Prof Olle Persson
Avd för informationsvetenskap, Sociologiska institutionen, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden

Note: The course is now full and no more applicants can be accepted

Traditionally LIS in the Nordic countries has been oriented towards the cultural aspects of information and communication, and also the research activities has been dominated by qualitative research methods. Therefore, in order to broaden the research perspectives in LIS, it is of great importance to introduce to current research programs the quantitative research paradigm. In this context Bibliometrics has prime relevance since it represents an unique set of techniques for the monitoring and analysis of information resources and for the management of knowledge in social and organisational contexts.

Bibliometrics is traditionally associated with the quantitative measure of documentary materials and embraces all studies which seek to quantify the process of written communication, i.e., the application of mathematical methods to books, articles and other media of communication. Bibliometric methods are especially designed to study the production, the flow, the organization and the use of information in various settings.

Bibliometric methods are used in studies of properties and behaviour of recorded knowledge, for analysing the structures of scientific and research areas, and for evaluation of research activity and administration of scientific information. Various statistical methods are applied to study, for example, the patterns of authorship, publication and literature use, the relationship within scientific domains and research communities and to structure of specific fields.

In this sense Bibliometrics is also relevant for doctoral programs in other fields, such as, media and communication, informatics and linguistics, and it is our hope that doctoral students active outside the LIS-field will also show interest to adapt the bibliometric methods in their research work.

The recent developments of Internet based technologies and applications represent a major challenge for the LIS field. Advancements such as visualization, text and data mining are all examples of new ways of applying quantitative analysis of information. Bibliometrics, which is a classical field in LIS, can be looked upon as a basic element for these new developments.

The course aims to introduce bibliometric and informetric research methods to Ph.D students in the Nordic countries as an unique methodological discipline. The scope of bibliometrics covers general theories dealing with important phenomena of regularities found in communication. Furthermore bibliometrics have and can be applied in a large number of context, for example science studies, research evaluation, knowledge management, environment scanning, tracing trends and development, optimizing library and information resources.

The course will cover the following topics:

• Review of the historical developments of Bibliometrics
• Main bibliometric laws and regularities
• Information retrieval and search techniques
• Mapping social and cognitive structures
• New developments: webometrics; text and data mining
• Developing and implementing bibliometric research designs
• Collecting bibliometric data
• Organizing bibliometric data
• Visualizing bibliometric data
• Applying statistical data analysis to bibliometric data
• Demonstration of tools and application areas
• Discussion of research designs in student's PhD-work

The program equals ten study weeks and provides both theoretical and practical knowledge in the use of bibliometric analysis in various research areas related to their studies. The course will also meet the demand of refreshing and stimulation of the use of quantitative studies in the field of library and information science. At present there are available only limited education and training resources in this area, and the course will pool the knowledge and skills of those few Nordic experts who are either developers or users of the bibliometric analysis. In addition, two leading European scholars will give lectures and seminars.

The course consists of two one week sessions with lecturing, demonstrations, discussions of applications, seminars, papers presentations. The first session is focussed on theories and research themes and will be held in Copenhagen/Denmark during March 3-8, 2001. The second session covers methods and research techniques and will be held in Umeå/Sweden, during June 9-14, 2001.

At Umeå university we will access to an advanced computer laboratory with extensive availability of data bases and bibliometric software. Between these two meetings the students will prepare a research papers in which they shall combine theory with an empirical research design. During both course meetings the students will have many possibilities to exchange research ideas with leading international experts, and get familiar with the use of modern research techniques and analytical tools.

Main responsible chair person: Olle Persson <olle.persson@soc.umu.se>
Nordic course leading group: Olle Persson and Irene Wormell <irene.wormell@hb.se>

Nordic contact persons:
Denmark: Peter Ingwersen <pi@db.dk>
Finland: Sara von Ungern-Sternberg <sara.ungern@abo.fi>
Norway: Ragnar Audunsson <ragnar.audunson@jbi.hioslo.no>
Iceland: Anne Clyde <anne@rhi.hi.is>
Sweden: Lars Höglund <lars.hoglund@hb.se>

Foreign experts invited:
Ronald Rousseau, Belgium <ronald.rousseau@kh.khbo.be>, <ronald.rousseau@pandora.be>
Wolfgang Glänzel, Hungary <h4324gla@ella.hu>,<glanzw@helka.iif.hu>

