Using social media to enhance your research handout

Using social media to
enhance your research
Participant virtual handout
Workshop facilitator:
Dr Emma Gillaspy
• Twitter: @egillaspy
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/emmagillaspy
TODAYS PRESENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT:
http://prezi.com/user/emmagillaspy
Overview
The way in which researchers work, communicate and collaborate is changing. To help you stay
ahead of the game, this half-day workshop will explore how the use of social media can benefit
your research, your networks and your profile. This workshop will cover the following areas:
• Avoiding information overload and keeping on top of the literature in your field
• Facilitating research collaboration and discussion
• Managing your online profile
These areas will be brought to life in the workshop by a researcher who has used social media
in their research practice.
This workshop was developed by Dr Emma Gillaspy for the University of Reading
22 April 2013
Thanks to Alys Kay and Cristina Costa for co-authoring this handout

Contents
Overview................................................................................................................................................1
Contents ................................................................................................................................................2
1. Role of social media in academia...............................................................................................3
2. Copyright and IPR........................................................................................................................4
3. Information management.............................................................................................................4
4. Networking....................................................................................................................................5
5. Wisdom of the crowd....................................................................................................................8
6. Reciprocity ....................................................................................................................................9
7. Collaborative working...................................................................................................................9
8. Profile ..........................................................................................................................................11
9. The academic social media toolkit............................................................................................12
10. Netiquette.................................................................................................................................13
11. Top Tips ...................................................................................................................................13
12. Developing your social media strategy..................................................................................13
Appendix 1: Social media tools .........................................................................................................14
1. Managing RSS feeds using iGoogle......................................................................................14
2. Microblogging ..........................................................................................................................14
3. Blogging ...................................................................................................................................16
4. Social citations using CiteULike.............................................................................................18
5. Presentation sharing using SlideShare.................................................................................19
6. Social networking using LinkedIn ..........................................................................................20
7. Collaborative writing using GoogleDocs (Drive)...................................................................21
Appendix 2: Additional tools and resources.....................................................................................23
Appendix 3: Links ...............................................................................................................................25

1. Role of social media in academia
Collaboration and project management
Research is collaborative and social by nature. More and more, academics and early career
researchers are being encouraged to collaborate across geographical boundaries and
disciplines. Social media technologies enhance the ability to collaborate as well as providing
tools to effectively manage research projects. Social media provides the opportunity to broaden
professional networks and a platform for academic discourse.
Profile and reputation
Building an academic reputation is essential in the constant search for funding and
collaborators. In the digital age, academics and early career researchers are able to take more
control over their profile and manage what people are able to see about them. The ‘personal
brand’ is now a reality and researchers can use social media for career advantage.
Teaching
Young people and children are growing up in a digital age surrounded by social media. As these
individuals engage with Higher Education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels (and
beyond), the expectation of using social media as part of their learning will only increase.
Researchers and academics run the risk of getting left behind if they do not become familiar
with these emerging technologies.
Academic research cycle
Social media can be used to enhance each stage in the research cycle. To view videos on each
stage and relevant social media applications, visit http://bit.ly/ZxTa18.
Figure source: www.rin.ac.uk/social-media-guide

