In short
I work in information management, a dynamic job that keeps me constantly observing, learning and teaching. This allows me to lecture at the University of Barcelona, where I teach library and information science and where I'm involved in a series of research projects.
I'm the author of various papers on digital information handling and related topics. Helped by special technological aids, I'm interested in user experience and in personal information management.
Among the numerous hobbies I enjoy, worth mentioning is my devotion for hiking, photography and travelling. And I have a passion for music: I'm an occasional composer, arranger and performer of contemporary music.
In progress
Email productivity
Although it is a fairly simple tool, email leads to an information overload that threatens productivity and prevents us from managing incoming information effectively. This becomes a source of stress and frustration. The problem, however, is not the tool, but information friction and frequent interruptions caused by inadequate habits. With the help of appropriate strategies, e-mail is efficient and profitable. This is why I'm organizing a course on how to boost email productivity.
New composition in the works
I've embarked on a very attractive art project: I'm writing music for a contemporary choreography. Composing music to serve the purposes of a ballet is a challenge I always wanted to take on, and a golden chance has come up. The project also involves a dancer and choreographer, two visual artists, a multimedia artist and a location scouting expert. The show will probably be premiered in the Netherlands over the next year.
 Choreographic writing
Recent papers
Articles
Jorge Franganillo. «El aparente declive del correo electrónico». ThinkEPI, 24 January 2012. 
Abstract. Some companies have started to restrict the use of email with the conviction that the resulting information overload undermines productivity. However, the problem is not the tool, but excessive exchange of messages, often with irrelevant information. Therefore, the real solution is to establish appropriate management strategies and avoid excessive communication. Some initiatives are committed to moving corporate internal communication to social media, although it tends to fragment the information required to complete tasks.
Jorge Franganillo. «HTML5: el nuevo estándar básico de la web». Anuario ThinkEPI: análisis de tendencias en información y documentación, 2011, p. 261-265. 
Abstract. In late 2009, the W3C stopped developing XHTML 2 and focused on HTML5 instead. Since then, there has been some confusion and heated debates about the proper markup language for future web development. HTML5 has been conceived with the aim of simplifying the designers' work and improving the sites' performance, especially on mobile devices. This paper analyzes the final draft of the HTML5 specification and discusses the most significant aspects: syntax, DOM, information gathering and presentation, and multimedia processing.
Jorge Franganillo. «Implicaciones éticas de la minería de datos». Anuario ThinkEPI: análisis de tendencias en información y documentación, 2010, p. 320-324.
Abstract. Data mining is the process of analyzing large data sets to find previously undiscovered patterns and predict future actions. Data mining has many useful applications, but also has a merely exploratory approach that makes questionable the validity of certain deductions. Using personal information for predictive purposes has a direct impact on the lives of people and therefore requires acting in a framework of liability. A code of ethics is necessary.
Jorge Franganillo. «Gestión de información personal: elementos, actividades e integración». El profesional de la información, vol. 18, no. 4, July-August 2009, p. 399-406.
Abstract. Personal information management (PIM) studies how people should organize and use the information they get to solve everyday needs, in order to take full advantage of personal resources (time, money, energy, attention) and thereby increase productivity and improve their quality of life. This paper presents the components and activities where PIM is articulated and describes how to promote the integration of personal information that is generally scattered in different forms, applications and devices.
Conference papers
Mireia Ribera, Bruno Splendiani, Miquel Térmens, Marina Salse, Irene Llerena, Jorge Franganillo, Miquel Centelles. «Accessible teaching documents». Congreso Europeo de Tecnologías de la Información en la Educación y en la Sociedad: una visión crítica. (3rd: February 2012: Barcelona). Paper. Barcelona: Esbrina, 2012, p. 504-506.
Resumen. «Accessible teaching documents» is a second step on an initiative to promote best practices in the preparation of accessible teaching material by university professors. This initiative started with the publication of the Guide to accessible digital content, which explains basic techniques to make accessible office documents. «Accessible teaching documents» goes further on this initial objective, providing templates for the creation of office documents, and easy procedures to create alternate versions of them. Those alternate versions will include changes in color, fonts or other presentational attributes and also conversions to different digital formats, thus promoting inclusive education in the university by the integration of alternative formats in everyday contents.
Afra Pascual, Mireia Ribera, Miquel Térmens, Llúcia Masip, Toni Granollers, José Luis González, Marina Salse, Jorge Franganillo, Bruno Splendiani. «The Guide to accessible digital content: resources and skills to create digital and accessible educational contents». Universal Learning Design International Conference (February 2011: Brno). Paper. 
