Scientific Researchers and Web 2.0: Social Not Working? forum: topic
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Social networks for scientists
Pedro Matos
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 13:03 UTC
Social networks for scientists are still quite recent and in the process growing. However the dispersion of users among these several networks and the poor willingness of scientists to embrace these services decrease the social power and usefulness of each network.
Here, I listed many of them:
- Nature Network
- ResearchGATE
- SciLink
- Epernicus
- LabRoots
- BiomedExperts
- Academia.edu
- Laboratree
- myExperiment
- Sci-mate
- LinkedIn (?)
And the more reference manager oriented ones:
So, what do you think about this topic? Do you use any of these or know other networks? Do you find it useful? What do you think a social network for scientists should provide to be successful?
Updated 26 May 2009 16:54 UTC
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Chris, I am sure SciMate is very good and all that, but as moderator of this forum could I ask you politely if your contributions could be not just about SciMate? This is an open discussion, not a forum for people to promote their own products. Many thanks!
Maxine. -
Yeah, of course- please excuse. The point was that Web 2.0 is not just social networking. Web 2.0 is the part that empowers internet users to put something onto the internet- using the internet as a communication tool. How others then access that information is the difference between social networking and other approaches. Social networking means you hear about things that your ‘friends’ are doing, while other approaches allow users to specifically search and identify content that they define as being interesting.
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Another network I stumble upon: LabRoots
Actually this service has a forum here in NN, that’s where I discovered it.
Seems pretty feature packed!
(Added to the main list) -
Besides social networking websites, I have set up a wiki for internal purpose as a knowledge sharing platform but after 9 months promoting the tool via twitter and bi-weekly newsletters, it seems like researchers don’t want to share what they know, an extreme(beyond understanding!?) fear of being scooped!?
Crossing my fingers, waiting for Google Wave public release end of year, this will definitevely bring web collaboration to the mass and change mentality.
By the way, if you have a wave account we can share waves, here my account tigresse@wavesandbox.com
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@Kindja – I now have a couple years’ perspective on using a lab wiki and open lab notebooks. My take is not that scientists are paranoid and do not want to share their ideas, which is rather how I would interpret what you wrote. Rather, they are limited in time and not necessarily drawn to computer-based tools for collaboration. Remember, there are conferences, there are in-person meetings, there are seminars… all of these are time-tested ways for scientists to share ideas either fully formed or in progress. Maybe they are not as efficient as they can be, but they are known, and one generation of scientists can show the next the ropes. Investing time to learning other tools (eg. wiki markup!) involves overcoming a large energy hump.
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Lots of buzz around google wave… let see what it can do for the scientific community.
Found another compiled list of science 2.0 services, with a focus for medical community:
http://scienceroll.com/2008/05/24/community-sites-for-scientists-and-physicians-the-list/
(From ScienceRoll by Bertalan Meskó) -
Have you also noticed this: life science researchers (or related) are more involved in web 2.0 tools and science 2.0 community than others (for example electronic engineers)?
@Heather
how long does it take to write 140 characters (for example)? -
As a life scientist, I am not qualified to address the above assertion, as I think I’m really subject to sampling bias. But I would tend to disagree.
140 characters takes a lot of time for little tangibly useful return on the investment.
These recent few blog posts may offer alternative phrasing for what even we somewhat-willing scientists all feel: social networking for scientists still is in its infancy. It demands more time and effort to learn to use than the benefits seem to warrant. When the weight is on the side of the benefit, the tool(s) will be adopted. Simple as that.
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Finally remembered where to find this post by David Bradley, leading to a large collection of similar resources.
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It’s a question of getting value back and moreover, being rewarded.
Time is precious. If I hear you, we don’t even have time to comment here.
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