Joining the ‘buzz’ : the role of social media in raising research visibility at Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa Eileen Shepherd Principal Librarian : Faculty Liaison Services Science & Pharmacy Rhodes University Library Grahamstown, South Africa LIASA – HELIG webinar 6 th November 2014
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Joining the ‘buzz’ : the role of social media in raising research visibility at
Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa
Eileen Shepherd
Principal Librarian : Faculty Liaison Services Science & Pharmacy
Rhodes University Library Grahamstown, South Africa
LIASA – HELIG webinar 6th November 2014
This presentation endeavours to: to provide a brief introduction to altmetrics – a non-traditional form of measuring scholarly impact
to demonstrate the use of social media in raising awareness and visibility of Rhodes University research
Traditional bibliometric methods of evaluating academic research Citations
h-indices A scholar with an h-index of 18 has published 18 papers each of which has been cited in other papers at least 18 times
Journal Impact Factors In any given year, the impact factor of a journal is the average number of citations received per paper published in that journal during the two preceding years
supplemented in the
past 5-6 years by the development of altmetrics i.e.(alternative metrics or article level metrics)
“The creation and
study of new metrics based on the Social
Web for analyzing and informing scholarship” http://altmetrics.org/about/
Do / should / will social media feature in academia?
Social media and
scholarly communication?
“…….. Web 2.0 applications will have an increasing role in the scholarly communication process. While research shows that take up in academia is at a relatively low level (although at least two UK-based Vice Chancellors now have a Twitter following), many publishers are providing wiki-based forums for specific journals or disciplines facilitating discussion on, and sharing of, research findings…” Woodward, H. (2010) Dissemination Models in Scholarly Communication, New Review of Academic Librarianship, 16:S1, 1-3, DOI:0.1080/13614533.2010.514763
Do academics use social media in the course of their research?
: Survey Results
“Giant academic social networks have taken off to a degree that no one expected
even a few years ago*
Survey asked how researchers used social networks and/or profile-hosting or search services
Received: 3,500 responses from 95 countries
*Van Noorden, R., 2014. Online collaboration: Scientists and the social network. Nature, 512(7513), pp.126–129. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/lo3fgn4
Neylon, C., (2014) Altmetrics can signal flows of information for paths in scholarly communication not yet mapped. Impact of Social Sciences. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/10/07/altmetrics-what-are-they-good-for/
Future of altmetrics? …[these] numbers …are signals of the flow of
information down paths that we haven’t mapped. • most exciting possibility…only just starting to
explore. • who is using that information? • correlation analysis can’t tell us this, but more
sophisticated approaches might • with that information …could design scholarly
communication systems to maximise their reach, value and efficiency
Neylon, C., (2014) Altmetrics can signal flows of information for paths in scholarly communication not yet mapped. Impact of Social Sciences. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/10/07/altmetrics-what-are-they-good-for/
ScienceDirect – “social media” featured in top 25 downloads in 2nd quarter of 2014 Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media Business Horizons, Volume 53, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 59-68 Kaplan, Andreas M.; Haenlein, Michael Most downloads Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix • Business Horizons, Volume 52, Issue 4, July 2009, Pages 357-365 Mangold, W. Glynn; Faulds, David J. 3rd highest downloads Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media Business Horizons, Volume 54, Issue 3, May 2011, Pages 241-251 Kietzmann, Jan H.; Hermkens, Kristopher; McCarthy, Ian P.; Silvestre, Bruno S. 7th highest downloads
Rhodes Library Twitter site: Advertising Rhodes Research
Interest in @RhodesResearch
289 followers ( as at 5 November 2014) Rhodes students About 20 Rhodes academics & support staff Professional & Research organisations Publishers / journal editors Journalists / media organisations Academic librarians (non-Rhodes) Individuals (other than Rhodes students & staff)
@RhodesResearch followers: Research & other organisations
No of followers @EzemveloScience KZN wildlife (572) @HSP_70 Scientific Resource (18) @CSIR Council Science SA (2710) @ASSAf_Official (179) @SAPECS_TWEETS social-ecological systems (48) @FormularyIE Irish Medicines (598) @OWSD_SA Women in Science (75) @ISSF sustainable tuna fishing (4620) @GreenMatterZA environmental (347) @GreenLeagueZA environmental (118) @SAStats (4458)
@RhodesResearch followers: Research & other organisations
No. of followers @Research Africa Research funding (439) @SAYAS_SA Young Academy of Science (139) @ASSAf_Official Academy of Science SA (179) @ACEP_ZA Coelacanth programme (256) @agingandsociety US aging research (173) @NHLSBRC Bio-Resource Center (3) @ELIDZSTP1R&D facilities (26) @eoth_moz community-based conservation (592) @EiffelCorpSA educational technology (17) @prospectpredict business development USA (635) @DorringtonResGr microbiologists (20) @SASBi_Bioinf Society for Bioinformatics (132)
@RhodesResearch followers: Publishers, journal editors, media
No of followers
@SasjaSA SA Science Journalists' Association (475) @Rhodes_JMS Rhodes School of Journalism (586) @Ecquid_Novi African Journalism Studies (145) @TheJournalistSA Context & history for key issues (454) @alphagalileo breaking research news - London (2656) @Awesomelastus journalist – Zambia (637) @struandouglas freelance journalist (82) @MakanaEdutouris promotes travel for learning (167) @SciBraai features: SA research-technology-innovation (659) @hwasser Prof of Media Studies – UCT (2094)
Thanks for doing this Retweeting of tweets Research items for tweeting Interest in using for Department
What to do? This called for some….
