Sanna Talja’s research while affiliated with Tampere University and other places

E-journals are constantly evolving and adding new features, however, scholars’ views of desired features of scholarly e-articles have not received much attention. Scholars’ opinions were studied as part of two scholarly reading surveys conducted in Finland in 2016 and internationally in 2018. Respondents were asked “What features would you like to see in e-scholarly articles in the future” and “How have your reading practices changed in the last few years and how do you expect them to change”. A qualitative thematic analysis of 588 open-ended comments to these questions was performed. Themes discussed in open ended comments concern availability and accessibility; readability, searchability, findability, and discoverability; sharing and collaboration affordances; and seamlessness between reading and writing. Respondents also discussed affordances such as more visual materials, more interactivity, easier export of references, links to original research data, open commenting, open peer review, possibility to update articles, links to authors’ social media sites, and templates for secondary and meta-analysis. Users’ discussion of affordances for finding, discovering, sharing, and handling information provide insights to publishers, libraries, and web designers.

Nationwide surveys of researchers in Finland in 2007 and 2016 distributed with the assistance of FinELib, the Finnish national consortium, show that researchers use a growing range of sources to find and access scholarly articles and that some reading patterns are changing. The percentage of articles found by searching and browsing are decreasing, while researchers are using more social ways to locate articles. Research social networking sites are rated as important to their work. They read more on-screen, although still print some material out for final reading. Reading patterns for books are different, as researchers still rely more on printed books than e-books, in spite of an increase in e-book collections through their libraries. This study shows a continuous process of incremental change, enabled by changes in scholarly publishing, social networking, and library collection decisions. More changes can be expected, as researchers adopt systems and patterns that fit with their work patterns and make the finding, locating, and reading of scholarly materials easier. Libraries must both lead and adapt to these new reading patterns by providing links and access to a variety of journal services and by maintaining a balance of print and e-book collections.

Results of an online survey distributed to faculty, PhD students, and researchers throughout Finland in 2016 show that library resources, journal articles, and books are important parts of scholars’ research and work life. The survey was disseminated through FinELib to heads of libraries, who were then asked to distribute it to their academic staff, researchers, and PhD students. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of readings obtained from library collections. To help answer this question, participants were asked about the amount and value of their reading and where they obtained readings, which allowed comparison of how the value of the library collection differs from other sources. The study found that researchers use many ways to identify and obtain articles, and the library collection is identified as one important source. Scholars use the library’s collection mostly to obtain articles for research and those articles help to inspire new ideas. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of access to scholarly publications for scholars, from the library and elsewhere, such as open access sites and research sharing platforms.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of reading in scholarly work among academics in Finland. This study analyzes readings from a variety of publication types including books, conference proceedings, research reports, magazines, newspapers, blogs, non-fiction and fiction. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was developed and distributed in Finland in 2016–2017 ( n =528). Participants were asked their finding and use of scholarly information resources of all types. Findings Scholars read from a variety of publications. Different types of publications are read and used differently. Reading also varies between disciplines, ranks, work responsibilities and type of research performed. Research limitations/implications The study was a nationwide study of researchers in Finland; therefore, all findings are within the context of researchers in a single country. All results are self-reported; therefore, the authors assume but cannot be sure that respondents accurately recollect the specifics of their use of scholarly information. Practical implications The results of this study are relevant to publishers, research librarians, editors and others who serve consumers of scholarly information resources, design information products and services for those scholars, and seek to better understand the information needs and use of a variety of types of scholarly publications. Originality/value This study replicates previous studies in a variety of countries and provides a more up-to-date and single-country contextualized overview of how researchers find and use scholarly information in their work.

The use of social media in scholarly communication has grown in recent years, and consequently, scholars’ uses of social media has gained importance as a research topic.The aim of this article is to shed light on the role of social media in scholars’ work. The research presents findings from a survey (N=528) conducted in Finland in late 2016. There exists no prior research on the role and uses social media among Finnish scholars. This research specifically focuses on the perceived role of social media in information seeking and sharing. We also study the differences between disciplines, age groups, and positions. Results show that scholars do not perceive social media as being central for their or information seeking and sharing, and that social media services are not replacing traditional publishing forums. Scholars do appreciate the social media services intended and developed for academic use, and find them as having value for their work than general social media services. However, according to our results, social media services have a marginal role in scholars’ information seeking and scholars infrequently share their readings in social media platforms. Some disciplinary differences existed, but there was no connection between scholars’ age or position and the role of social media. Our study shows that the role of social media in academic work and scholarly communication is still rather small. Further research is needed to find out what are the reasons for scholars lack of interest towards social media.

