Hazel Hall's presentation to PhD students as part of the ESRC Scottish Graduate School Doctoral Training Centre Information Science Pathway training day held at Edinburgh Napier University on 16th October 2012.
4. ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Centre
Information Science Pathway
Training day 16th October 2012
Networks and the research environment
5. Why focus on networking: individuals
Networks are a resource for the conduct of affairs, giving
privileged access to, for example:
You hear about a free
Information place at a conference for
a PhD student
Opportunities
Social status You are invited to apply
for the free place
Individuals trade intangibles Your known connections
Reputation have an influence as to
Credibility whether or not you are
successful in your
Friendship application for the free
Collective knowledge place
6. Networks for research support
In terms of research work, another key resource that
depends on networks is support for funding and other
forms of “buy-in”
Often there is a preference/requirement for proposed projects run
jointly by two or more parties, both for applications for large
amounts of money and for small scale “competitions”
An indication of how research findings will be disseminated across
the community is also a requirement of an application for funding
in most cases
7.
8.
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10. Networks to help career development
General support of research projects
Committee work PhD sponsorship
Specific help, e.g. access to data subjects, sites for data
collection
Committee work PhD case study
“Esteem” roles: peer reviewing, work for research
councils, editorial boards, conference programme
committees, keynote speaker invitations etc – and
associated travel
Conference conversations opportunities abroad
Conference follow-up book authorship
11. Internal organisational networks
Internal projects also need resources
Support in the form of funding, staffing, time, attention
Access to those who can offer these resources, and your
ability to persuade them to share your
agenda, strengthens the chances that your proposed
projects will be supported
12. Network value is related to social capital
Social capital and the generation of intellectual capital
• Nahapiet, J. & Ghoshal. S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the
organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.
Social capital and knowledge sharing
• Widén-Wulff, G. & Ginman, M. (2004). Explaining knowledge sharing in
organizations through the dimensions of social capital. Journal of Information
Science, 30(5), 448-458.
Social capital, knowledge sharing and exchange theory
• Hall, H., Widén, G., & Paterson, L. (2010). Not what you know, nor who you
know, but who you know already: examining online information sharing behaviours
through the lens of social exchange theory. Libri, 60, 117-128.
13. Early usage of the term “social capital”
Research in, and the literature of, Community Studies
concludes that social capital
is found in networks of relationships
depends on trust, co-operation and collective action
supports the survival and function of city neighbourhoods
supports childhood development in families
14. Central proposition of social capital
Networks of relationships are a resource for the conduct
of affairs
Networks can:
Be formal, e.g. family, class, school membership
Have weak ties, e.g. friends of friends
Have levels of focus: person, group, organisation, set of
organisations
15. Network types
Physical connection – co-
Friendship, liking, respect – location at work
evaluation of one person by another
Kinship/descent – biological ties
16. Dimensions of social capital
Structural dimension Overall pattern of connections among actors: who
reaches whom and how this is achieved.
Relational dimension Relationships developed through history of
interaction between actors.
Cognitive dimension Shared representations and interpretations.
17. Structural and relational dimensions
illustrated
Social network analysis to depict interactions (social/research-related) between
actors in a network
Before After
18. Cognitive dimensions of social capital
more difficult to illustrate
Social network analysis to depict awareness of research expertise amongst actors
Before After
19. Social capital is an unusual form of capital
It’s owned jointly by partners in the relationship
There’s no exclusive ownership of it
It’s difficult to trade
It has special features
It can achieve ends that would be too costly to achieve otherwise,
e.g. strong trust cuts down need for monitoring
It can achieve “unique” ends impossible to achieve otherwise
e.g. through the exploitation of weak ties
20. Networking to support research in context
In general business terms
“Getting on with people, especially at events”
People wearing badges on a mission seek out new (sales) contacts
in “rich” environments
In research environment
Approach to working – from making connections to engaging in the
discourse of the domain
Need to play a “long” game
Some events are really worth attending, for example for information
science iDocQ, i3, ASIST Annual Meeting
Some people are really worth seeing
21. Some peculiarities: established
researchers
They know one another very well
and it’s unlikely that you know much about the relational dimension
of their shared social capital
Generally academics become less “conservative” as their
careers progress
odd behaviours observed amongst professors (for example) are
probably just that – and are not something to be emulated
You dress to inspire confidence, trust, credibility, assurance
Your written communications should do the same
Don’t begin “peculiar”!
You want to be remembered for your research (and not your silly
hat/hysterical laughter/collection of teddies/partner’s pet name…)
22. Further peculiarities: information science
Well-organised community
Particularly in online spaces such as mailing lists and Twitter
News spreads fast
Small community
Beware Dunbar’s number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number