Digital Tools for Researchers II (Jan 2017)

This presentation was delivered to PhD students in Jan 2017

Transcript

1. DIGITAL TOOLS FOR RESEARCHERS Andrew Gray and Kevin Wilson 12th January 2017
2. ARE YOU AN ACADEMIC HERMIT?  “scholars should move from scholarly practices associated with the pre- internet age to what they characterise as ‘digital scholarship’….open models of knowledge production and dissemination between academic and non- academic partners using the most appropriate digital technologies to maximise the impact and dissemination of research”  ‘if you are not online… then you are for all intents and purposes in the modern, digital world not an active academic…it is not just advisable to do this kind of thing, it should effectively be mandatory, part and parcel of the obligations that go with holding any academic or research job. Scholarship …must be public, and researchers need to seek to maximize the reach and accessibility of their work to relevant audiences in any way they can’ – @Write4Research  https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction/are-you-an- academic-hermit-6d7ae5a0f16a#.6cjtblak1
3. THE MODEL PHD RESEARCHER? The Guardian, 18 June 2013
4. WHAT WE’LL COVER…  Researcher profiles  Organising, planning and collaboration tools  Metrics  Social media
5. RESEARCHER PROFILES  Google yourself…others will  Keep your profile up to date  Indicates that you understand the modern web  Google Scholar – online alerts, citation statistics  Academia.edu/ResearchGate/Mendeley – connect with others in your field – commercial  Linkedin – connect outside of academia  Goldsmiths Research Online – important if work is to be submitted to next REF2021  Orcid – unique researcher id – more funders requiring this  Blogs/Websites – Aboutme/Weebly/Wordpress  University profile
6. ORGANISING, PLANNING AND COLLABORATION Key Tools Worth Considering:  Evernote  Trello  Google Drive  Dropbox  Slack
7. EVERNOTE Used for:  Organising documents  Clipping articles from the web  Saving photos  Taking notes  Jotting down ideas https://youtu.be/zcVF6GRaZho
8. TRELLO Used for:  Project management  Organise work (or personal life!)  Visualise projects from start to finish  Add team members and communicate  Add attachments  Create actions or checklists https://youtu.be/xky48zyL9iA
9. GOOGLE DRIVE Used for:  Word processing (Docs), spreadsheets (Sheets), presentations (Slides), surveys (Forms)  Accessing documents anytime, anywhere  Writing collaboratively  Automatic saving  Revision history  Download into Microsoft-friendly formats https://youtu.be/jWvKAYKlnnM
10. DROPBOX Used for:  Cloud storage of files  All types of files can be stored  Provides back-up for files  Automatic syncing  Simple design and functionality  Limited free storage  Other cloud services available https://youtu.be/QADSH8XYx_A
11. SLACK User for:  Communication and collaboration  Real time messaging – different channels  Attach documents to conversations Recommended by Paperpile for: 1. Sharing and discussing research 4. Organising lab meetings 2. Monitoring experiments 5. Discussing non-work stuff 3. Collaborating with other groups 6. Sharing the latest papers https://youtu.be/9RJZMSsH7-g
12. METRICS  Use with caution – mainly for articles  Journal level metrics – Impact Factor (average number of citations in a year)  Academic level metrics – H-index, i10-index (citations by number of papers – different weightings)  Article level metrics – Altmetrics, Impact Story, PlumAnalytics (social web, faster indication of ‘impact’)  Capture and understand how others interact with your research
13. SOCIAL MEDIA Consider using (at the very least?):  Twitter (and an analytics tool)  Presentation sharing software e.g. Slideshare/Speakerdeck  Blogging or writing platform e.g. Wordpress/Medium
14. WHY SHOULD I USE TWITTER? Advice from the Online Academic (@online_academic) and the ESRC Online Academic • Be social on your terms • Be more visible as a researcher • Makes conferences more fun • Easy way to find interesting research • Celebrating achievements e.g. publication of articles • Global online network • Jobs and funding information ESRC • Promoting your research • Reaching a large audience • Follow the work of other experts in your field • Build relationships with others • Keep up to date with new developments • Follow and contribute to discussions • Reach new audiences • Create and/or engage with Twitter chats
15. PEOPLE WORTH FOLLOWING  @andymiah Professor Andy Miah, University of Salford  @ecrchat Katie Wheat, Vitae Hazel Ferguson, CIPD  @online_academic Dr Josephine Scoble  @phdforum Various  @researchwhisperer Dr Tseen Khoo, LaTrobe University Jonathan O’Donnell, RMIT University  @thesiswhisperer Dr Inger Mewburn, Australian National University  @write4research Professor Patrick Dunleavy, LSE
16. HASHTAGS WORTH FOLLOWING #Academia Tweets on anything to do with Academia #ScholarSunday Tweets recommending other scholars/academics to follow #AdjunctChat Tweets about anything to do with being Adjunct #AcWri Academic Writing – discuss #ECRchat Conversation for and about being an Early Career Researcher #PhDChat For conversational topics between/for PhD students #PhDAdvice Advice for PhD students #PhDForum Anything to do with PhD life #PhDLife Tweets about being a PhD student #PhD Tweets about being a PhD and/or PhD student (life, work, funny) #WithAPhD Bi-montly chat hashtag about gaining, wanting, or what to do with a PhD. #EMS Tweets related to the emergency medical services #SciComm Science communication conversation #AltAc Alternative Careers (to research and postdoc) – jobs posts, careers advice… #PostDoc Conversations between and for Post Doctoral Researchers #GetYourManuscriptOut Tweets about writing in academia; tips, news, and conversation #STEM Everything related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics #AcademicsWithCats If you’re an academic and have a cat, you know what to do Borrowed from @online_academic
17. TWEETING YOUR RESEARCH MATTERS
18. REDDIT  Bulletin boards for community discussions  Communities for academic discussion e.g. Economics, History, Politics  Ask Me Anything (AMA) for Q&As with experts  Use with some caution
19. A CASE STUDY FROM FLORIDA
20. A CASE STUDY FROM GOLDSMITHS
21. DIGITAL TOOLS FOR RESEARCHERS BLOG https://digitaltoolsforresearchers.wordpress.com/ (for now)
22. ANY QUESTIONS? Andrew Gray a.gray@gold.ac.uk Kevin Wilson kevin.Wilson@gold.ac.uk Slides are available at: https://speakerdeck.com/kevinwilson/digital-tools-for-researchers