Legal Research

Free Report: Use and Relevance of Web 2.0 For Researchers

By admin

This will be particularly of interest to academic librarians supporting scholarly research. From Gary Price’s ResourceShelf:

“New Report Online: Use and Relevance of Web 2.0 For Researchers

From the Web Site:

This new RIN [Research Information Network, UK] report looks at the extent of adoption of different web 2.0 tools in different subject fields and disciplines, and the different types of researchers who are using them.

This work was undertaken by team from the National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS), University of Manchester, and the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation (ISSTI), University of Edinburgh.

The project enquires into the factors that influence researchers to adopt and use Web 2.0 tools, and conversely the factors that prevent, constrain or discourage usage.

The study also explores whether and how web 2.0 tools are changing researchers? behaviour in significant ways, and what implications this might have for researchers, institutions, librarians, information professionals and funders. We sought evidence on whether web 2.0 tools are:

+ making data easier to share, verify and re-use, or otherwise facilitating more open scientific practices

+ changing discovery techniques or enhancing the accessibility of research information

+ changing researchers publication and dissemination behaviour, (for example, due to the ease of publishing work-in-progress and grey literature), and

+ changing practices around communicating research findings (for example through opportunities for iterative processes of feedback, pre-publishing, or post-publication peer review).

Access the Complete Report (64 pages; PDF)“

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on July 07, 2010 (boomark / email).