PhD students accepted (as of 20th January 2001):
Bjørneborn, Lennart<lb@db.dk>
Birger Larsen <blar@db.dk>
Erik Thorlund Jepsen <etj@db.dk>
Jack Andersen<jan@db.dk>
Frank Sejer Christensen<fsc@db.dk>
Jesper Schneider <jws@db.dk>
Jeppe Nicolaisen <JNi@db.dk>
Martin Thellefsen <mt@db.dk>
Andzela Armoniene <aandzela@hotmail.com>
Daiva Janaviciene <daiva@ip.ku.lt>
Fredrik Åström Wirthig <Fredrik.Astrom@soc.umu.se>
Gunilla Wiklund <gunilla.wiklund@kult.lu.se>
Jenny Samuelsson <jenny.samuelsson@soc.umu.se>
Bo Jarneving <BOJ@adm.hb.se>
Per Ahlgren <per.ahlgren@hb.se>
Susanne Keränen <susanna.keranen@abo.fi>
Stefanía Júlíusdóttir <Stefjul@landspitali.is>
Dag W Aksnes <Dag.@nifu.no>
Luciana Porumbeanu

Time: March 3-8, 2001

Place: Hundested Kro & Hotel, Nørregade 10, 3390 Hundested, Denmark.
Tel.: +45 47 93 75 38 - Fax: +45 47 93 78 61 Email: hundested.kro@adr.dk
Note: Rooms are already reserved from 15.00 on the 3rd of March. Lecturers and students are all supposed to stay at Hundested Kro. The stay at the hotel including meals will be paid by the course organization.

Please also have your travel cost documentation ready when you come to Hundested. Then we can fill in the info needed for you to get travel money back as soon as possible.

How to get there:
From the Airport you take a train to the central station of Copenhagen where you change into a S-train for Hillerød. There you change into a train for Hundested. All in all the trips from the airport should take ca. 2 hours.
Trains from Copenhagen Airport: every 20 min, often more trains per hour.
S-Trains from Copenhagen to Hillerød station: 04-14-24.... Trains E or A, e.g. 09.34 arrives at 10.15 at Hillerød St.
Special train from Hillerød to Hundested: 29-59 (every 1/2 hour), e.g. 10.29 arrives at Hundested 11.17 - from which you walk (10 min.) to the Hundested Kro.
Remember to buy the total ticket (t/r) at Copenhagen Airport in the arrival Hall.
For your information: web-site for travel planner and train schedules in Denmark: www.dsb.dk/.

Recommended readings

Time: June 9-14, 2001
Travel: From the airport take a taxi or bus to the city centre.The hotel is just a few meters from where the bus stops. Travel costs will be reimbursed with maximum 3.700 NOK.
Place:
Saturday-Sunday: The conference room at First Express (see below)
Monday-Thursday: "Kapten Nemos Bibliotek" a computer lab on the 1st floor of the Humanistic Building (building A), Umeå university (see maps below)

Maps:
Campus:
A current view (webcam): http://www.educ.umu.se/%7Ewebcam/
http://www.umu.se/umu/om_umu/campus/karta_campus.html
http://www.umu.se/umu/om_umu/campus/karta_byggnader.html
Clickable city-map:
http://www.umea.se/turism/kartor/stadskarta.html
First Express is at the very centre at Vasagatan (close to one of the P:s):
http://www.umea.se/turism/kartor/kcentr.html

Accomodation:
Rooms have already been reserved from Saturday 9th to Thursday 14th of June at:
First Express, Vasagatan 12, SE-903 29 UMEÅ
Phone: +46 (0)90-77 85 40 Fax: +46 (0)90-77 85 49
Note: Hotel costs will be paid by the course organization.
If you wish to change or cancel hotel reservations please do that yourself and also inform me!

Please also have your travel cost documentation ready when you come to Umeå. Then we can fill in the info needed for you to get travel money back as soon as possible.

Ronald Rousseu's pictures from Hundested:
Pic 1. Hundested harbour
Pic 2. Hundested kro
Pic 3. Rasmussen house

Additional material:
Ronald Rousseau's: Time table of bibliometrics
Bibexcel download page
Data set to practice Bibexcel: Scientometrics
Extreme challenge: Could you reproduce this map?