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This study aims to explore the current presence of e‐books in the collections of Spanish academic libraries, from the viewpoint of the contents on offer.

Exploration of the library web sites was undertaken in order to gauge the level of presence of packages that distribute electronic books. In evaluating the extent of content available, the data recorded were compared with those derived from another research carried out in 2004. Similarly, an approximate indication of the topic areas with greatest representation was attempted, distinguishing multi‐disciplinary suppliers from those specializing in one field.

Out of the 50 existing universities 36 support the subscription of at least one collection of electronic books. The universities of the communities of Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia are those that have reached a greater implementation of e‐books. There is a considerable diversity – many universities have subscribed to collections specializing in literature and in the field of engineering. The main multi‐disciplinary collections purchased by libraries are E‐libro and NetLibrary.

This is a sector that is definitely taking off in Spain and will require progressive acceptance on the part of the academic community. Librarians have the responsibility to aid their users in understanding the growing complexity of the information market and the increasing range of resources available for research.

The research is a necessary approach to the integration of collections of e‐books into Spanish public universities. Encouraging the use of monographs in electronic format takes on great importance, when it is borne in mind that e‐books will have a crucial role in the new model for education advocated by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

The purpose of this article is to highlight the role of science repositories in the development of e‐science. It aims to provide an overview of the open access collections currently operating in Spain.

This paper is an examination of the tools, type of contents, coverage and aims of the digital research collections generated by Spanish academic bodies.

There is only a limited development of institutional repositories, although it is possible to detect a growing tendency to create them. At the present moment, these digital collections seem principally to be seeking visibility for scientific output such as theses, journals, work in progress, preliminary results and other fringe or unconventional literature, without currently making use of academic teaching and learning materials or corpora relating to the cultural heritage.

It would be desirable for government to become involved in encouraging open access within a new model for academic communication. It would appear crucial for the repositories aimed at spreading knowledge of scientific research to set in place mechanisms for rigorous peer assessment, so as to ensure the quality of the scholarly work deposited.

This paper considers the role of science repositories in the development of e‐Science. The availability of resources for e‐science, the need to support the compilation of repositories of information in electronic format and the access to digitized content is a matter of maximum priority for any national science policy. Designing a new model for academic communication requires collaboration from the authorities, from universities, from librarians and also support from researchers themselves.

This paper aims to analyse the influence of cooperation on the degree of novelty of technological innovations introduced by industrial firms in Argentina. This influence is analysed from three perspectives: cooperation by partner type [business partners or scientific and technological centres (S&T) partners]; cooperation by number of partner types, from no cooperation to cooperation with two partner types; and cooperation by goals pursued by firms.

The data come from one of the last national innovation surveys conducted in Argentina. The study controls for endogeneity, using instrumental variable procedures within the conditional mixed-process (CMP) framework.

The main result is the influence of cooperation with universities and S&T centres on the introduction of more novel innovations, which was found both in estimations with and without endogeneity correction. This influence was verified for more complex goals (R&D, technology transfer and industrial design and engineering) as well as for less complex ones (tests and trials, human resources training, quality management and certification). Business cooperation seems to impact only on a lower degree of novelty for more complex goals. The increase in the number of partners that the firm cooperates with, from no cooperation to joint cooperation with two partner types, influences more novel innovations.

Limitations and proposals for future research are discussed at the end of the study.

The results of this study contrast with the high propensity to cooperate with business partners shown by firms in Argentina and other Latin American countries. Therefore, this paper may help formulate more effective policies to promote cooperation conducive to firm innovation performance. Limitations and proposals for future research are discussed at the end of the study.

Although there is empirical evidence on this topic for developed countries, firm-level studies on cooperation and degree of novelty are scarce for Latin America. In addition, this paper analyses cooperation not only by type of partner but also by type of goal. This study attempted to control for endogeneity by using instrumental variables within the CMP framework.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of positive online consumer reviews (OCRs) on changes in the individual’s evaluations from the pre-purchase to the post-consumption stage, studying satisfaction, attitude towards the firm and purchase intention. The effect of positive OCRs may differ depending on whether the product performance is high or low, i.e., whether the product meets the objectives of the consumer. So, the paper also explores different effects that positive OCRs can have on changes in the individual’s evaluations depending on the kind of performance.

Two studies based on the experimental methodology are carried out and several statistical techniques are applied: confirmatory factorial analysis, mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance and post-hoc analysis.

Results demonstrate that the effect of positive OCRs continues after consumption. Depending on the performance, this effect can be positive (negative) and verify (contrast with) the individual’s pre-purchase evaluations. Moreover, this effect is always more intense when the performance is low.

It explores the changes in the individual’s evaluations about the product and the firm, going beyond the immediate effect of positive OCRs. It also explains the effects of positive OCRs for high and low performance. Finally, it demonstrates that OCR effects are not symmetrical for high and low performance.

This study examines the influence that the positive valence intensity of online consumer reviews (OCRs) has on the benefits that individuals perceive they have derived from consumption. A distinction is made based on whether the performance obtained during the consumption was high or low, that is, whether the product/service met the objectives set by the consumer.