Developing digital literacies baseline survey
Vitae and JISC ran a survey in January 2012 looking at the level of digital literacy in Higher
Education, to which there were 1301 respondents (http://bit.ly/10aOANi). The results showed
digital technologies are beginning to change the way researchers and academics operate. In
particular, the following areas were highlighted:
• The need to communicate and network
• The way to access information and people
• Increased ability to collaborate
The survey also highlighted the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of their organisation in
using social media whilst keeping up with the fast pace of new technologies.
Key links:
• www.andymiah.net/2012/12/30/the-a-to-z-of-social-media-for-academics/
• www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/Vitae_Innovate_Open_University_Social_Media_Han
dbook_2012.pdf
• www.rin.ac.uk/social-media-guide
Questions to consider:
What activities do you undertake in your own academic research cycle?
What activities do you undertake outside of your research?
What tools and techniques do you use now?
How could technology help you?
2. Copyright and IPR
Please refer to guidance provided by your institution and your funders. There are lots of
resources to help you in this area too including:
• http://research20atimperial.wordpress.com/compulsory-content/legal-ethical-issues/
• http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/stories/2008/12/web2rights.aspx
• http://web2rights.org.uk/
• http://web2rights.org.uk/navigator/content/ipr/diagnostic/index.html
Source: http://web2rights.org.uk/navigator/content/documents/questions.pdf
• Are you creating content, technologies, services or software?
• Are you using third party content, technologies, services or software?
• Are third parties contributing content, technologies, services or software?
• Are you collecting personal information?
• Are you adapting third party content, technologies, services or software?
• Are you working for/within a public sector organisation?
• Are you responsible for a website/service?
• Are you employing somebody to create content, technologies, services or software?
• Are you being employed to create content, technologies, services or software?
3. Information management
The internet presents us with many different ways to gather information but there is so much
noise out there that it can be difficult to find and focus on channels of information that are
relevant to you and your research interests. Ideally you want the useful information to come to
you.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds are information channels that allow you to subscribe to
them. This means that you can choose which information you are interested in and it will come
to you, rather than you having to actively look for it each time you open your browser. RSS
feeds generally give you the headline information; you can choose whether it is important
enough for you to find out more.
One way of receiving information from RSS feeds is via iGoogle. You can create a custom
Google search page for yourself, which has all the headline information you want on it. You can
also add many other types of information source to your iGoogle page via Google gadgets.
Another aspect of information management is the need to manage multiple user accounts on
multiple networks. How do you monitor and update different networks, and remember all your
passwords? Well fortunately, there are tools that have been designed to help you do this.
Tools such as Tweetdeck and Seesmic have been designed to allow you to manage your profile
across all the big networking tools simultaneously within one screen. You can update all your
statuses at once. Tweetdeck is owned by twitter and is particularly good at managing twitter
accounts.
• How do you find information at the moment (online and offline)?
• How could you tweak your current practice to manage your incoming information more
effectively?
• How will you avoid bias when selecting information?
• How will you share useful resources with the wider research community?
4. Networking
Identity
It is tempting as a researcher to sit behind your desk and concentrate all your energy on
producing the most fabulous piece of research, and then publishing it. And whilst this is a
necessary part of being a good researcher, it will not go anywhere unless people know who you
are. By contributing information about your research to a social network, more so than in a
conversation with someone at a conference, you are helping to get yourself noticed in the world
beyond your immediate institution. In online networks the information you share persists (and
can be explored by others) so the conversations and contributions you make are an excellent
way to demonstrate your expertise, and the significance and relevance of your research, to your
connections and beyond.
Connection
Malcolm Gladwell (http://gladwell.typepad.com/) coined the term weak ties in his book The
Tipping Point, 2000, to describe the connections that are outside of your core network. These
connections can often be more useful than people you are closely connected to because they
are less likely to be like you, they are farther afield, but still connected enough to have an
incentive to help you.
You also need to be able to share your expertise with a community, in order to become part of
it. There is not a magic spell, which will allow you to do this without effort. It’s really important
when approaching a new community that you spend some time listening, and getting an idea of

