The Year of Blogging Dangerously Lessons from the “Blogosphere” Dr. Duncan Hull “dullhunk” PostDoctoral Research Associate School of Chemistry, mib.ac.uk 23rd April 2009 Manchester e-Scholar Institutional Repository

Dangerous summary I’ve Spent the last ~ year building an institutional repository Using free and cheap web-based “blogging” software tools: flickr.com , myexperiment .org , citeulike .org , friendfeed .com , slideshare.net and wordpress .com part of the “Blogosphere” There are some valuable lessons to be learnt from these tools: Pros: Things they do well Cons: Things they do badly The dangerous currents I’ve witnessed while bathing in the blogosphere Let me demonstrate… Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/roger/50572796/

I’ve Spent the last ~ year building an institutional repository

Using free and cheap web-based “blogging” software tools:

flickr.com , myexperiment .org , citeulike .org , friendfeed .com , slideshare.net and wordpress .com part of the “Blogosphere”

There are some valuable lessons to be learnt from these tools:

Pros: Things they do well

Cons: Things they do badly

The dangerous currents I’ve witnessed while bathing in the blogosphere

Let me demonstrate…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-en-big.png An Institutional Repository is for Saving and Sharing the Digital Intellectual Property of a Research Institution online http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_repository

The Institution: “ The University of Me and My Mates ”

Me My Data & Intellectual Property (I.P.) 1. Papers I’m reading and writing 2. Laboratory Notebook 3. Slideshows 4. Software (workflows) 5. Images (photos, figures and illustrations) Notebook picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpogm/143995198/

Two things I need to do with my data 1. SAVE all of it NOT on a local hard-drive (unreliable) remote location via the Internet Sharing picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/clappstar/178050837/ Mmmm…Sharing is Good! 2. SHARE some of it on the World Wide Web With my social network & anyone else who is interested BUT Only when I’m ready to e.g. don’t share everything immediately

1. SAVE all of it

NOT on a local hard-drive (unreliable)

remote location via the Internet

2. SHARE some of it on the World Wide Web

With my social network

& anyone else who is interested

BUT Only when I’m ready to

e.g. don’t share everything immediately

1. Papers I’m reading or have written Defrosting the Digital Library Hull, Pettifer and Kell PLoS Computational Biology http://pubmed.gov/18974831 citeulike.org/user/dullhunk Save and share personal digital library, organise all pdf files and metadata in one place on the Web

2. Lab Notebook , notes, journal club, scribbles, opinion etc blogging software powers http://duncan.hull.name that’s me “ Bioinformatics Blogger ” http://blogs.bbsrc.ac.uk Doug Kell, the “ BBSRC Blogger ” http://salampax.wordpress.com the “ Baghdad Blogger ” Publish notes, people can comment: See wordpress .com and wordpress.org for details http://tinyurl.com/bigboffins 1,475 views as of 2009 Blogging is powerful but can be dangerous!

2. Lab Notebook , notes, journal club, scribbles, opinion etc

blogging software powers

http://duncan.hull.name that’s me “ Bioinformatics Blogger ”

http://blogs.bbsrc.ac.uk Doug Kell, the “ BBSRC Blogger ”

http://salampax.wordpress.com the “ Baghdad Blogger ”

Why is blogging dangerous? Putting Intellectual Property on the Web, mostly with Creative Commons “Attribution” license Anyone is free to copy, distribute, transmit, remix and adapt the work… Must attribute work to original author BUT Plagiarism without attribution? “Scooping”? Sacrificing originality? Losing I.P.? http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ FREE SPEECH: You can say whatever you like on a blog!!! Very powerful and liberating But no “safety net” of peer review before publication Make friends and influence people but also… Lose friends and alienate people FUNDING “The F-word” Not on the funding bodies radar of acceptable research outcomes

Putting Intellectual Property on the Web, mostly with Creative Commons “Attribution” license

Anyone is free to copy, distribute, transmit, remix and adapt the work…

Must attribute work to original author

BUT Plagiarism without attribution? “Scooping”? Sacrificing originality? Losing I.P.?

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

FREE SPEECH: You can say whatever you like on a blog!!!

Very powerful and liberating

But no “safety net” of peer review before publication

Make friends and influence people but also…

Lose friends and alienate people

FUNDING “The F-word”

Not on the funding bodies radar of acceptable research outcomes

Dangerous risks mostly compensated for by benefits Dr. Cameron Neylon, Biochemist Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and The University of Southampton I started up a blog and all I got was five invites to give keynotes, ten new collaborators, introduction to new funding bodies, an interview in Nature , an invite to Science Foo Camp , three papers...and a couple of T-shirts Cameron’s Blog: “Science in the Open” http://blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen/ With thanks to John Dupuis “Confessions of a Science Librarian” http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/2009/03/academic-blogging-promoting-your.html

3. Slideshows @ slideshare .net/dullhunk 15,732 views! Professor Carole Goble test Save and share powerpoint presentations for viewing in web browser

Speaking of shows… Another talented British woman of similar age to Carole … Now seen more than 37 million times (according to youtube .com viewing statistics) The Web is very powerful way of saving and sharing data (e.g. Talent shows / Slide shows) People love statistics! So let them eat stats… Susan Boyle Image from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/18/susan-boyle-britains-got-talent 15,000+ views is very impressive …

Another talented British woman of similar age to Carole …

Now seen more than 37 million times (according to youtube .com viewing statistics)

The Web is very powerful way of saving and sharing data (e.g. Talent shows / Slide shows)

