2014 Charleston Library Conference

Every couple of years a new trendy topic comes to the fore, and of late it's been all things #altmetrics​. But what are alternative metrics really and what do librarians need to know about them? The landscape of bibliometrics is in great flux as traditional metrics of scholarly impact (i.e. H-index, citations, and impact factor) meet new web-native metrics of social/societal impact. Researchers and those who support them -- libraries, grant administrators, and scholarly communications offices -- need to be aware of these metrics to understand what such metrics can tell an researcher or institution about their reach, who is engaging with their research, and what they're saying about that research.

Join PLOS, NISO, and librarians from American University and Harvard University on a panel moderated by Altmetric.com for an overview of the landscape, challenges/opportunities libraries should consider, and efforts on establish standards and best practices. This will be moderated discussion between the panel and the audience. Each panelist will be give 5 minutes to briefly introduce themselves and work in the space. We'll then open the floor to questions and debate on various topics. The moderator will solicit questions in advance via twitter.