what is an appropriate style of conduct, because you cannot expect strangers to help you
unless you have become part of the community.
Challenges
With all of new potential and convenience come new challenges and new expectations.
Employers, potential collaborators, funders and others will expect to be able to explore your
digital footprint. You need to understand how to use social media to propel yourself forwards in
whatever direction you wish to go. You also need to think about how you can integrate your
social networking practices into your daily routine.
How can social networking tools be used in an academic context?
• Expand your research network to increase opportunities for collaboration, employment,
funding, discussion and research
• Access collective intelligence to become more knowledgeable about your own and other
fields of research
• Establish a reputation that demonstrates your expertise and the significance and
relevance of your research
• Practice your debating, discussion and critical thinking skills.
• To conduct research.
Academic networking tools
• Academia.edu (http://academia.edu/)
• Methodspace (www.methodspace.com)
• Researchgate (for scientists)(www.researchgate.net)
• Relevant #tags on Twitter are #ecrchat (Early Career Researchers), #acwri (academic
writing) and #highered (Higher Education).
The benefit of academic networks is to see what topics and themes are emerging in your field of
interest, and in related fields. They can be a useful forum for the discussion of ideas across
related research areas. You can raise your profile within the network by feeding information that
you think is useful. These types of networks are an excellent place to seek collaboration.
Using social networking tools to conduct research
Social networking tools could be used to:
• Recruit participants for a study
• Improve the quality/proximity of the relationship between yourself and your participants
• Give your subjects a voice; allow them to have a more active role in research
• Use information generated by social networks for structured analysis.
A group of researchers at the British Library produced the following report; Web 2.0 as a Social
Science Tool (www.bl.uk/reshelp/bldept/socsci/socint/web2/report.html). Which explores the use
of social networks and other social media tools (and provides examples of researchers who are
currently using social media tools to conduct research) in depth.

• What does your research network look like at the moment? Who are the weak ties?
• Who is in your core, clique, camp and crowd?
• Who are the influential ‘gatekeepers’ to other networks?
• How do you want your network to expand?
• Are there any potential risks to using social networking tools in an academic/professional
context?
o Ethical/Legal?
o Practical/Logistical?
o Quality assurance?
Who is in your camp? (Blog post by Zella King)
http://sociallifeofideas.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/who-is-in-your-camp.html
Last week I gave a TEDx talk to 450 teenagers, on the science of social networks. In my talk, I proposed
that we should think about our social networks in terms of a core, clique, camp and crowd. The camp, in
my view, is critical for creativity, for reasons I will explain here.
The key point of departure for the talk was Robin Dunbar's number: 150. Dunbar argues that our brains
have evolved to deal with a maximum of 150 individuals that we can really know as people. Increase your
social circle beyond 150, and people start to become semi-strangers. For one thing you can't spend
enough time know about them and what makes them tick. Also, each time a new person joins our group,
we are programmed - Dunbar says - to monitor the relationship that person has with others in our group.
As our social groups become bigger the number of potential relationships in the network increases
exponentially. There is an impressive breadth of research evidence showing that 150 is natural organising
unit for human groups.
Even within a group of 150, of course, we don't lavish the same amount of emotional investment on
everyone. Dunbar suggests that our social groups of 150 - or what I call a crowd - is organised into layers
or circles, which each layer being approximately three times larger than the previous one. We typically
have 3-5 people closest to us with whom we invest a great deal of emotional energy. I call this group the
'core'. Add another 10 or so to the core and you have a 'clique' or posse - likely to include the people you
are known to hang around with and those whose loss or death would be truly devastating for you.
The next group, around 50, I refer to as a camp. I suggest this is the most important group for creative
thinking, because it is the maximum number of people whose conversations, activities, online content, and
offline goings-on we can pay attention to. By the same token, unless we are rich, famous or influential in
the digital world, there are probably only about 50 people in our worlds who we spend enough time with
that they keep abreast of what we are up to.
Your camp is the people who will listen to what you have to say, talk to your about your ideas and
challenge your thinking. Your camp may be much smaller than 50. If so, and especially if it is barely larger
than your clique, you may not have much influence outside that close-knit group of friends and family, and
your thinking may converge. Structure matters too. You need some members of your camp to act as weak
ties to other groups if you are to be able to spread ideas and to put them into action.
Think about the people you've been in contact with in the last month. Are they all in your neighbourhood
(local to your home, all working in the same office)? Are they all part of the same personal community?
Be willing to seek new members for your camp from time to time, paying more attention to people you
have not listened to for a while, and engaging them in conversation. It takes effort, but it may bring new
creative insights.

