Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Continuing from the earlier teaser post, this is a summary of the full results of the 2collab social media survey of professional researchers.

The survey, which yielded over 1,800 responses, revealed that scientists are using blogs, wikis, and social networking and bookmarking applications primarily for professional reasons. Results show that these social media applications have provided scientists and researchers with additional resources to help them collaborate, connect, share and discover information.

We surveyed science, medical and technical information professionals working in academia and government institutions to establish exactly what influence new web applications are having on the way scientific research is conducted.

The results were pretty astounding, even to us. Over 50% of respondents see web-based social applications playing a key role in shaping the future of research. The areas expecetd to have the most influence are critical analysis and evaluation of research data, professional networking and collaboration, dissemination of research output, career development, and also grant application and funding.

Results show that many researchers believe social applications will have a major influence on the future of research. One respondent, an Environmental Science researcher based in Spain commented, “Social media and electronic journals will be the future of scientific information dissemination. Current scientific journals must not disappear but the business model will change.”

Comments from survey respondents identified several issues need to be addressed before mass acceptance is possible – namely the need for specialist tools, higher security, and validation of users. However, these concerns were not seen as insurmountable obstacles, and many anticipated tremendous potential for social media.

“Existing social networks are mostly used for casual social interaction between young people. In order to be more relevant to academia, networks with professional credibility and accountability will need to develop,” writes another respondent, a Canada-based associate professor of Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology.

Our conclusions from this survey are that while it is clear that scientists and researchers will continue to use traditional sources for information discovery, social media applications will provide additional indicators of quality and discovery.

In an era where information travels fastest digitally, online applications will offer these professionals what one researcher stated as a “source of power.” Creating these online scientific communities gives everyone a chance to offer their voices and participate in research, thus increasing the flow of communication, access to knowledge and helping accelerate scientific discovery.

ATB
-Brant

Brant Emery, development manager, 2collab