Molly Knapp, Bells, Whistles & Bandwagon 2.0, Task Force on Social Networking Software (of the Medical Library Association), September 18, 2007. Excerpt:
It seems BioMed Central is the next content provider to jump on bandwagon 2.0 . Their current newsletter reveals they’ve added an option to post articles to social networking sites:
You can now easily post articles to sites including Cite-U-Like, Connotea and Facebook, using links conveniently placed at the foot of the new navigation box....
[L]et’s break down how this can benefit you and your library constituents....
Digg describes itself as “democratizing digital media”. To me it’s a fusion of a bookmarking tool, discussion board, and the world’s most awesome RSS feed. The way digg works: users submit and classify content, whether it’s news, video, podcasts. Other users rate or “digg” the links, and comment on them. The most recent items are displayed on the main page for other users to sort, read, rate or comment upon. I use digg to keep tabs on rumors and industry buzz. It’s great for staying current on news, but you may have to go through 15 articles about low carb diet fads to find one scientific paper on nutrition.
That is why integrating social bookmarking tools into BMC is pretty cool - if you want people to know that skipping meals makes teens fat, you can submit it to digg & start a discussion. The ’social’ side of digg allows users to build networks and commentary. Imagine a network of users with similar research interests having a digg discussion on a peer reviewed article. The potential for collaboration is there....
It’s time for us to utilize the collaborative nature of social networking tools to initiate dialogs about topics other than Britney Spears. Incorporating these tools into ’serious’ resources like BMC is a good step....
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/19/2007 08:24:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