People love statistics! So let them eat stats…

15,000+ views is very impressive …

4. Software recipes Share workflows for analysing data from distributed databases See myexperiment .org

Share workflows for analysing data from distributed databases

See myexperiment .org

5. Images See www.flickr.com - Photos - Figures - Illustrations Store and share images on the web

The University of Me: Essential Features Feeds, anyone (or anything) can subscribe, automatic notification of updates (technology: ATOM / RSS) Updated daily (never “finished”) 24/7 always-on Allows comments Everything important has its own URL (or URI) Integral part of the Web, can be linked to… Indexed by Google etc Cartoon from http://xkcd.com/386/ Personal: “me-Science” and “Selfish Scientist”

Feeds, anyone (or anything) can subscribe, automatic notification of updates

(technology: ATOM / RSS)

Updated daily (never “finished”) 24/7 always-on

Allows comments

Everything important has its own URL (or URI)

Integral part of the Web, can be linked to…

Indexed by Google etc

“ The University of Me and My Mates ” “ My Mates” = Trusted friends + colleagues, mostly PostDocs and PhD students, Globally distributed, young “Google Generation” but includes some more senior scientists

friendfeed.com/dullhunk Integrates all data from citeulike, wordpress, flickr, myexperiment and slideshare via feeds into one place … and all my peers too Voting and commentary Can be noisy but interesting data usually floats to the top Trusted Social Network of ~30 peers See “Microblogging the ISMB” Saunders et al PLoS Computational Biology http://pubmed.gov/19180175

Things the tools do well: Thumbs up Easy (and often fun) to use, very lightweight Special tools to make it easy to upload data (widgets, clients, plugins, browser buttons etc) Viewing statistics: “this thing has been viewed x times” Each site does one thing (and one thing only) very well Flickr for photos (and video) Citeulike for scientific papers Wordpress for blogging etc Friendfeed (social feed integration) Destination and a service Allows embedding and re-use of data elsewhere Borat Very Nice, Me Likes!

Easy (and often fun) to use, very lightweight

Special tools to make it easy to upload data (widgets, clients, plugins, browser buttons etc)

Viewing statistics: “this thing has been viewed x times”

Each site does one thing (and one thing only) very well

Flickr for photos (and video)

Citeulike for scientific papers

Wordpress for blogging etc

Friendfeed (social feed integration)

Destination and a service

Allows embedding and re-use of data elsewhere

But there is a problem: Thumbs down These tools are great but… Simon Cowell

These tools are great but…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-en-big.png Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharecropping and see also http://tinyurl.com/cropshare

Web Server Space is just like agricultural land… I’m a sharecropper on the plantation I’m a sharecropper on the plantation I’m a sharecropper on the slideshare, myexperiment and friendfeed plantations Each Web Server is run by a “landlord” who can Change their terms without notice (e.g. stop being “free”) Increase rent (e.g. stop being cheap) Decrease the quality of service they provide Become bankrupt and lose all my data or be bought up by bigger companies This could leave my valuable data stranded! Long term storage is compromised, this could be dangerous I do not own the “land” or “plantation” that I “farm” data on

I’m a sharecropper on the plantation

I’m a sharecropper on the plantation

I’m a sharecropper on the slideshare,

myexperiment and friendfeed plantations

Each Web Server is run by a “landlord” who can

Change their terms without notice (e.g. stop being “free”)

Increase rent (e.g. stop being cheap)

Decrease the quality of service they provide

Become bankrupt and lose all my data

or be bought up by bigger companies

This could leave my valuable data stranded!

Long term storage is compromised, this could be dangerous

I do not own the “land” or “plantation” that I “farm” data on

Enter Institutional Repository This is where Manchester e-Scholar and other Institutional Repositories can help Solve the “sharecropper” problem? Solve the longevity problem?

This is where Manchester e-Scholar and other Institutional Repositories can help

Solve the “sharecropper” problem?

Solve the longevity problem?

Conclusions Institutional Repositories should copy other web-based and blogging tools Easy to use and sociable Easy to upload all kinds of data, have some privacy options Focus on archiving specific types of data really well (rather than archiving everything badly) Give every important thing a URL (and DOI’s would be great too) Feeds (ATOM and /or RSS) Viewing Statistics But give us longevity, make it last Be both a destination AND a service There are already lots of really good tools for saving and sharing data Institutional Repositories compete directly with these

Institutional Repositories should copy other web-based and blogging tools

Easy to use and sociable

Easy to upload all kinds of data, have some privacy options

Focus on archiving specific types of data really well (rather than archiving everything badly)

Give every important thing a URL (and DOI’s would be great too)

Feeds (ATOM and /or RSS)

Viewing Statistics

But give us longevity, make it last

Be both a destination AND a service

There are already lots of really good tools for saving and sharing data

Institutional Repositories compete directly with these

Acknowledgements Phil Butler for the invitation to speak today, and Jan Wilkinson JRULM Refine Project www. nactem .ac. uk/refine Sophia Ananiadou and Douglas Kell Jun'ichi Tsujii, Pedro Mendes, Steve Pettifer, Yoshimasa Tsuruoka BBSRC grant code BB/E004431/1 www. myGrid .org. uk and www.myExperiment.org especially Carole Goble and Robert Stevens Peter Weir, Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson etc for title of this talk adapted from “The Year of Living Dangerously” film Any Questions?

Phil Butler for the invitation to speak today, and Jan Wilkinson JRULM

Refine Project www. nactem .ac. uk/refine

Sophia Ananiadou and Douglas Kell

Jun'ichi Tsujii, Pedro Mendes, Steve Pettifer, Yoshimasa Tsuruoka BBSRC grant code BB/E004431/1

www. myGrid .org. uk and www.myExperiment.org especially Carole Goble and Robert Stevens

Peter Weir, Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson etc for title of this talk adapted from “The Year of Living Dangerously” film

Any Questions?