My French mirror

I started a similar web site in French on:

http://intelligencescientifique.wordpress.com

The Best of Web

The Best of the Web column has become one of GEN‘s (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) most popular features. So (they) have created a database of past reviews, making it quick and easy for you to find websites in a specific category of interest.

My opinion: What I appreciate is that each site is commented (strong and weak points) and rated by the editor. It is not a new directory with plenty of websites: only a few sites are referenced by category and each selection is an high-quality resource. The selection is of course biotech-oriented but not only: I would recommend the category “Databases” which is full of must-know web sites …

http://www.genengnews.com/bestofweb/

 

SI: my definition

Science Intelligence can be defined as the combination of Technics, Methods and Tools used by an organization to watch its scientific environment, in order to maintain its level of knowledge and to face its various challenging issues.

It includes process of gathering, storing and analyzing the information. It is about making the company more innovative, more efficient, more compliant and more competitive.

 Once collected, business information and data have to be converted into intelligence and re-used to drive business decision making.

Why Web 2.0 is failing in biology?

 

David Crotty, a science blogger, wrote this fundamental post in 2008:

“If you spend much time in the science blogosphere, everyone seems to be talking about these great tools and the changes they’re making in research science. But when you step away from the enthusiasts and speak with the majority of scientists, you find out that  they don’t have much interest in using many of these new technologies”

 

Reasons:

• Lack of time: potential users are overscheduled and overworked: they are already completely overloaded by current literature to digest
• Authors of blogs or contributions are rarely prominent researchers: those prefer classic channels (books, prestigious journals, congresses) which are more incentive, more lucrative, more prestigious
• No business model behind
• Need a high level of participation! If they are users-created content, so No users = no content (and the circle goes around)
• A confused « market »: too many sites for a same purpose: Connotea, CiteUlike, etc.
• Usability (the Ipod model)
• Services are inappropriate to the Scientists culture: « Scientists don’t find collaborators by chatting online with strangers»
• Scientists use social networks to find a job (LinkedIn) not to chat with friends
• Science Blogs are only read by other Science bloggers, students, non-scientists/non specialists and journalists
• Flaws of Blogs: « me to » (too much with the same information) + « I do » (too ego-centered)

Crotty, David. Why Web 2.O is failing in Biology. Bench Marks blog, online, Feb. 2008: http://www.cshblogs.org/cshprotocols/2008/02/14/why-web-20-is-failing-in-biology/

I would complete with: accumulation of Private stuffs, non-relevant widgets, links to commercial shops, etc. All these non-relevant things have also contributed to lack of credibility.

(US) Drugs labeling:

 DailyMed provides high quality information about marketed drugs. This information includes FDA approved labels (package inserts). This Web site provides health information providers and the public with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication package inserts:

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/about.cfm

Peers knowledge is vital for the Research Workflow

84% of Researchers consider that it is “vital or extremely vital to access the Work and experiences of their peers”

Adapted of: The Accountability of ScienceDirect, White paper, 2008, www.elsevierforindustry.com

SI: basic definition

For the Pharmaceutical Industry,  Science Intelligence is

• Science Awareness (Science advances, New Drug discovery, etc.)
  +
• Technological Watch (Biotechnologies, Innovation for packaging, formulations, etc.)
  +
• Business Intelligence (Competitors monitoring, Business opportunities, etc.)
  +
• Regulatory watch (Authorities guidelines, protocols, Good practices, etc.)
  +
• Post-Marketing surveillance (clinical data, etc.)

Nature tries to promote scientific blogs

“More Researchers should engage the blogosphere” advocates Nature…

“Indeed, researchers would do well to blog more than they do. The experience of journals such as Cell and PLoS ONE, which allow people to comment on papers online, suggests that researchers are very reluctant to engage in such forums. But the blogosphere tends to be less inhibited, and technical discussions there seem likely to increase.”

It’s good to blog! Editorial. Nature,  457, 1058 (26 February 2009) | doi:10.1038/4571058a; Published online 25 February 2009. Online: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7233/full/4571058a.html

Elsevier’s marketing makes sense!

Really smart and funny this approach chosen by Elsevier to promote the new design of ScienceDirect! I like it… (except a few mistakes in the French translation…)

Type your favorite query into a kind of meta-search engine google-like form to see how search engines (Google, Yahoo!, etc.) give you an amazing number of hits (that indeed you will never look at)…  By the opposite, ScienceDirect gives you a limited number of responses but they are high-quality and peer-reviewed… so, you save your time!!!

http://www.research-engine.com/  (don’t skip the intro)

 

Monitor this!

 

•          Subscribe to 20 different search engine feeds (Google news, Technorati, Delicious, etc.) using your keywords

•          Then, import the OPML file into your RSS reader

http://alp-uckan.net/free/monitorthis

 

My Opinion: can be useful for an environmental watching. Requires to manage well RSS readers