accessed 3/6/2014

22. But hey, it’s pretty, right?

23. EBSCO Discovery
• Detailed Record widget in the EDS wiki
http://edswiki.ebscohost.com/Altmetric.com
Or I am happy to share my code - ask me at the end!
Ex Libris Primo
• Code extension in EL Commons
http://initiatives.exlibrisgroup.com/2012/12/altmetrics-on-primo.html
ProQuest Summon
• …er, not sure; but Altmetric publish plenty of embed codes
Getting Altmetrics into discovery

24. Other ways to harness Altmetrics
#1
Institutional repository examples
• Queen Margaret University (Altmetric donut)
http://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/3336/
• University of Warwick (Altmetric lozenge)
http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/59604/
• University of Pittsburgh (Plum Analytics)
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/17829/
• Wageningen UR, Netherlands (Altmetric lozenge in Primo)
http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/expertise-services/Facilities/library.htm

25. Other ways to harness Altmetrics
#2
Free Altmetric bookmarklet
For Chrome, Firefox, Safari (But I have IE and it worked OK)
Screenshot: http://www.altmetric.com/bookmarklet.php

26. Thank you!
Kathy Sadler
Systems Librarian
k.e.sadler@cranfield.ac.uk
+44 (0)1234 754444
Any questions?

27. Sources
• The Altmetrics manifesto (source of the wordle used in the opening slide)
http://altmetrics.org/manifesto accessed 3/6/2014
• Altmetrics: What is it and how is it relevant to librarians?
Presentation by Clarke Iakovakis and R Mirza, University of Texas at Arlington, December 2013
http://www.slideshare.net/ciakov/iakovakis-mirzaaltmetrics accessed 3/6/2014
• Altmetrics: A librarian’s outlook on potential applications
Library Connect blog on Elsevier by Jenny Delasalle , May 2014
http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/articles/2014-05/altmetrics-librarian-s-outlook-potential-applications accessed 3/6/2014
• Altmetrics, another view on impact.
Presentation by Wouter Gerritsma, Information Specialist at Wageningen UR Library, Netherlands, April 2014
http://www.slideshare.net/Wowter/altmetrics-another-view-on-impact/2 accessed 3/6/2014
• Altmetrics: Where are we and where are we going?
Presentation by Cat Chimes of Altmetric.com, at #Futurepub3, 20th May 2014
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/futurepub-3-new-developments-in-scientific-publishing-tickets-11730094027 accessed 29/5/2014
• Introduction to Altmetrics
Presentation by Peter Kraker, Know-Center, Austria, Dec 2013
http://www.slideshare.net/pkraker/introduction-to-altmetrics-29104154 accessed 3/6/2014
• Introduction to Altmetrics for STEM librarians
Presentation by Linda Galloway, Janet Pease, Anne Rauh, June 2013
http://www.slideshare.net/lmgalloway/introductionto-altmetrics-062013 accessed 2/6/2014
• Overview of the Altmetrics Landscape
Presentation by Richard Cave of PLOS, November 2012
http://www.slideshare.net/rcave/overview-of-the-altmetrics-landscape accessed 29/05/2014