The document outlines support initiatives for researchers in utilizing social media, highlighting training programs, practical guidance, and addressing ethical issues. It emphasizes the integration of social media in the research lifecycle, noting both its benefits and challenges. The findings suggest that engagement with social media can enhance public engagement and academic profiles, while also necessitating careful consideration of tools and techniques.

1. Supporting researchers in
their use of social media
Lucy Keating. Arts, Humanities and Education liaison librarian
Newcastle University Library

2. Outline…
Context Training and
support
Emerging
issues
Conundrums

4. Social
media
background
Contact
with
researchers
CASAP
RIN and
other
reports
Context: 2010

6. Online guide: principles
Illustrated with real subject
examples
Portable bite-
sized chunks
No log-in or
other
barriers
Attractive
Focus on all
aspects of
research process
Flickr the Commons: Cornell Uni Library, no known copyright restrictions
Objective, not
evangelical
Practical, not
theoretical
Encouragement of
dabbling

7. libguides.ncl.ac.uk/
socialmedia

8. Face-to-face training and
support
PGR
development
programmes
Staff
development
workshop
Customised
workshops
One-to-one
consultancies
Flickr: (CC-BY-2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/101793493

9. Research lifecycle
Have ideas
Find information
and keep up to
date
Collaborate
Conduct
research
Organise and
manage
Disseminate

10. Curation
Time-
consuming
Quality and
authority
For social life
only
Plagiarism
and copyright
Lack of clarity
about benefitsToo much
choice
Ethical issues
(harvesting comments,
participant
recruitment)
Few career
incentives
Metrics and
impact
Volatility
Researchers’ concerns Distortion
How much, how
often?
Which platform
should I use?

11. Interactive
Cheap...free!
Fast
Flexible
Altmetrics and
impact
Collaboration and
engagement
Flickr the Commons: State Library of NSW
Event amplification
Useful at all
stages in
research
process
But worth dipping your
toe in the water?…
Fun!
Supplement, not
replacement
Promotes
‘traditional’
research outputs

12. Very much an
introduction,
but that was
what I needed
Would like more
guidance on what to
tweet: hard when
you’re representing
the views of the
University
Would work better
if training was
delivered to each
Faculty/Research
institute
Needed help with
some specific
technical issues
I’ll now use some
of these
resources in
future public
engagement
I’ll take the 30
day impact
challenge
Learned
about a lot of
new tools and
resources
Useful to have
resources to
work with
afterwards
This
workshop
would benefit
all staff
Social media proved
invaluable to my
research process
Useful to find out about
different platforms
which can help with my
academic profile
Significant find
was a list of
media scholars
on Twitter

13. Implications for researchers
New skills
• Data mining and management, curation, creation
• Less depth, more breadth?
New techniques and genres
• Interdisciplinarity
• Memory studies, social network analysis…
Opportunities
• New discoveries and interpretations of old sources
• Public engagement
• Career development
Flickr Commons: US National Archives

14. In a nutshell: advice for
researchers
Be led by your
need, not the
tool
Configure
settings carefully
Be prepared to
experiment Flickr Commons: US
National Archives; Library
of Congress; George
Eastman House

15. Conundrums for the future
Too big?
Why the
Library?
How to
train?
Pace of
change
With
whom can
we work?
Flickr Commons: Library of Congress; National Library of Norway; NASA;
National Library of New Zealand; National Archief