The study is a between-subjects experiment with two manipulations: the positive valence intensity of OCRs (highly positive vs neutral-indifferent) and the performance obtained by the consumer (high vs low). The manipulations were measured on 11-point Likert-type scales, the lowest perception being scored at 0 (strongly disagree) and the highest at 10 (strongly agree). A total of 249 useable questionnaires were returned.

The results demonstrated that the influence of positive OCRs on the consumer's perception of consumption benefits follows concave curvilinear functional forms for low performance (inverted U-shaped) and convex for high performance (U-shaped). Thus, highly positive OCRs not corroborated by performance lead to negative perceptions, whereas neutral-indifferent OCRs verified by performance create positive perceptions.

This study goes beyond the immediate influence of positive OCRs on purchases and argues that their influence remains important for the individual's final perception of the consumption benefits that she/he, in the event, received. In addition, the results of the present study show that OCRs are important reference points from which individuals make social judgments and comparisons during consumption. Finally, this study provides theoretical and empirical support to explain the U-shaped functional forms associated with the influence of OCRs.

The study aims to analyze the effect of the previous preparation and the work carried out in the field during a study trip on the development of competencies in agribusiness students.

The destination was the pineapple area of the Papaloapan Lower Basin in Mexico, and 42 students from 6 different semester levels participated. The students answered a test prior to the trip, received an evaluation for their activities in the field and prepared reports and posters as products of the experience. The relationship between the scores obtained was examined through a comparative analysis.

The findings are framed in the cyclical model of experiential learning with four stages (feeling, watching, thinking and doing) by Kolb (1984). It is found that the acquisition of specific knowledge about what the experience will entail leads to better preparation, motivation and confidence to live the experience (potentiation of feeling and watching). In turn, specific knowledge and better use of experience promote the development of problem solving, interpersonal and communication skills (potentiation of thinking and doing).

Statistical representativeness is not a quality of the study since it is based on a comparative analysis.

The study analyzes an educational component of great value in the business area, about which little is known in the agribusiness subarea.

The access to the rare originals of the early Spanish colonial imprints of the Philippines remains problematic. The reference librarians often are restricted to directing the students and scholars to the secondary resources that are available both in print and as a part of the digital assets within the North American academic libraries. This paper aims to focus on the select primary source editions including select Spanish language colonial imprints that are available electronically on the Web along the Open Access. These Web-based resources serve as the reference tools for the early history of the Philippines and Southeast Asia. As many of these publications are rare and extremely expensive for most libraries, the Open Access resources serve as an aid to building a virtual collection of these items.

The author had to create a data set of the early imprints of the Spanish Philippines using several bibliographic resources. The data set will be submitted as an Appendix for this research paper. The author did both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data set along with the voyant-based digital humanities approach for topic modeling.

The goals of this paper were to not only survey the early Spanish printing of the Philippines but also provide the reader with a somewhat complete picture of how the printing began in the Spanish Philippines, what kind of the first books were printed and how one can access them given their rarity and fragility. The collection building paradigms are undergoing significant shifts, and the focus of many academic libraries is shifting toward providing access to these items. As these items high-value low-use items continue to be part of the Special Collections, the access to these is problematic. The virtual collections thus serve as a viable alternative that enables further research and access. While the creators of these works are long gone, the legacy of the Spanish colonial domination, printing and the religious orders in the Philippines remain alive through these works.

As this is an introductory paper, the author focused on the critical editions rather than providing a comprehensive bibliographic landscape of the presses that produced these editions. He also did not take into consideration many pamphlets that were published in the same period. He also did not consider the Chinese language publications of the Islands. The Chinese had been block printing since medieval times (Little, 1996). In the context of the Spanish Philippines, the Chinese migration and trade have been studied in detail by Chia (2006), Bjork (1998) and Gebhardt (2017). The scope of this paper also was centered toward building a virtual collection of these rare books.

Rare books are often expensive and out-of-reach for many libraries; the virtual collection of the same along the Open Access model represents an alternative to collect and curate these collections. The stewardship of these collections also acquires a new meaning in the digital milieu.

This research paper will allow scholars to see past the analog editions and help them focus on curating a virtual collection. The questions of electronic access are often ignored when it comes to visiting and using them in a controlled environment of the reading room in the Special Collections. The author argues that one way to enable access to these rare and expensive books is to provide access to their digital counterparts. These digital/virtual surrogates of the originals will facilitate further research.

The author could not find similar research on the publications of the early Spanish colony of the Philippines.

This paper aims to investigate how the students perceive the cleaning of the university, from an in-house and outsourced perspective.

This research is based on a survey conducted in the different university buildings with a total of 240 students. The survey was then analysed through an ordinal regression.

The ordinal regression indicates a statistically significant result were student are more satisfied with the cleaning performed by the outsourced service provider.

The research in this paper is limited to one Swedish university. But, the overall strategies for how to organise the cleaning service at the university do address all universities. However, the research is limited and more research has to be performed.

The insight the paper provides regarding how the students perceive the cleaning service at the university gives direct implications to university in relation to how to consider the cleaning service as an important factor.

It provides the first study from a student perspective on the question of cleaning of the university, when previous studies have indicated cleaning as an important function not least to student’s performance and academic results.