Use and Relevance of Web 2.0 Resources for Researchers

Overview

Funded by the Research Information Network (RIN), the aim of this project ([RIN project page]) was to investigate the extent to which Web 2.0 tools represent useful means of communicating, sharing and disseminating research ideas and outputs for researchers across different disciplines, with a view to exploring implications for the future of scholarly communications.

The study was aimed at:

(i) Informing researchers, institutions and funders on the effectiveness of these new resources as means of communicating, sharing and disseminating research ideas and outputs

(ii) Advising research institutions and funders about the possible implications of the use of these resources for the recognition and reward of research outputs

(iii) Providing librarians, information professionals and publishers with a view about how they might develop their roles in the scholarly communications process in order to complement the evolution of new means of sharing information in research communities.

Research Questions

To what extent are Web 2.0 tools are being adopted as a scholarly tool in different institutions and departments across the UK, in different subject fields and disciplines, and at different stages of the scholarly communications process?

  • Which tools are being used, for what scholarly purposes and to what degree?
  • What are the demographic characteristics of researchers who use these tools?
  • What factors influence researchers to adopt and use Web 2.0 tools?
  • Are there specific skills and training needs relevant to the adoption of Web 2.0 resources by researchers?
  • Is there evidence that Web 2.0 tools are changing researchers' behaviour in significant ways?
  • How do perceptions about quality, scholarly merit or permanence of content affect researchers' use of Web 2.0?
  • Is there evidence of impact on perceptions and practices of how research can be peer reviewed?
  • What are the ethical and legal implications of disseminating information via Web 2.0, with regard to ownership of information, etc?
  • What is the relationship between Web 2.0 resources and established search and discovery services?

Methodology

We made use of a composite methodology consisting of three main components: a quantitative survey to acquire the demographic characteristics of the researchers who use Web 2.0 tools and statistics of adoption rates across UK academia, interviews with users and non-users, and case studies of selected Web 2.0 tools with further interviews to investigate adoption issues in more depth within particular user communities.

Project Partners

Manchester eResearch Centre (MeRC), University of Manchester

Institute for the Study of Science, Technology & Innovation (ISSTI), University of Edinburgh [website]

Principal Investigator: Rob Procter, MeRC (contact: rob.procter@manchester.ac.uk)

Co-Investigator: Robin Williams, ISSTI

Outputs

  • Stewart, J.; Procter, R.; Poschen, M.; Williams, R. (2010): Academic publishers as innovation intermediaries in the development of Web2.0 for scholarly communication. UK e-Science 2010 All Hands Meeting, Cardiff, 13-16 September 2010. [available here]
  • Procter, R.; Williams, R.; Stewart, J.; Poschen, M.; Snee, H.; Voss, A.; Asgari-Targhi, M. (2010): Adoption and Use of Web 2.0 in Scholarly Communications. EASST_010 Conference (European Association for the Study of Science and Technology), Trento, Italy, 2-4 September 2010.
  • Procter, R.; Williams, R.; Stewart, J.; Poschen, M.; Snee, H.; Voss, A.; Asgari-Targhi, M. (2010): Adoption and Use of Web 2.0 in Scholarly Communications. Theme Issue 'e-Science: past, present and future II' compiled and edited by Paul Watson, Anne Trefethen and Elizabeth Vander Meer. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, 13 September 2010, Vol.368, No.1926, pp.4039-4056. DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2010.0155 [available here]
    NOTE: This publications is among the top ten 2010 most downloaded Philosophical Transactions A articles.
  • If you build it, will they come? How researchers perceive and use web 2.0. A report funded by the Research Information Network (RIN). Published July 2010. [report and briefing sheet available here]
  • Procter, R.; Williams, R.; Stewart, J.; Poschen, M.; Snee, H.; Voss, A. (2009): Adoption and Use of Web 2.0 in Scholarly Communications. UK e-Science 2009 All Hands Meeting, Oxford, 7-9 December 2009. [peer-reviewed conference paper and presentation]
  • Poschen, Meik (2009): Impact of Web 2.0 on Scholarly Communication. Presentation at the workshop on Scientific Writing and New Patterns of Scientific Communication, 5th International Conference on e-Social Science, Cologne, Germany, 24-26 June 2009. [available on slideshare].
  • Voss, Alex; Poschen, Meik (2009): Use and relevance of web 2.0 resources for researchers. Presentation at the workshop on e-Research Community Engagement: evidence-based interventions to widen uptake, OeRC, Oxford, UK, 20 May 2009.

Publicity

  • Reimer, Torsten (2010): Use and relevance of web 2.0 for researchers. Torsten Reimer's blog on arts-humanities.net. July 20, 2010. [available here]
  • Crotty, David (2010): The RIN Report on Researchers and Web 2.0: If You Build It . . . Well, You Know the Rest. The Scholarly Kitchen blog. July 15, 2010. [available here]
.