ARMA 2012 social media in research support

Social Media in Research Support ARMA 2012, Southampton, 12th - 13th JuneAdam Golberg (Nottingham), Julie Northam (Bournemouth), Phil Ward (Kent), David Young (Northumbria)

#arma2012

Outline1. Introduction2. What is Social Media?3. Why social media is to blame for this session4. Case study 1: Individual research support blogs5. Case study 2: Institutional research office blogs6. Conclusions/Questions7. Optional demonstration: Blogs and Twitter

Getting to know each other...

What is social media (not)?

‘Social media’methods of internet communication that allow the exchange of ideas, sharing and collaborative creation of resources, and making new contacts with people with common interests.

Social http://xkcd.com/386/ MediaMyths

How difficult is social media to use?

Information overload (filter failure)

Why social media is to blame for this session...

Case Study: Individual blogsMotivations and origins

Research Fundermentals• Started in September 2009• Originally modelled on Lincoln Blog• Intended to develop inclusive community o noticeboard o notes o shared frustrations o humour• Internal/external• Had to be easy to update and (ideally) free from party line

Research Fundermentals• Visits o c100-200 a day; took c1 yr to get double figures o NB doesnt record RSS feed traffic/emails• Posts o 498 posts so far. Most popular:  anything European • 6 of top 10 posts EC related, eg How to Fail at FP7  bizarre anomalies • eg RCUK Moon Rocks Kidnapped• Sources o Kent, IP Pools, NERC, BBSRC, Cambridge, Oxford, Essex, ESRC, Opal, Comcast o UK (55%), USA (9%), DE (3%), BE (3%), ES (3%), FR, IT, NL, AUS, CAN (all 2%)

Cash for Questions:Social Science Research Funding• Started July 2011• Was aware of institutional blogs• Motivations: o LSE Impact event o Communities/influence/connections• Found Fundermentals via google

Cash for Questions: Social Science Research FundingBenefits/Successes• Testing ideas and understanding• Blog posts picked up elsewhere• Expanded professional network• Understanding of social media• Increased internal profile

Case Study: Individual blogsBenefits:• creating/joining a community• making new contacts• influencing and being influenced• outlet for ideas, frustrations, creativity• career profile

Individual blogsChallenges:• time commitment• consistent valuable content• confidence• professional boundaries• tone and attitude• oversharing/giving away too much to people who arent paying

"The heart of blogging is linking... linking and commenting, connecting and communicating." George Siemens Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute Athabasca University, Canada

Launched in March 2011 as the primarymeans of internal researchcommunication at BU.Marketing department set up the originalblog using a standard BU blog templateusing WordPress. Lots of IT problems!Later custom designed by CEMP at BUto give a unique look and make it moreuser friendly. CEMP now maintain it.

Immediate buy-in and support from the PVC and senior academics.All major research communications were channelled through the Blog from the start, e.g. internal funding competitions, studentship competition, etc.Lots of promotion, e.g. All Staff email,promotional cards, launch event, StaffIntranet, emails to new academics,USBs, even Research Blog cakeshand-delivered to academics!

Academics can subscribe to the Blog via RSS or email.Daily Digest email sent at 10am every day.c. 60% of academics currently subscribed.

What makes our Blog unique and work well?1. Primary source of information about research at BU, ensuring clarity of key messages.2. Sense of community - we encourage all academics to add their own posts and encourage peer-to-peer learning.3. Empowers and engages academics with research strategy.4. Regularly feature posts about BU research - sharing success internally and increasing the visibility of our research externally.

Feedback from academics has been positive, primarilybecause this is the first time that all information can be foundin one location that is easily searchable.The Blog recently won a gold Heist award for the Best Internal Communications Campaign.

Facebook for research support?We explored using Facebook for researchsupport by setting up BUResearch as aprivate group.To date there are c. 60 group members.The group is still active and members contribute occasional stories, but we dont use it for research support.

First post...

Working together is better...Buddypress allows you to create a private, work-based social network...

"Infinitely extensible..."

Moving to Northumbria: Pilot first

Moving to Northumbria: Taking control

Moving to Northumbria: Buy-in and promotion

Moving to Northumbria: Sharing the load

Case Study: Institutional blogsBenefits:• one place and one means of communication• easy for academics to access• acts as a searchable archive• subscription delivers posts to readers• promote research externally• saves duplication of effort• content can be used elsewhere

Case Study: Institutional blogsChallenges:• institutional buy-in (ICT, management)• self-hosting vs external hosting• time commitment• proving added value• professional vs conversational• training and sharing workload• you cant take it with you

Questions and Conclusions• Why should I? o yours has plenty of info o knowledge is power...• Is it inevitable?• What are the barriers?• Were not experts o Ongoing debate: join in!

Institutional blog demo - website

Institutional blog demo - WordPress

#ffhttp://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/http://research.northumbria.ac.uk/support/http://fundermental.blogspot.co.uk/@frootlehttp://socialscienceresearchfunding.co.uk/@cash4questions

ARMA 2012 social media in research support

by David Young on Jun 14, 2012

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