5. Wisdom of the crowd
A book that’s often discussed when talking about social media is The Wisdom of Crowds:
Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business,
Economies, Societies and Nations, 2004 by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of
information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better than could have
been made by any single member of the group. The book presents numerous case studies and
anecdotes to illustrate its argument, and touches on several fields, primarily economics and
psychology.
Surowiecki is keen to explain that group opinions are not necessarily better than individual
opinions all the time. If the group is working closely together there is a danger that they will all
come to the same decision or that they will simply norm towards the view point of a particularly
persuasive member. If the group is too similar they will lack the diversity that leads to a strong
aggregated opinion. Surowiecki sets out the following three principles as being essential for the
wisdom of crowds to function:
1. Independence
2. Diversity
3. Decentralisation
Collaborations that take place through the internet have the ability to be independent (e.g.
everyone working on their own project), diverse (e.g. drawn from a range of
disciplines/background) and decentralised (e.g. bringing together people who are funded and
managed in a range of different ways).
Individuals who use social media have the potential to be more collaborative, more inter-
disciplinary and more able to gather and respond to feedback than their peers.
To engage in social media fully, you don’t need to believe in the wisdom of the crowd but you do
need to be prepared to receive it anyway!
Based on Surowiecki’s book, Oinas-Kukkonen captures the wisdom of crowds approach with
the following eight conjectures:
1. It is possible to describe how people in a group think as a whole.
2. In some cases, groups are remarkably intelligent and are often smarter than the
smartest people in them.
3. The three conditions for a group to be intelligent are diversity, independence, and
decentralization.
4. The best decisions are a product of disagreement and contest.
5. Too much communication can make the group as a whole less intelligent.
6. Information aggregation functionality is needed.
7. The right information needs to be delivered to the right people in the right place, at the
right time, and in the right way.
8. There is no need to chase the expert.
From Oinas-Kukkonen, H (2008). Network analysis and crowds of people as sources of new organisational
knowledge. In: A. Koohang et al. (Eds): Knowledge Management: Theoretical Foundation pp. 173-189.
Question to consider:
• Is your network and filter independent, diverse and decentralised?

6. Reciprocity
Reciprocity can be defined as “a state or relationship in which there is mutual action, influence,
giving and taking, correspondence, etc., between two parties or things” (from the Oxford
English Dictionary).
In the societal web our opportunity to help others is dramatically extended:
• highlighting great content to another person
• introduce or refer them
• link them to great resources on the web
• provide them with our expertise quickly and easily wherever they are in the world
Indirect reciprocity can also arise for social media. You help me, I help somebody else,
somebody else helps yet another person, and somewhere, somebody helps you.
Social media facilitates direct and indirect reciprocity and enables it to happen quickly. To get
the most from social media interactions, be prepared to give a little. Reciprocity isn’t about
following or liking everything/everyone you come across. Instead, present your own identity and
connect in personally meaningful ways.
Section adapted from www.abelard-uk.com/2009/10/reciprocity-in-the-societal-web/
• Where are the greatest concentrations of people you want to talk to?
• What value do you bring to the network?
• How much do you help others in your network?
7. Collaborative working
Collaborative working underpins research. As a successful researcher you will regularly
collaborate with a variety of people using different methods. Social media has revolutionised
collaboration, allowing us to interact and work with other more frequently and efficiently. Nothing
is a substitute for a face-to-face meeting or brainstorm but to help your everyday working, online
collaboration does the trick. Ways of working collaboratively could include:
Conferencing or virtual meetings
One of the best known virtual meeting tools is Skype (www.skype.com). As well as using Skype
for audio or video conference calls, you can also send documents, photos and presentations to
others using a free account. Skype also offer a screen sharing option for free on one-to-one
calls where the person you are talking to can see your screen. Google Hangout
(https://plus.google.com/hangouts) now provides a completely free way of hosting conference
calla and meetings online.
Content production and sharing
You will often have to produce documents collaboratively with others e.g. grant proposals,
journal articles or joint presentations. There are lots of good tools out there to help you do this,
Google Drive is a good example of this. It allows for collaborators to all work on the same
document/spreadsheet/presentation at the same time. You can have private, semi-private or
public documents on Google Drive and it integrates well with smartphones and tablets. Google
forms are a great way to collect feedback or send out questionnaires too.

