Jenny Delasalle (see her Libresearch blog at the University of Warwick) and I are currently finalising a paper to be submitted to the IR12 conference which builds on the ideas described recently on our two blogs and seeks to provide evidence on how use of social media services can enhance access to research outputs.

I like the way you have changed the focus of the discussion, by asking “Why would you not engage in exploiting technological developments in order to raise awareness of, with intention of embedding the ideas, research activities?” – especially in light of emerging evidence of the value of such approaches.

Perhaps the answers are “We’ve never done it that way before” or even We disseminate our research by jetting off to international conferences in exotic locations“! I hope not – and I wish you well in your endeavours in changing attitudes in Oxford.

BTW there may be other evidence-based posts published on this blog which will be relevant, particularly those which profile use of various services across Russell Group universities. See the blog’s Evidence category for more information.

Here in Oxford I have asked academics, researchers and scientists why they do not publicise their research papers more widely. The answers usually boil down to ‘that’s not how we do things’ and I am always left wondering ‘why not?’

Why would anyone want to hide important research from people who might be able to use it or add to it?
Why assume that your particular Ivory tower does not need to be in contact with the bigger world?
Why do you think that the next generation of academics will be bound by your world view?

I shall be pointing academics to your list of ‘scholarly’ webservices from now on. Academics and scientists often complain that information available on the internet does not reflect evidence-based research. The way to fix this is to contribute legitimate reseach findings and make sure the material is both visible and searchable.

Wendy Stone
Communications Specialist
Bright Digital