Academic Work is Social User Generated Content in Support of Research and Learning Meredith Farkas Norwich University

What is user-generated content? Tags Ratings Custom collections Online community contributions Wiki contributions Comments Blog posts Audio and video Photos

Why User-Generated Content? We don’t know everything Value of patron knowledge Insufficient metadata Stories people tell about items are of value People are already doing it! 35% of online adults, 57% of teens (Pew, 2006)

We don’t know everything

Value of patron knowledge

Insufficient metadata

Stories people tell about items are of value

People are already doing it!

35% of online adults, 57% of teens (Pew, 2006)

Academic work IS social University of Minnesota survey on Academic Support: 67% of faculty work collaboratively 52% of faculty collaborate with colleagues at other institutions 46% find that distance from colleagues is a collaboration obstacle

University of Minnesota survey on Academic Support:

67% of faculty work collaboratively

52% of faculty collaborate with colleagues at other institutions

46% find that distance from colleagues is a collaboration obstacle

How are we supporting collaborative academic work online?

What can we incorporate into library systems (databases, catalog, etc.)? Social networking features Social bookmarking and annotations Integration with course management systems Collaborative project spaces RSS feeds and easy export features

Social networking features

Social bookmarking and annotations

Integration with course management systems

Collaborative project spaces

RSS feeds and easy export features

Thanks! Meredith Farkas [email_address] Links and slides at meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com