An even more flexible file sharing option is Dropbox (www.dropbox.com). You can get 2GB of
storage space for free and extra if you invite others to use it too. Dropbox integrates with your
computer very well and you can browse folders just like you would with local drives. You can
also access your files online, from your smartphone or tablet. You can share different folders
with different groups of people. An alternative that is now on the market is Wuala
(www.wuala.com). You get 5GB free space and it provides extra security compared with
Dropbox as all files are encrypted on your computer before being transported to the cloud.
Wikis are a good way of producing content collaboratively. Most wikis accept multimedia as well
as standard office input. Researchers most often use wikis for research group notebooks or to
create a public facing page for their research. Good examples of wiki tools include PBWorks
(http://pbworks.com/), Wikispaces (www.wikispaces.com) and Wikia (www.wikia.com). Your
university will probably have some form of wiki available through their virtual learning
environment e.g. Blackboard or Moodle.
There are several tools that are used for sharing presentations and other files. You can use
these tools to disseminate your research to a wider audience and receive feedback on your
slides. Slideshare (www.slideshare.net) and Scribd (www.scribd.com) are the most commonly
used tools at the moment. Prezi (http://prezi.com/) is a way of creating and sharing dynamic
presentations using Flash. You can create presentations yourself or invite collaborators to
create presentations together. If you sign up for a student/teacher account
(http://prezi.com/profile/signup/edu/) using your university email address, you will also be able to
make presentations private as well as public.
Social bookmarking
Social bookmarking is great for storing your own bookmarks as well as sharing them with
others. Tools such as Delicious (www.delicious.com) and Diigo (www.diigo.com) allow you to
create your bookmarks and store them online. This means you can access the same bookmarks
from any computer, laptop or mobile device. You can also tag the bookmarks and share them
with others e.g. your research team could share important bookmarks around your research
field.
Social citation sharing
These tools allow you to manage your own references ‘in the cloud’ and share them with others.
Citeulike (www.citeulike.org), Mendeley (www.mendeley.com), Zotero (www.zotero.org) and
Qiqqa (www.qiqqa.com/) are the most common tools used for social citation sharing. They
easily store references and PDFs that you can access from anywhere, not just your work
computer. You can generate automated article recommendations and share references with
your research team. These sites are particularly good to find out who else is reading what you're
reading which will help you to build your networks.
• Who do you collaborate with at the moment?
• What collaborative tools do you use and for what purpose?
• How might social media tools improve your collaborative practice?
• Are there any potential risks to using collaborative working tools in an
academic/professional context?
o Ethical/Legal?
o Practical/Logistical?
o Quality assurance?

8. Profile
In the future, your ‘digital footprint’ will carry far more weight than anything
you might include on a resume ~ Chris Betcher
In this day and age, having an online presence is becoming quite important. Not only is it a
way to access a greater variety of resources and updated information, it is also as a form of
engaging and communicating with a wide variety of communities and networks which may
advance one’s practice and knowledge.
If you generally think of the internet as a place to ‘look up stuff’
you’re missing the best part ~ Dean Shareski
These days communicating through email or accessing papers and specialised websites online
is no longer an extraordinary thing to do. It has become part of the routine to access and
provide information.
With the latest developments of the web, the user has equally been able to access and produce
information. This is dramatically changing the way people learn, communicate and establish
learning bonds. This is progressively creating a new culture of collaboration and cooperation.
The Web has had a huge impact on how we present and represent ourselves in our
professional areas, and consequently what others make of our contributions to our knowledge
fields.
Establishing a digital identity as a researcher is important. Researchers need to keep up to date
with the latest developments in their disciplines, and also establish a close contact with other
individuals in their field. Choosing the networks we participate in, and the people we are
connected with, is therefore crucial. The environments we engage in represent who we are.
A researcher’s online presence can be established through participation in different
environments. Different tools can be used to achieve this purpose. Researchers can present
their work through personal websites and profiling networks. They can also communicate their
work in progress in the form of:
• reflections or blogs (http://webpossibilities.pbworks.com/blogs)
• collaborative initiatives such as Wikis (http://webpossibilities.pbworks.com/wiki),
• presentations (http://webpossibilities.pbworks.com/presentations)
• micro communication (http://webpossibilities.pbworks.com/microblogging)
• active participation in networks and communities
http://webpossibilities.pbworks.com/SocialNetworking.
A well planned activity online can grant researchers a reputable presence online!
Further information:
• Social Media for newbies: www.slideshare.net/cristinacost/social-media-for-newbies-
8800689
• Developing a Researcher profile through Social Media:
www.slideshare.net/cristinacost/digital-id-presentation