Abstract. This paper presents a joint initiative of the University of Lleida and the University of Barcelona (Spain) encouraging inclusive education in the university by the promotion of alternative formats. The initiative was formalized in a set of 13 guides published in the Guide to accessible digital content (in Catalan and Spanish) that presents detailed information to create digital documents accessible to people with disabilities. The guides cover common content editing tools (Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft PowerPoint), the conversion to PDF and the publication of accessible web content via the FCKEditor available on LMS such as Sakai, Moodle or OpenCMS. The initiative also includes the creation of supporting material like accessible templates for common document types in teaching. The main audience of the guides is university professors who must meet accessibility standards in their e-learning environments. However, the guidelines may also be useful to anyone who has the obligation or the desire to have their digital documents and publications on the Internet made according to the principles of universal design.
Lluís Agustí, Sílvia Argudo, Jorge Franganillo, Candela Ollé, Amadeu Pons, Josep Manuel Rodríguez Gairín, Pedro Rueda, Marta Somoza, Cristóbal Urbano, Nora Vela. «Alehoop: una eina per descobrir fonts primàries al batxillerat». Jornades Educació i Arxius (3rd: October 2010: Barcelona). Gemma Tribó (coord.). Fonts primàries en l'educació digital. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Institut de Ciències de l'Educació, 2011, p. 83-98. Paper.
Opinion
Jorge Franganillo. «GPS, o la lección del Dakar». Uno, 2 January 2012, p. 18.
Abstract. Dakar is a competition that stands out from other motor events because of its countless peculiarities. An example of this is that drivers are not allowed to use GPS to find their way. Instead, they must follow the directions written on a paper roll. GPS, which is useful in innumerable areas, is held by the U.S. government, which can disrupt or modify the signals if they want to, as it has done on occasion. One day it might happen that our dependence on this positioning system, whose absence in the Dakar makes this adventure even more adventurous, causes a massive disorientation.
Jorge Bello, Jorge Franganillo. «La bona ciència i la bona escriptura». Pediatria Catalana, vol. 71, no. 4, 2011, p. 174-175.
Jorge Franganillo. «En la ciencia de lo secreto». Uno, 7 December 2011, p. 17.
Abstract. Cryptography has had a significant historical influence for over two millennia. It's an ancient science which was already used by Romans, among others, to keep their communications safe from enemies. For centuries, until the 1970s, it was a black art practised by only a few governments and armies. It is now a well-established discipline that is taught in universities, it's available for use by businesses and individuals, and it protects many areas of everyday life. This ancient technique now faces the threat of quantum computing, which might cause the collapse of the cryptographic techniques known to date.
Jorge Franganillo. «El correo electrónico está de aniversario: cumple 40 años». Uno, 20 January 2011, p. 16-17.
Reviews
Jorge Franganillo. «La filosofia de la conversa i l'economia del segle XXI». Item: revista de biblioteconomia i documentació, no. 52, January-June 2010, p. 149-150.
All papers
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News
Visiting BTV and TV3 documentation centres
April 2012
Each television manages its audiovisual material really differently. This work varies according to the objectives of the TV company, the resources available and the needs of its users. However, it's the task to which documentation centres assign more resources, both human and material, because the economic value and heritage of audiovisual documentation is enormous. To confirm this in first person, my students from Audiovisual documentation management and I myself have visited Barcelona Televisió (BTV) and Televisió de Catalunya (TV3) documentation centres.
 TV3 studio Four eyes see more than two
March 2012
Every year we celebrate the Copyeditor's Day to commemorate the birth of a famous copyeditor: Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536). And also to present a noble profession dedicated to polish the syntactic and grammatical aspects that affect the style and the formal quality of a text. It's a task that goes unnoticed except when it isn't done. On this anonymous but necessary job, I've co-authored with Jorge Bello an informative article for Pediatria Catalana that tries to explain the importance of copyediting in scholarly literature.
A tour through the ETB documentation centre
February 2012
On the occasion of an activity organized by ALDEE and the documentalists Jesús Anderez and Mabel Giménez, I've had the chance to visit the documentation department of Euskal Telebista (ETB). This tour has allowed me to learn how particularly this television network manages its audiovisual material. When it comes to management, every television network behaves differently and makes its own decisions on how to preserve, organize and disseminate its contents, so getting to know the specific task of the Basque television has been really illustrative.
 ETB's documentation centre, next to the editorial office — © ETB Participation in TIES 2012
February 2012
We the «Accessible teaching materials» project team have presented the paper «Accessible teaching documents» in the III European Conference on Information Technology in Education and Society, which has taken place in Barcelona from 1 to 3 February. Our contribution explains the second step on an initiative to promote best practices in the preparation of teaching resources by university professors.
