Juan D. Machin-Mastromatteo, Information Research
My first scientific book was just released. Exploring… is a revised and expanded version of my master thesis, it starts from the reflection that social networks are commonly seen as a technology used only for entertainment. However, they can also be used for serious purposes in business and education environments, as they are powerful tools that can accomplish various roles and purposes. This book presents research done from an information science perspective; where the researcher took as a starting point and expanded on the issues presented in Bawden & Robinson’s The Dark Side of Information (2009). Presented with this book are extensive transcripts of the interviewed students and academic staff of a master course, who were asked about the issues of Web 2.0 and social networks identified in the literature, along with the typical features or characteristics of social networks. With the analysis and discussion of the interviews, this book provides insights regarding trends and tendencies of users’ information behavior in social networks, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of users and the design of such systems. Exploring Users’ Information Behavior in Social Networks was awarded 2nd place in the category of Social Sciences Master Theses at the Students’ Scientific Research Contest of Tallinn University.
In the back of the book, as required by the publisher, there is an extremely short info about me: Juan Daniel Machin Mastromatteo, Bachelor in Librarianship (Universidad Central de Venezuela), Int. Master in DILL (Oslo University College, Tallinn University, Parma University), PhD student (Tallinn University). Has a vast experience in academic libraries in Venezuela, where he led information literacy projects and developed multimedia tutorials and library promotion materials.
You can always go to the Curriculum Vitae page to expand on it 🙂
You can find the book available in Amazon (US / UK / DE) and MoreBooks
On January 14 I arrived in Tallinn, Estonia. The flight was quick and easy, I even could sleep, I’m getting used to flying. Upon leaving the terminal, I took a taxi and asked the driver to take me to a cheap hotel near the apartment where I am now. It was pretty close, it is curious that just behind the university dorm and near a bar where we have gone several times. I was hungry and got a pizza at the bar and a one class course in Estonian beer, I bought several, very good indeed. I returned to the room and had fun with the television in Estonian and Russian. What I liked was the hotel window and the carpet, impressive, and I want one for my home. I woke up the next day and I asked to do the checkout one hours later -while I was watching a rerun of Die Hard, felt like home- because I was to meet the landlord a little later than the original checkout time, my request was graciously pleased, then I went to find an ATM to complete the money I needed to pay for the apartment, and oh, tragedy! I lost my debit card, I realized it several hours later. Luckily I was able to solve this problem without too much difficulty.
Tallinn seems interesting, the prices are like 1/3 of Oslo’s, the girls are beautiful and the beer is fantastic, but the weather … man it’s cold. Musically, if Oslo is A-ha or ABBA, Tallinn is Depeche Mode, not in vain, there are two DM bars. The apartment is big and cold, and I had to stay two weeks alone until my friends and of course colleagues arrived: Andrea, Italian, Sara, American and Mehrnoosh, Iranian.
I like the classes at Tallinn University, I’m taking the courses of Information and Knowledge 
Management and Human Resources Management, also Italian classes, now I have a lot of material to read and things to do … I especially like the Information and Knowledge Management because it’s a familiar topic and one I like, and the teachers, Sirje Virkus and Aira Lepik are very kind and friendly, they even organized a reception for the students from the Digital Library Learning, where they had the tables with the flags from all countries where we came, it was too much, really.
Juantífico 