Open Practices for the Connected Researcher

Open Practices for the Connected Researcher

Presentation by Brian Kelly, UKOLN on 25 October 2012 for an Open Access Week event at the University of Exeter

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Open Practices for the Connected ResearcherPresentation by Brian Kelly, UKOLN on 23 October 2012 for an Open Access Week event at the University of Exeter

UKOLN is supported by:

Open Practices for the Connected ResearcherBrian Kelly

UKOLN

University of Bath

Bath, UK

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

Acceptable Use PolicyRecording this talk, taking photos, having discussions using Twitter, etc. is encouraged - but try to keep distractions to others minimised.

Acceptable Use PolicyRecording this talk, taking photos, having discussions using Twitter, etc. is encouraged - but try to keep distractions to others minimised.

Blog:

http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/ Twitter: @briankelly / @ukwebfocus

Twitter:#OAweek

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/seminars/exeter-open-access-week-2012/

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You are free to:copy, share, adapt, or re-mix;

photograph, film, or broadcast;

blog, live-blog, or post video of

this presentation provided that:You attribute the work to its author and respect the rights and licences associated with its components.

Idea from Cameron Neylon

Slide Concept by Cameron Neylon, who has waived all copyright and related or neighbouring rights. This slide only CCZero.Social Media Icons adapted with permission from originals by Christopher Ross. Original images are available under GPL at:http://www.thisismyurl.com/free-downloads/15-free-speech-bubble-icons-for-popular-websites

About Me

Brian Kelly:• UK Web Focus: national advisory post to UK HEIs• Long-standing Web evangelist • Based at UKOLN at the University of Bath• Prolific blogger (1,140+ posts since Nov 2006)• User of various devices to support professional (and

social) activities• Prolific speaker (~400 talks from 1996-2012)• Member of UKOLN’s Innovation Support Centre

ISC at UKOLN:• Supporting innovation across higher & further

education• Funded by JISC

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Intr

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About This TalkOpen access:

• Benefits for researchers understood • Arguments will continue

This seminar goes beyond open access:• Open practices: sharing ideas on blogs • Open engagement: the role of Twitter • Dissemination: getting your research read• Gathering the evidence: social media metrics • Making it work: identifying best practices

This talk provides 12 tips for the connected researcher

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Based on evidence gained from personal experiences

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About You

Are you a Roundhead or a Cavalier?“In the century, Britain was devastated by a civil war that divided the nation into two tribes – the Roundheads and the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers represent a Britain of panache, pleasure and individuality. They are confronted by the Roundheads, who stand for modesty, discipline, equality and state intervention.”

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Who do you admire most?• Mo Farrah for winning the

5,000 and 10,000m?• Usain Bolt for partying

with Swedish handball team after winning 100m, & before 200m & relay?

Are You A Marxist?

“Hitherto, philosophers have sought to understand the world; the point, however, is to change it” 

Do you seek to change the world through your research or simply understand the world:

• Will you want to market your research?• Will you want others to market your research?• Will you have a detached view of your research?

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Intr

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My Papers

My papers in the University of Bath Opus repository

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Largets downloads

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Open Access enhances access

Least Downloaded Papers

Will papers in a repository be seldom seen?

What can be learn from approaches taken for the popular and unpopular papers? 10

18 Oct 2012

Learning from Mistakes

“Using context to support effective application of web content accessibility guidelines”

• Submitted in July 2005• Reviewers comments received in April 2006• Published in JWE in December 2006• PDF uploaded to repository in May 2012• Forgotten paper

when bulk uploads made

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Reflections on implications given in “If a Tree Falls in a Forest” post

Learning From Success

“Library 2.0: balancing the risks and benefits to maximise the dividends”

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• Sixth most downloaded paper in repository

• But only recent download statistics available

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Reasons For Paper’s Popularity

Possible reasons

• Quality of paper• Quality of metadata• Importance of co-authors• Provision of full-text,

rather than just metadata• Formats used (HTML as well as PDFs)• Role of social media• Other suggestions?

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EvidenceHow do we find out more?

• Peak statistics for repository only available for 1 year

But:• Blog post about availability in Opus published on

11 August 2009

14Conclusion: Blog post responsible for initial popularity

Further investigation (of all my paper downloads) confirms large peak in August 2009

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Beyond the Edge CasesLittle-downloaded paper:

• Uploaded to repository 6 years after paper written• I was not lead author• Only PDF version uploaded• Never blogged about; never tweeted

Most popular paper:• Available in IR on launch of journal issue• I was lead author• MS Word, PDF & HTML versions uploaded• Blog post published on day of launch• Link to paper subsequently tweeted & retweeted• About Web 2.0, so likely to be read by bloggers

But what about the majority of papers?

