How do we connect? Why do we connect?

Introduction“The effective use of social and participatory

media is increasingly seen as a key requirement in 21st Century academic practice. Social media (such as blogs, social networks and Twitter) provide new opportunities for researchers to source information, network, collaborate, and disseminate their research”.

For more information see: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/resources/socialmedia/index.aspx

How do we connect?Some institutions/organisations (but not many) have

training courses/information pages for those new to Social Media. (i.e. University of Nottingham, Vitae, digital Birmingham, Uni. Manchester)

The link provided by Helen on the Group page is also helpful https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/page/17801672/FrontPage

You can be a participator or observer.It doesn’t have to be time-consuming or complicated.Try not to over-subscribe.

How do we connect? On Facebook.

How do we connect? On Twitter.

How do we connect? On Blogs (wordpress, blogspot, tumblr)

How do we connect?Other tools.Collaborative Tools (DropBox, GoogleDocs,

etc.)Social Bookmarking and Citation Management

(Delicious, EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley) Networking and Sharing (H-Net, LinkedIn,

Academia.edu, Ning, Flickr, Other Organisation/Institution-based websites)

Many more (see: https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/w/page/17801672/FrontPage)

Why do we connect?Access information (regarding conferences, new

publications, other scholars work, grants/prizes)Publicise (events, research, grants/prizes)Share with other scholars/meet new scholarsAccess research materials (digitised collections)Find answers to research questions/problems.Manage and collect data/sources.Find employment...

Managing Online Identity and ReputationHow visible are you?What appears when you “Google” yourself? Public vs. Private profilesCan it affect your employability/current

career?

ConclusionWhether to get involved is a personal choice.I’m happy to answer any questions/share my

slides.