Abstract

This book gives an overview of altmetrics, its tools and how to implement them successfully to boost and measure research outputs.
New methods of scholarly communication and dissemination of information are having a huge impact on how academics and researchers build profiles and share research. This groundbreaking and highly practical guide looks at the role that library and information professionals can play in facilitating these new ways of working and demonstrating impact and influence.
Altmetrics focuses on research artefact level metrics that are not exclusive to traditional journal papers but also extend to book chapters, posters and data sets, among other items. This book explains the theory behind altmetrics, including how it came about, why it can help academics and where it sits amongst current measurements of impact.
Editor Andy Tattersall draws on the expertise of leading altmetric innovators and practitioners, with chapters from Euan Adie, the founder of Altmetric.com; William Gunn, the Head of Academic Outreach at Mendeley and Ben Showers, author of the bestselling Facet title Library Analytics and Metrics.
Altmetrics: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Researchers and Academics will empower library and information professionals working in higher education, researchers, academics and higher education leaders and strategists to develop the skills and knowledge needed to introduce and support altmetrics within their own institutions.
The end of every chapter features “Key Points,” “Conclusions,” a “Reference List,” and “Further Reading,” making the text useful for reference purposes ... Overall, this readable book enables LIS professionals to help faculty and researchers understand the theoretical underpinnings of the development of altmetrics as well as navigate the variety of altmetrics technologies and tools. This book is recommended for academic and special librarians, information specialists, and graduate students pursuing an advanced degree in library science or information science.
Sarah H. Jeong
Wake Forest University
Technical Services Quarterly
This book is a great addition to the literature on measuring scholarly productivity and is written by prominent experts in the field. This book is a practical step-by-step guide to boarding the altmetrics train and explores the new frontiers in scholarly communications metrics and public scholarship. It is an important addition to the conversation on scholarly metrics and opens a dialogue about other social media measurements through the many unanswered questions posed within the book.

Innocent Awasom
Texas Tech University Libraries
The Library Quarterly
extremely timely ... rather than focusing on the nitty-gritty and details of numbers and metrics, the book offers a very readable and accessible overview of the topic - why and how altmetrics have developed, a snapshot of what they look like today, and a glimpse of what we might see in the future.
Michelle Dalton
Libfocus
The targeted audience is library and information professionals doing altmetrics outreach to researchers, but the work is written to appeal to researchers and academics generally. A list of key points at the end of each chapter is particularly helpful for newcomers.
Michael Rodriguez
Library Journal
Andy Tattersall BA (Hons) MSc  FHEA is an Information Specialist at the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield.  He is also secretary of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Multimedia and Information Technology Committee and a Mendeley Advisor for the social reference management software company.
Altmetrics: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Researchers and Academics is very welcome as it is one of very few textbooks revisiting the theory behind the growth of altmetrics, providing a comprehensive snapshot of what they look like today and demonstrating their value if applied in a meaningful manner. All in all, this is a worthwhile read, especially for any LIS professional interested in improving their understanding of altmetrics.
Nathalie Cornée
LSE Review of Books