7. 7
Can the library help?
Already
supporting
researchers
in making
informed
publishing
choices
Experienced
provider of
guidance around
new technologies
✔ ✔
As more and more research is carried out,
funders and institutions are increasingly focussed on understanding the impact of the work they support.
Both in academic terms – what other advances have been made as a result of this work? (hence my image – standing on the shoulders of giants)
And in terms of the economic impact; the impact on policy and public services, and on quality of life.
The extent to which that can be measured varies…
The more traditional academic assessment of impact focuses on citations – but in addition to this,
Funders, universities and researchers themselves are increasingly looking at more immediate proxies for impact
such as downloads and views, or social media mentions, shares, and bookmarks – the kinds of things being tracked by the likes of Plum Analytics, Impact Story and Altmetric.com
In some disciplines, quite sophisticated models have evolved for measuring impact,
such as the model developed by the Becker Medical Library at Washington University in St Louis
which analyzes the effect of medical research right down to point of care decisions and policies.
The transition to digital research outputs has also made it easier to expand the approaches we take to evaluating impact
From tracking impact at journal level – which can be too broad a measure
To tracking the impact of individual articles
And increasingly using these article-level metrics as a proxy for the impact of the individual researcher.
For research to achieve its full potential – for the full value of the investment in that research to be realized –
Research needs to be found and read and applied, by the right people – people whose work or lives it can influence.
Studies show that simply taking advantage of the “new” communication channels can increase the impact of research.
Some researchers are very knowledgeable and active when it comes to doing this
They share it with their colleagues – at conferences, by email, through social media – they make the most of their connections in the community.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2014/09/top-50-science-stars-twitter
Clockwise from top left
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist 2,400,000 followers @neiltyson Citations: 151 K-index: 11129 Total number of tweets: 3,962 Hayden Planetarium, United States
6. Michio Kaku, Theoretical physicist 310,000 followers @michiokaku Citations: 5,281 K-index: 461 Total number of tweets: 1,130 The City College of New York, United States
7. Sam Harris, Neuroscientist 224,000 followers @SamHarrisOrg Citations: 2,416 K-index: 428 Total number of tweets: 2,600 Project Reason, United States
10. P.Z. Myers, Biologist 155,000 followers @pzmyers Citations: 1,364 K-index: 355 Total number of tweets: 25,400 University of Minnesota, Morris, United States
11. Steven Pinker, Cognitive scientist 142,000 followers @sapinker Citations: 49,933 K-index: 103 Total number of tweets: 1,612 Harvard University, United States
15. Oliver Sacks, Neurologist 76,300 followers @OliverSacks Citations: 13,883 K-index: 83 Total number of tweets: 746 New York University, United States
16. Dan Ariely*, Psychologist/behavioral economist 73,000 followers @danariely Citations: 16,307 K-index: 76 Total number of tweets: 1,091 Duke University, United States
17. Eric Topol*, Geneticist 44,800 followers @EricTopol Citations: 151,281 K-index: 23 Total number of tweets: 4,966 The Scripps Research Institute, United States
18. Brian Greene, Theoretical physicist 38,700 followers @bgreene Citations: 11,133 K-index: 45 Total number of tweets: 191 Columbia University, United States
23. Carolyn Porco, Planetary scientist 26,100 followers @carolynporco Citations: 2,717 K-index: 48 Total number of tweets: 12,700 Space Science Institute, United States
24. Sebastian Thrun+, Computer scientist 25,200 followers @SebastianThrun Citations: 57,110 K-index: 17 Total number of tweets: 185 Stanford University, United States
25. Jonathan Eisen*, Biologist 24,900 followers @phylogenomics Citations: 41,289 K-index: 19 Total number of tweets: 46,100 University of California, Davis, United States
29. Michael E. Mann*, Meteorologist 20,900 followers @MichaelEMann Citations: 15,049 K-index: 22 Total number of tweets: 20,000 Pennsylvania State University, United States
30. Jerry Coyne, Biologist 19,500 followers @Evolutionistrue Citations: 16,657 K-index: 20 Total number of tweets: 7,711 University of Chicago, United States
32. Mike Brown, Astronomer 18,300 followers @plutokiller Citations: 7,870 K-index: 24 Total number of tweets: 9,764 California Institute of Technology, United States
33. Pamela L. Gay, Astronomer 17,800 followers @starstryder Citations: 238 K-index: 71 Total number of tweets: 12,700 Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, United States
34. Jean Francois Gariépy, Neuroscientist 17,700 followers @JFGariepy Citations: 153 K-index: 82 Total number of tweets: 3,231 Duke University, United States
35. Bob Metcalfe, Computer scientist 16,400 followers @BobMetcalfe Citations: 424 K-index: 55 Total number of tweets: 16,100 University of Texas, Austin, United States
38. Andrew Maynard, Environmental health scientist 15,300 followers @2020science Citations: 10,411 K-index: 18 Total number of tweets: 16,200 University of Michigan Risk Science Center, United States
39. Paul Bloom, Psychologist 15,100 followers @paulbloomatyale Citations: 14,135 K-index: 16 Total number of tweets: 1,973 Yale University, United States
46. Amy Mainzer, Astronomer 13,600 followers @AmyMainzer Citations: 1,444 K-index: 31 Total number of tweets: 2,221 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States
48. Karen James, Biologist 12,200 followers @kejames Citations: 1,007 K-index: 31 Total number of tweets: 61,800 Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, United States
Other researchers need help in building up their networks, and in using the new wave of communication tools effectively, and in knowing where to find and how to use metrics.
Is there a role for the library in helping those who aren’t so confident or well connected?
1. The library is often the early adopter of new technology
2. The library is increasingly involved in publishing choices for researchers
And that’s a good fit for what researchers need when it comes to ‘owning’ the impact of their work:
They need guidance and support around the various metrics and tools involved
The reason I am interested in this, and the reason I am here,
is that along with some colleagues I have set up a new web-based service
that is trying to bring these communication tools and metrics together –
in order that the communications activities that researchers undertake around their work
can be mapped against the metrics,
so that it is clear to researchers which activities and channels are most effective in increasing the impact of their work.
Our theory is that seeing the big effect that small efforts can have
will motivate more researchers to get to grips with communicating their research in new ways
– and help them gain more “koo-doe”s for their work.
We help researchers to explain their work in simple language, add links to related resources that put it in context, share it, and keep track of how those activities affect a range of metrics including citations, downloads and altmetrics.
We have 30,000 users signed up to use our system from hundreds of research institutions all over the world.
Our early results indicate that simply explaining and sharing work with wider audiences can result in a substantial increase in usage.
It can also help organizations associated with the research
to understand which works are attracted interest, which researchers have a growing profile,
and which channels are most effective for communicating with different audiences.
We’re now in the process of setting up a pilot program for institutions.
This will provide reports to help give you insight into how your researchers are using the system
Which can help you to build on their activities to further increase the profile and impact of research at your institution.
I’m actively looking for participants for this pilot – it’s free, and relatively low effort
- so please talk to me if you’re interested!