How LinkedIn Can Help Foster Research Collaborations

Lydia Orth

Office of Research

Social Media?

• Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, wiki or video hosting site.

Social Media Conversation PrismSocial media can be

broken down into 29 sub-sections, to list a few:

• Livecasting• Virtual Worlds• Wiki• Music• Events• Documents/Content• sCRM• Video• Location• Reviews and Ratings• Business Networking• Attention/Communications

Dashboards• Listening & Targeting• Social Networks• Discussion boards and Forums• DIY + custom Social Networks• . . .and on and so forth

Basically. . .

• There are a lot of social media outlets that National Jewish Health can utilize for more effective communication

• We want to create a social networking environment at National Jewish Health for the Department of Medicine clinical, translational and basic science research staff.

• LinkedIn describes itself the world’s largest professional network with over 80 million members and growing rapidly.

“LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.”

NJH Research Community

• Build a Research Centered “group” on LinkedIn:– Invite-only access to the “group”– Blog-like group interactions and discussions– Potential to initiate collaborations

• Develop a strong research community at National Jewish Health comprised of:– Administrative assistants– IRB Personnel– IACUC Personnel– Post-doctorate researchers– Faculty researchers– Research coordinators

Create a ‘home’ for researchers• Develop a professional network

inside National Jewish Health where faculty and staff have the opportunity to know more about their co-workers

• Create a discussion forum for collaboration ideas or research questions– Grant opportunity announcements– Conference opportunity

announcements• Kudos for publications,

successful grants, etc.

Action plan

• Create DOM Office of Research LinkedIn Group

• Provide 2 one-hour training sessions for Department of Medicine faculty and staff to assist with setting up their LinkedIn accounts

• Initiate the group by hosting blog discussions on ‘hot topic’ issues

• Weekly grant opportunity updates and Office of Research announcements

Any questions, comments or suggestions?