SEO or SMOSEO:

Helping Google find your papers through:• Writing style, document structure, …• In-bound links

SMO:

Helping other people find your papers through:• Viral marketing• Engaging with one’s peers• Sharing on social media services

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SMO: Good for new papers, but not relevant for popular papers written from 2004-8

SEO: Document structure consistent. Difference appears to be significant nos. of in-bound links

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Tip No. 1: Be Pro-active

Tip No. 1:

Be pro-active

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W4A 2012 PaperCase study:

• Paper on “A challenge to web accessibility metrics and guidelines: putting people and processes first” given at W4A 2012 conference in Lyon in Apr 2012

Four co-authors agreed:• To collaborate in raising awareness of paper and

presentation of the paper

How:• Writing blog posts on or just before conference• To participate in Twitter (e.g. responding to comments

while speaker is presenting paper)

Benefits:• Reaching out to a wider audience based on our 4

professional networks

Preparation

We:

• Uploaded paper to repository so URL was known• Provided a link to the paper in speaker’s slides• Uploaded holding slide to Slideshare so URL was

known (slides were finalised shortly before talk)

We could then:• Prepare blog posts in advance• Create short URLs in advance

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Examples of approaches to follow

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Tip No. 2: Identify Key Channels

Tip No. 2:

Identify the key channels

Opus Repository

Paper uploaded to Opus repository

21http://opus.bath.ac.uk/29190/

Metadata provided to give context to slides22

http://www.slideshare.net/sloandr/w4a12-coopersloankellylewthwaite

Final slide provides (active) links to related work23

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Tip No. 3: Monitor What Works

Tip No. 3:

Monitor what works (for you)

Capture StatisticsOn 18 Apr 12:• 1,391 views

on Slideshare• Other slides

had 3 and 311 views

By 18 Oct 12:• 7,209 views on

Slideshare

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“Lies, damned lies & statistics” – but my most downloaded paper in 2012

Topsy and Event Hashtag

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Buzz around event hashtag captured by Topsy

Topsy & Discussion About Slides

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Topsy recorded discussions about slides

Topsy & Discussion About Paper

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Topsy recorded discussions about paper

Note tweets about event (25) and slides (20) more popular than paper (7)

Repository Statistics

Opus repository stats:• Views began in March

(before conference). Publish on embargo date didn’t work!

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• Largest downloads took place on 7 March, day blog post published

• Post about collaborative tools for writing paper, not contents of paper

Other Repositories

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In some disciplines other repositories may be popular

“palaeontologists for some reason very much like Academia.edu. Perhaps your research communities centre around IRs - this will vary from discipline to discipline”Ross Mounce, Palaeontologist @ Bath

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Tip No. 4: Don’t Forget the Links!

Tip No. 4:

Don’t forget the links

LinkedIn

Links to paper added to• LinkedIn• Academia.edu• My pages on UKOLN Web site and blog• …

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Academia.edu

Academia.edu

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Note:• Links to papers in IR (not uploaded)• Importance of tags

Academia.edu users may find my papers here and LinkedIn users in LinkedIn. Why would I make it difficult for them?

The IR

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Your papers should be hosted on your institutional repository

The Institutional Web Site

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You may also wish to provide links on your institutional Web site

Note direct links to paper in various formats

The Institutional CRIS

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Your papers may also be listed on the institutional CRIS

The Blog

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If you have a blog you can provide links to your papers (again to all formats)

Commentable Pages on Blog

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Recent development:Commentable pages for papers with links to key resources (IR & publisher’s copy, metrics, citations, …)

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Tip No. 5: Don’t Forget the Google Juice!

Tip No. 5:

Don’t forget the Google juice!

Importance of Google

Context:• Between 50-80% of traffic to IRs are from Google

(may be higher if direct links to PDFs not recorded by Google Analytics)

What provides ‘Google juice’:• On-page SEO techniques

(structure, writing style, …)• Links to pages, especially

from highly-ranking sites

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Importance of Google

Context:• Between 50-80% of traffic to IRs are from Google

(may be higher if direct links to PDFs not recorded by Google Analytics)

What provides ‘Google juice’:• On-page SEO techniques

(structure, writing style, …)• Links to pages, especially

from highly-ranking sites

What’s different about IRs?• Same page structure• Therefore importance of links

to repository41

Importance of Google

Context:• Between 50-80% of traffic to IRs are from Google

(may be higher if direct links to PDFs not recorded by Google Analytics)

What provides ‘Google juice’:• On-page SEO techniques

(structure, writing style, …)• Links to pages, especially

from highly-ranking sites

What’s different about IRs?• Same page structure• Therefore importance of links

to repository42

What Delivers Google Juice?

Survey of SEO ranking of 24 Russell Group IRs carried out in August 2012.Findings:

• Google, YouTube, Blogspot, Wikipedia and Microsoft are highest ranking domains with links to IRs

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• Blogspot.com & WordPress.com have significantly larger number of links to IRs

• Links from institutional domain (e.g. locally-hosted blogs) provide little Google juice!

Blogspot.comWordpress.com

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UK Web Focus blog has links to papers

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UK Web Focus blog has a rotating Featured Paper link

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UK Web Focus blog has a rotating Featured Paper with links to funders & organisation on all pages > 5,000?

