Altmetrics in practice: How are institutional repositories using altmetrics today?

Abstract

Although alternative metrics (altmetrics) are still in their infancy, the concept of using non-traditional measures to assess research impact has gained significant traction from scholarly publishers over the past two years. More recently, there has been interest amongst librarians and repository managers in integrating rich qualitative and quantitative altmetrics (measures of online attention) into research management systems and institutional repositories. In 2013, UK-based startup Altmetric LLP began providing free data and visualisations to open-access institutional repositories via an API and badge integrations. In several cases, Altmetric has been able to measure the online attention paid to articles in repositories alongside attention paid to the journal versions of the same articles. The tracking of reader access via repositories and publishers has the potential to provide a comprehensive snapshot of the digital uptake of mentioned articles. At present, Altmetric data have been successfully integrated into different repository platforms, including EPrints and DSpace. During the proposed workshop, our speakers will present case studies about altmetrics into their institutional repositories, discuss positive and negative feedback received from users, and also cover the technical aspects of the integration process. Attendees of the workshop will be able to learn how to get started with altmetrics in their own platforms.