Research

The University of Barcelona is a leader in university research in Spain in the field of information and audiovisual media.

We contribute high-quality, prestigious research through the work of our academic and research staff, who are involved in various research groups and numerous national and international projects. The Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media also has a dedicated research centre and its own support services for research. In addition, the Faculty organizes conferences throughout the year, featuring both its own researchers and invited scholars from other research institutions.

Research at the Faculty

The department hosts several established research groups and multiple funded research projects, both within and outside these groups, alongside more individual research initiatives. In collaboration with the Department of Library Science and History of Science at the University of Zaragoza, it offers the doctoral program in Information and Communication.

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Centre for Research in Information, Communication, and Culture

The Centre for Research in Information, Communication, and Culture at the University of Barcelona (CRICC) is affiliated with the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media. It was established in 2017, evolving from the UB's Observatory of Libraries, Books, and Reading (OBLL), and now covers all active research areas at the Faculty: information and documentation, documentary heritage, library and cultural institution management, and audiovisual communication.

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Research Committee

The Research Committee is composed of the following members: the Dean or delegated Vice Dean (Chair); the Director of the Department of Library Science, Documentation, and Audiovisual Communication; one faculty representative proposed by the Dean; three representatives from the Faculty’s recognized research groups, also appointed by the Dean; the Director of the CRICC; the coordinators of doctoral programs affiliated with the Faculty; one research grant holder involved in Faculty research groups or projects; and the Faculty administrator or a delegated member of the technical or administrative staff (with voice but no vote), who acts as the Committee’s secretary.

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Publications

Among the Faculty’s range of publications, several stand out for their academic relevance. Chief among them is the open-access, peer-reviewed journal BiD: Textos Universitaris de Biblioteconomia i Documentació, published twice a year and indexed in major international databases such as the Web of Science’s Emerging Sources Citation Index and Scopus. This journal is complemented by the Blok de BiD, which publishes weekly reviews of technical reports. The Library, Books and Reading Yearbook offers a biennial overview of the Faculty’s various areas of expertise.
Historically, the Faculty also preserves a unique collection of 372 final dissertations from the Escola Superior de Bibliotecàries and its successors—the Escola de Bibliologia and the Escola Universitària Jordi Rubió i Balaguer de Biblioteconomia i Documentació (1933–1985)—with a published catalogue available in the Faculty library.

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Doctoral Programme

The PhD in Information and Communication is a degree aligned with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and jointly offered by the University of Barcelona (Department of Library Science, Documentation and Audiovisual Communication) and the University of Zaragoza (Department of Library Science and History of Science).
Its main goal is to train new researchers in the fields of information and documentation, and communication. The program is designed to prepare scholars who can address the challenges of the information society and provide expert guidance to institutions working in these areas. It emphasizes the need for new conceptual approaches, research methods, professional practices, and business models.

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