Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Open innovation, citizen scientists and crowdsourcing
Science magazine Scientific American and InnoCentive, Inc., the global leader in open innovation, crowdsourcing, and prize competitions, have announced a partnership for an online hub that seeks to help science enthusiasts solve global scientific problems. The Scientific American Open Innovation Pavilion, scheduled to go live in the spring of 2013, will be jointly hosted on InnoCentive.comand ScientificAmerican.com.
Commercial organisations, government agencies, and non-profits (known as ‘Seekers’) will be able to post ‘Challenges’ on the Scientific American Open Innovation Pavilion. These ‘Challenges’ are well-articulated descriptions of scientific and technical problems that require innovative solutions. The Scientific American Open Innovation Pavilion provides these ‘Seekers’ with unprecedented access to a global pool of problem solvers, including InnoCentive’s existing 275,000-person-strong solver network and Scientific American’s audience of nearly five million monthly visitors to ScientificAmerican.com.
This partnership also marks the growth of InnoCentive’s collaboration with Nature Publishing Group (NPG), Scientific American’s parent organisation. In June 2009, InnoCentive and NPG launched the nature.com Open Innovation Pavilion, which is hosted on InnoCentive.com and nature.com, www.nature.com/openinnovation.
Document Delivery Vendors: the TOP 3
On its yearly update dedicated to “Document Delivery: Best Practices and Vendor Scorecard”, Outsell Inc. has outlined the performance of the TOP 3 vendors.
They are (by revenue 2012):
- British Library: 221 $millions
- Infotrieve: 43 $millions
- Reprint Desk: 22 $millions
The Outsell Scorecard:
Satisfaction Ratings:
- Reprints Desk, 4.2
- British Library, 3.7
- Infotrieve, 3.3
Loyalty ratings (willingness to recommend to other buyers):
- Reprints Desk
- British Library
- Infotrieve
Overall Satisfaction Scorecard:
- Reprints Desk, 4.4
- British Library, 4.0
- Infotrieve, 3.6
The original report can be found here:
A free copy of the report can be viewed online
http://info.reprintsdesk.com/Portals/28841/docs/outselldocdel-rd.pdf
Credibility of doctors messages on Twitter: a study
An interesting study on Health professionals reputation is published by Medical News Today this week:
Some findings:
- People are more likely to trust health messages tweeted by doctors who have a lot of followers, but not the messages they retweet
- People may perceive tweets and retweets differently depending on the source of the content
- In the social media universe, the number of followers that a layperson has seems to translate into trustworthiness
Read more on:
Study Of The Credibility Of Health Messages On Twitter, Medical News Today, 28th of September 2012. Available from:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/250768.php
Social Media’s success is: technology + psychology
“A lot of what we are doing is as much psychology and sociology as it is technology”
Mark Zuckerberg
According:
http://www.zdnet.com/like-me-like-me-doing-business-in-the-facebook-age-7000003487/
Reading: Bringing medical information to doctors
- how hospital libraries are facing budget pressure involving clinical staff
- using mobile devices and apps to deliver information to health professionnals
- the new version of Elsevier MDConsult, now called ClinicalKey
- medical e-books at OUP and BMJ
Read more:
Harris, Sian. Bringing information to doctors. Research Information, Aug./Sept. 2012. pp. 19-21. Available from: http://researchinformation.msgfocus.com/files/amf_europa_science/project_26/RIaug12Web.pdf
Which sort of health bloggers are you?
A classification suggested by Mark Senak:
- Non-professional, but credible bloggers – These are comprised of lay people who have started blogs that over time have gained traction. In health care, they are usually focused on a fairly specific subject matter that may, in fact, be quite niche. It could be about aspects of living with a particular disease or condition. In addition to patients, they may be caregivers or advocates and perhaps even providers. Over time, they have acquired credibility and become influential in their own area. They are generally unaffiliated, though they could be fostered by an organization.
- Professional Non-Journalist Bloggers – These are people who have a professional specialty about which they write and have, in many respects, assumed a journalistic type role because of the following and corresponding influence that they have developed. Examples of this category might include several of the prominent doctor bloggers but also include a range of other bloggers who really know their field and to whom many journalists will follow.
- Journalist Bloggers – There has been a hefty migration of traditional journalists into the blogosphere – a fact that has fundamentally changed the profession. Blogging allows greater speed and flexibility in reporting and also allows a writer to perhaps develop pieces that are more granular. Postings can occur much more often than through traditional publication. Clearly there are some health care journalists who have emerged as major bloggers and who have influence in both the print and digital realms. But appealing directly to them may be less effective than making inroads with other digital assets that may influence them.
- Institutional Bloggers – These blogs have become a way for institutions to related to people by either conveying news about the institution or showcasing thought leadership from their ranks. Good examples of this are FDA’s blog FDAVoice or corporate sponsored blogs where senior leadership can provide analysis into specialized subject matter.
Senak, Mark. Blogging, Health and Journalism. Eye on FDA, 31th July 2012. Available from:
http://www.eyeonfda.com/eye_on_fda/2012/07/blogging-health-and-journalism.html
US: medical students do not use cell phones or Facebook to engage with Libraries
Study:
Even though there is a pervasive use of the Internet, cell phones and social networking, the majority of students surveyed do not readily identify them as a means to access databases, the library catalog, or to retrieve full-text articles on demand or on the go.
The results of this study provide ample evidence that many of our students are accessing the Internet using various devices. Ninety-seven percent of them access library resources remotely, mostly using their laptops and other computers. Only 17 percent of them use their cell phones to access library catalog and subscription databases resources remotely.
Salisbury, L. (et al.). Science and Technology Undergraduate Students’ Use of the Internet, Cell Phones and Social Networking Sites to Access Library Information. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Spring 2012. Available from: http://www.istl.org/12-spring/refereed3.html [Accessed 23rd of May 2012]
Prezify your PowerPoint slides
2 great news for Prezi!!
- Over 10 million people around the world have joined the fabulous presentation service
- The PowerPoint import is now ready
UK Public sector estimates to save 20% in budget while using OA journals
Not only are these bodies benefiting from the reduction in subscription payments but also from indirect benefits, including a reduction in the amount of time taken to find information.
The UK public sector spends £135 million a year on subscriptions and time spent finding and accessing journal content. The report estimates that the sector is currently saving over £28 million by switching to OA publications. Meanwhile the VCS sector is already using more OA journals that paid for content.
Skelton, Val. Open access savings in the UK public sector. InformationToday Europe, May 3, 2012. Available from: http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/News/Featured-News/Open-access-savings-in-the-UK-public-sector-82399.aspx [Accessed 4th of May 2012]