which resulted in some interesting responses from academics…..
Alerting researchers to the use of Twitter to highlight their research
From: Eileen Shepherd [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 11 September 2014 11:16 AM To: ……………………………………… Subject: Crisis! What Crisis? The Multiple Dimensions of the Zimbabwean Crisis
Hi ……………….. Thought you might like to see your article is featured on @RhodesResearch https://twitter.com/RhodesResearch regards Eileen
Response from this historian From: ……………………………………. Sent: 11 September 2014 11:20 AM To: 'Eileen Shepherd' Subject: RE: Crisis! What Crisis? The Multiple Dimensions of the Zimbabwean Crisis
Wow, thank you. Very innovative of you guys. Keep it up. From: Eileen Shepherd [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 11 September 2014 11:16 AM To:……………………….. Subject: Crisis! What Crisis? The Multiple Dimensions of the Zimbabwean Crisis Hi ……………………. Thought you might like to see your article is featured on @RhodesResearch https://twitter.com/RhodesResearch Regards Eileen
Another example, with response: a more reserved chemist, time!
From: …………………. Sent: 28 August 2014 04:59 PM To: Eileen Shepherd Subject: Re: MRSA pyruvate kinase inhibitory activity of synthetically derived thiazole containing deoxytopsentin analogues
Thanks so much Eileen, this is quite exciting! Kind Regards, ……………… On Thu, 2014-08-28 at 11:57 +0200, Eileen Shepherd wrote: > Hi ……………………. > > Thought you might like to know your article is featured on > @RhodesResearch https://twitter.com/RhodesResearch >
Some reflections regarding @RhodesResearch experiment
Is it worth continuing? Yes Enhanced engagement with research & researchers Time-consuming
An added dimension to job responsibilities
But interesting And stimulating Provided an opportunity to engage with developing field of altmetrics
References Balm, J., 2014. Open access and social media: helping science move forward. Evidently Cochrane. http://www.evidentlycochrane.net/open-access-social-media-can-help-science-move-forwards/ Gunasekaran, S. & Arunachalam, S., 2014. The impact factors of open access and subscription journals across fields. Current Science, 107(3), pp.380–388. http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/03/0380.pdf Hitchcock, T., 2014. Twitter and blogs are not add-ons to academic research, but a simple reflection of the passion that underpins it. Impact of Social Sciences. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/07/28/twitter-and-blogs-academic-public-sphere/ Konkiel, S.P., 2014. The Imperative for Open Altmetrics. Journal of Electronic Publishing, 17(3). Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3336451.0017.301 Macpherson, E., 2014. Four things policy-makers need to know about social media data and real time analytics. Impact of Social Sciences. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/08/01/four-things-on-social-media-data-for-policymakers/ Neylon, C., 2014. Altmetrics: What are they good for? | PLOS Opens. http://blogs.plos.org/opens/2014/10/03/altmetrics-what-are-they-good-for/ Tabor, A. 2012. Open Access + Social Media = Competitive Advantage. https://www.mysciencework.com/news/6350/open-access-social-media-competitive-advantage Wing, K., 2014. Scientists across disciplines must get to a better agreement on social media metrics. Impact of Social Sciences. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/09/29/what-are-scientists-doing-on-twitter/ Woolman, J. 2014. Social media outcomes in academia: engage with your audience and they will engage with you. Impact of Social Sciences. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/09/24/social-media-outcomes-academia/