Research data is an essential part of the scholarly record, and management of research data is increasingly seen as an important role for academic libraries. This article presents the results of a survey of directors of the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER) academic member libraries to discover what types of research data services (RDS) are being offered by European academic research libraries and what services are planned for the future. Overall, the survey found that library directors strongly agree on the importance of RDS. As was found in earlier studies of academic libraries in North America, more European libraries are currently offering or are planning to offer consultative or reference RDS than technical or hands-on RDS. The majority of libraries provide support for training in skills related to RDS for their staff members. Almost all libraries collaborate with other organizations inside their institutions or with outside institutions in orderto offer or develop policy related to RDS. We discuss the implications of the current state of RDS in European academic research libraries, and offer directions for future research. © 2017, Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services. All rights reserved.

It is generally agreed that information activities should be studied within the work and everyday-life contexts, which provide the reasons for and aims of information seeking and use activities. Situation, task, and practice are some of the ways of conceptualizing the context of information activities. Differences between these concepts are rarely discussed, and their theoretical underpinnings are not necessarily well understood. This analysis describes the historical background of the person-in-situation approach, task theory, and practice theory. The underlying assumptions are brought into view and analyzed in detail. Practice theory, task theory, and person-in-situation theories guide researchers to carve out and define their research foci in divergent and incompatible ways. It is argued that it would also be possible to understand and define these concepts within an integrated theoretical framework. Practice theory is a theoretical framework within which both situations and tasks can be understood as distinct parts of a situated activity setting. Discussing the intellectual history of some of the key theoretical constructs of information science clarifies differences between research streams and their key premises.

Purpose The paper proposes a model aiming at the explanation of the formation of coordinative knowledge practices in distributed work. Findings from a pilot study aiming at the preliminary testing of the model are presented and discussed. Design/methodology/approach The explanatory model was developed by combining concepts and findings developed in studies of social capital, knowledge sharing and computer supported cooperative work. The empirical data were gathered in 2007‐2008 in a multi‐unit Finnish chemical company production site. The methods used were structured observation of work processes, semi‐structured interviews and a web‐based questionnaire. Findings The model suggested that coordinative knowledge practices are shaped by four major factors: work coupling, social capital, spatio‐temporality and affordances of collaboration technologies. The empirical study showed that these concepts can be successfully applied in empirical research to better understand and support the development of coordinative knowledge practices. Practical implications The findings can be utilized in the analysis and assessment of coordinative knowledge practices between distributed work groups in multi‐unit organizations. The findings can also be used in the development of solutions for knowledge sharing and communication in distributed work organizations and communities. Originality/value The model developed provides a novel perspective for the study of knowledge practices in the context of distributed group work. The model proposes that varying degrees in work coupling intensity, social capital, spatio‐temporality and affordances of collaborative technologies explain the emergence of coordinative knowledge practices. The study shows how coordinative knowledge practices can be studied empirically. The empirical study resulted in a typology of coordinative knowledge practices.

Artikkeli pohtii ikäkäsityksiä sekä ikäjohtamisen haasteita osana osaamisen johtamista yleisissä kirjastoissa. Artikkelissa analysoidaan ikäpuhetta ja ikämäärittelyjä kirjastotyön ja siihen kuuluvien osa-alueiden kontekstissa. Empiirinen aineisto on kerätty vuosina 2008-2010 ryhmätehtävällä ja -haastatteluilla, joihin osallistui jo kauan työelämässä olleita kirjastoammattilaisia, alan vaihtajia sekä vasta opintonsa aloittaneita alan opiskelijoita. Tulokset tukevat aikaisempia ikäkäsitys- ja ikäasennetutkimuksia. Sekä nuoriin että ikääntyneisiin liitettiin sekä positiivisia että negatiivisia piirteitä, mutta ikääntyneisiin liitettiin kuitenkin vähemmän myönteisiä luonnehdintoja.