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Monica Marra

Publications and source records attributed to Monica Marra.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2024

On some pioneering Usenet newsgroups in astrophysics

The foundation of two very early Usenet newsgroups in astrophysics, still existent today, and some milestones in their history have been tracked from the origins at Princeton University in 1983 to 1994. They result to be pioneering experiences in this discipline, and among the earliest ones of this kind in academic disciplines at large. To the best of our knowledge, an account of their birth and evolution is given here for the first time. Following key recommendations from the recent discipline of web history, this research has combined multiple and different-type sources, building mainly on online archives of Usenet newsgroups and on human contributions from the concerned scholarly community. A final overview is proposed on how these early online communication tools have been perceived and used by the scholarly community involved. This research reconstructs computer mediated communication experiences which were at risk of being forgotten; provides a view of this environment's uptake of new communication technology; and contributes knowledge of some social dynamics of the astrophysics community in the last twenty years of the twentieth century.

astro-ph.IM↗
arXiv2018

Astrophysicists and physicists as creators of ArXiv-based commenting resources for their research communities. An initial survey

This paper conveys the outcomes of what results to be the first, though initial, overview of commenting platforms and related 2.0 resources born within and for the astrophysical community (from 2004 to 2016). Experiences were added, mainly in the physics domain, for a total of 22 major items, including four epijournals, and four supplementary resources, thus casting some light onto an unexpected richness and consonance of endeavours. These experiences rest almost entirely on the contents of the database ArXiv, which adds to its merits that of potentially setting the grounds for web 2.0 resources, and research behaviours, to be explored. Most of the experiences retrieved are UK and US based, but the resulting picture is international, as various European countries, China and Australia have been actively involved. Final remarks about creation patterns and outcome of these resources are outlined. The results integrate the previous studies according to which the web 2.0 is presently of limited use for communication in astrophysics and vouch for a role of researchers in the shaping of their own professional communication tools that is greater than expected. Collaterally, some aspects of ArXiv s recent pathway towards partial inclusion of web 2.0 features are touched upon. Further investigation is hoped for.

cs.DL↗
arXiv2015

The recent Italian regulations about the open-access availability of publicly-funded research publications, and the documentation landscape in astrophysics

In October 2013 Italy enacted Law 112 2013, containing the first national regulations about the open access availability of publicly-funded research results (publications). The impact of these new regulations with the specific situation of that open access discipline which is astrophysics, has been considered. Under a strictly technical point of view, in the light of the new dispositions the open nature of a part of the astrophysical scholarly literature which has been made available online free to the reader during the last twenty years, might be questionable. Some possible ways to make astrophysicists' scholarly dissemination entirely compliant with law requirements are considered.

cs.DL↗