TEACHING BIBLIOMETRICS: KEY COMPETENCES, CONTENTS, DIDACTIC MATERIALS AND PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES

Bibliometrics emerged in the middle of 20th century as a metric-quantitative discipline, focused on the analysis of the production and consumption of scientific literature. Bibliometrics has traditionally tried to describe and characterize the scientific system (size, organization, distribution of bibliographic references etc.) and their social practices, identifying publication patterns and regularities. Recently, the evaluation of research has become the main focus topic in the field, and bibliometric indicators have been used as support and foundation for the planning of science policies. Bibliometrics has undergone extraordinary development over the last decades, both at the theoretical and applied level. The indices, concepts and methodology of this field can be useful for scientists, teachers, doctoral students and professionals of any discipline and area of knowledge to know the stage of development of the research on a topic and for optimizing the work of researchers in the evaluation processes. In this context, it is essential to promote teaching and learning experiences in the field, considering the most suitable contents, didactic resources and pedagogical approaches for it. A review of research papers that have addressed some aspect related to didactics of Bibliometrics is carried out, summarizing the key competences and skills associated to the subject, the contents that should be part of the training and curricular programs; and the importance of handbooks and the development of specific didactic materials, exercises and practical activities. An example of the creation of a tutorial designed for the purpose of teaching the use of the bibliometric indicators collected in the Web of Science and Scopus multidisciplinary bibliographic databases is also presented.