The apparent decline of email
January 2012
Some companies have started to restrict the use of email with the conviction that the resulting information overload undermines productivity. However, the problem is not the tool, but excessive exchange of messages, often with irrelevant information. Therefore, the real solution is to establish appropriate management strategies and avoid excessive communication. Some initiatives are committed to moving internal communication to social media, despite it tends to fragment the information required to complete tasks. To reflect on this changing scenario I've written for ThinkEPI a short article, of which Última Hora Menorca has published an informative version.
 Email efficiency, in question Breakfast at TERMCAT
December 2011
A working breakfast organized by TERMCAT took place on Friday 16th as a meeting point for all who collaborate with this organization that promotes Catalan terminology development. The meeting gathered a number of professionals related to the creation and dissemination of terminology.
I was invited, since I usually cooperate in the area of information management, but I couldn't attend because of my teaching duties. However, I knew that translators, editors and language consultants had breakfast there, and they took the opportunity to strengthen professional ties that bind us and nourish the many projects developed by the institution. I'm sorry I could not attend. I promise to be there next time.
 A picture of the breakfast — © TERMCAT In the science of secrecy
December 2011
Cryptography has had a significant historical influence for over two millennia. It's an ancient science that was already used by Romans, among others, to keep their communications safe from enemies. For centuries, until the 1970s, it was a black art practised by only a few governments and armies. It is now a well-established discipline that is taught in universities, it's available for use by businesses and individuals, and it protects many areas of everyday life. A think piece I've written for Uno deals with this ancient technique that now faces the threat of quantum computing.
 Fialka cipher machine, used by the Russian secret service during the Cold War —  Marco Santoro Short trip to Oslo
November 2011
I've spent three days in Oslo, a fascinating city that has given me the best walks. It has been a unique opportunity to get to know this lovely place, now colored by the cold autumn's palette of warm hues that turn the streets, parks and forests into real postcards. There I've discovered, furthermore, that the whole city is an impressive example of civic-mindedness and sustainable development.
 Vettakollen Writing well for the web
October 2011
When people browse the web, they generally want to grab the information and use it quickly. They're looking for an answer or need to complete a task, so they want to read only what's necessary; they are too busy to read much.
With this conviction the University of Barcelona Corporate Training Unit has planned a course on writing for websites that I've given at Sants Campus. Good writing practices have proven how important it is to help people find what they want and to communicate clearly.
Towards the seventh art
October 2011
A surprising version of my Piano Sonata, as arranged by the multimedia artist ferrie=differentieel, is now the soundtrack for Summer Cut. The film company Troi Films has released this short film, which shows an amusing counterpoint between the before and after of a haircut. The before is Dutch; the after is pure Hispanic, pure sun, it's an evening by the sea. Check out the teaser trailer.
Fresh holidays in England
August 2011
Now that the dog days of Summer have arrived, I've gone to North West England to refresh and practice my English. I've spent the fresh English mornings with a particular teacher, and every evening I've immersed myself in the fresh waters of culture, in the British everyday life, in informal chats with occasional Summer friends. Weekends have been devoted to hiking and photography, two hobbies of mine that know no boundaries or languages.
 Wain Stones, near Bleaklow Head. More is less
May 2011
Everyday, we are exposed to a flood of information that increases anxiety, reduces our analytical capacity and leads to wrong decisions. Overabundance makes information more harmful than beneficial because we cannot handle the myriad impulses we receive. On the causes and consequences of information overload, the newspaper El País features an interesting article «Atentos a todo... y a nada», by Sergio Fanjul, to which I've had the pleasure to make a short contribution.
The ideas explained remind Nietzche's Human, all too human (1878-1880), so current: «There is no time for thinking, and no rest in thinking. [...] With the tremendous acceleration of life, we grow accustomed to using our mind and eye for seeing and judging incompletely or incorrectly, and all men are like travelers who get to know a land and its people from a train.»
EPI and ThinkEPI meeting
May 2010
A dinner meeting of El profesional de la información and the ThinkEPI group took place this month and gathered a score of people, since we were all in Barcelona on the occasion of the Workshop on the Quality of Social Science Journals (CRECS 2011). This meeting was held at a time when El profesional de la información has an excellent health, and we had a preview of the new Anuario ThinkEPI, a yearbook on library and information science whose 2011 edition brings interesting new features.
 A picture of the meeting, in which we discussed various plans and projects. |
