Altmetrics, tools measuring scholarly impact in an online environment, are displayed in a wide variety of places: journal article webpages, university press officer dashboards, data repository grant applications and many others.

In this article we focus on one particular application: including altmetrics on a scholar’s CV. Ambitious scholars have been including altmetrics on their CVs for years, for example indicating that a paper was recommended by Faculty of 1000, received a “Highly Accessed” download badge on BMC or was widely discussed in the media. As tools improve, we can anticipate these early-adopters will begin to incorporate a much wider range of altmetrics on a much wider range of products.

However, if we expect these early adopters to be joined by their more cautious peers, scholars will need a clearly articulated case for value. What are the benefits that will stand the test of time and that should motivate early and ongoing action? Librarians can help in this process