But Isn’t Google Clever?

Google will address cheats aimed at artificially boosting search results (“black hat SEO”)

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But: • This approach is “white hat SEO”• SEO analysis of Bath IR shows top 5

highly ranked page are to my papers

2 Accessibility 2.0: next steps for web accessibility, 2009. 5 citations

3 Can LinkedIn and Academia.edu Enhance Access to Open Repositories?, 2012

5 Open Metrics for Open Repositories, 2012

Evidence:• Largest number of downloads in IR• Largest number of links from highly-ranked trusted domains

Success in dissemination. Need to correlate with nos. of citations

Google Scholar Citations

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Downloads (IR)

275

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Most cited papers according to Google Scholar Citations

Nos. Current Graph

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Tip No. 6: Encourage Feedback

Tip No. 6:

Encourage feedback and discussion

Comments On Your Blog A blog post about a paper provides opportunity for feedback & discussion

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Feedback on an embarrassing typo!

Legitimate question about research assumptions

Blog Comments Increasing tendency for discussion and comments to be distributed (e.g. on other people’s blogs or on Twitter)

Some topics do attract large numbers of comments (evidence-based surveys in my case).

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Distributed DiscussionsComments may take place on other blogs. You should allow trackbacks so you see links to your posts

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You can see links from blogs which reference yours.

You can see links from other services which reference yours.

You can see the chain if you refer to previous posts in your blog.

Referring Blog Post

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Citation, but no additional comment

Scoop.it

Scoop.it

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Scoop.it Seeing no. of links from Scoop.it growing

Implications:

• Others highlighting your ideas

• Scoop.it giving your Google juice

• Helping you to grow your network

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This is of interest to me. I must follow the Dual Impact Scoop.it account

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Tip No. 7: Develop Your Network

Tip No. 7:

Develop your network

“It’s About Nodes and Connections”

Cameron Neylon keynote at OR 2012: “Networks qualitatively change our capacity”

• With only 20% of a community connected only limited interaction can take place

• This increases drastically as numbers of connected nodes grows

Examples:• Phone networks (no use with only 1 user!)• Tweeting at this seminar• Galaxy Zoo

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“Filters block. Filters cause friction”Need for client-side, not supply-side filters.

Tweetchat Tweetchats:• Discussions on Twitter• Specific topic covered

at specified time• Use hashtags e.g.

#PhDchat, #ECRchat Summary at

Survey findings:“give a community & shared space to explore ideas”

“regular opportunity to network with a wide range of people I wouldn’t otherwise meet”

“have very interesting and thought-provoking discussions/debate”

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Tip No. 8: Understand Your Network

Tip No. 8:

Understand your network

Social Bros

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SocialBro: people in my network typically follow 100-500 Twitter users

Social Bros

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SocialBro: people in my network typically tweet 2-5 times every day

Traffic To My Blog

People arrive at the UK Web Focus blog via:• Google • Twitter Web site (nb client visits not included)• Facebook!

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Tip No. 9: Know Your Limits

Tip No. 9:

Know when to say “No!”

It May Not Be For You

Your working style; your discipline• “The Social Web & the Belbin Model”

post suggested “Plants” & “Resource investigators” may find Social Web fits their working style

• You may have concerns about privacy• You may work in different area of

research with different practices; …

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Your time:• “Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Academia.edu, scoop.it,

bit.ly, YouTube… - I haven’t got the time!”• Need to prioritise, based on awareness of

possibilities, relevance, …• But remember there can be light-weight

approaches you can use

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Tip No. 10: Seek Improvement

Tip No. 10:

Seek gradual improvement

Use of Slideshare

Improvements for next time.66

Use of Slideshare

Improvements for next time.67

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Tip No. 11: Be Ethical

Tip No. 11:

Be ethical

Fake Reviews

Don’t be tempted to create a “sock puppet”: an online identity used for purposes of deception.Note technological developments are likely to spot fraud / inappropriate patterns of use.

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Personal Statement

First public draft of a personal approach to use of social media to support my research based on my working practices:

• I will promote my research in order to maximise awareness and take-up of ideas

• I will use social media to support this objective• I will regard outputs which do not have a

sufficiently large audience as a failing • I will not use fake accounts to promote my work• I will be aware of potential concerns regarding

spamming • I will gather evidence of the effectiveness of my

use of social media

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Tip No. 12: Participate

Tip No. 12:

Participate!

Participate!

Participate

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Health Warning!

Suggestions given can help to enhance the visibility of one’s research.

Highly visible and popular research is not necessarily an indication of quality!

Conclusions

1 Be pro-active2 Identify the key channels3 Monitor what works for you4 Don’t forget the links5 Don’t forget the Google juice6 Encourage feedback and discussion7 Develop your network8 Understand your network9 Know your limits10 Seek improvements11 Be ethical12 Participate

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Questions

Any questions or comments?

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