• Digital Identity Matters: http://digitaldisruptions.org/rhizome/wp-
content/uploads/2010/06/rhiz08_DigitalIdentityMatters.pdf
• Which tools are you using or want to use when establishing your online presence?
• Which style will you adopt when ‘exposing’ yourself to a connected public?
• What style of communication will you adopt?
o What is important in defining your style?
o How is it different from your usual academic communication?
o Who is your audience online and how might that influence your communication
style?
• How social will you be on the social web?
• What strategy will you use to enhance your digital identity?
9. The academic social media toolkit
The tools below may be some you would like to explore further to improve your practice. These
are the main ones available in each category but there are lots more out there for you to use.
You will have to create your own toolkit over time according to personal preferences and what
other researchers in your field use. A good place to start looking for tools would be the A-Z of
social media for academics (http://www.andymiah.net/2012/12/30/the-a-to-z-of-social-media-for-
academics/). The conversation prism (http://www.theconversationprism.com/) is another source of
available tools.
Networks & profile
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Google+
• JiscMail
• Academia.edu
• Your own blog (e.g. wordpress,
blogger) or website
• University profile
Dissemination (in addition to profile tools)
• Slideshare
• Scribd
• Prezi
Collaborate
• Skype
• Google Hangout
• Dropbox
• Box
• Wuala
• Google Drive
• Spiderscribe
• PBWorks
Information management
• iGoogle
• Netvibes
• Google Reader
• Feedly
• Pulse
• Evernote
• Pinterest
• Springpad
• Doodle
Citations
• Citeulike
• Mendeley
• Zotero
• Qiqqa
Bookmarks
• Delicious
• Diigo
• Chrome
• Xmarks

10. Netiquette
A word of warning:
• Understand how public and permanent your online footprint is; do not act like you are in
private when you are in public
• Be aware that your current or future employers could choose to explore that online
footprint!
• Do not say anything online that you would not say face to face
• Avoid spamming and flaming
• Be aware that it is easy to misinterpret irony, sarcasm etc… without tone of voice or
expressions to guide
• Check your professional body guidelines
• Consider who you are talking to…
• www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-netiquette
• www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
• www.restore.ac.uk/orm/ethics/ethnetiquette.htm
11. Top Tips
• Don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of information out there and don’t try to read
everything
• Develop a strategy that fits with how you like to do things now
• Build a network to help you find and filter information
• Give a little of yourself to the network to nurture and sustain it
• Use tools to manage your information and networks but don’t get bogged down in
learning every new tool that comes out
• Collaboration is the key to effective research
• Take control of your online profile
• Always think about the WIIFM factor
12. Developing your social media strategy
• How can you use social media and the web to benefit:
o You
o Your reputation/profile/identity
o Your research
o Your career
• What are the limitations/drawbacks of using social media?
• What tools are you already using?
• What tools do you want to use in the future? Why?
• What tools would you not use in the future? Why?
• What do you need to do to integrate social media into your routine practice and make it
sustainable?
• What support do you need?
• What advice would you give to others?
• How do you ensure you get a return on your investment in social media (time, give vs
gain)?
• What value do you need to add/bring to your network
• What is your personal brand?

Appendix 1: Social media tools
1. Managing RSS feeds using iGoogle
Finding RSS feeds
NOTE: Any site that has the following symbol has an RSS feed
• Go to www.mrc.ac.uk
• Click on the RSS link
• Click on a link you are interested in e.g. ‘Funding news’
• Copy the URL of the website (the website might look a little odd but don’t worry).
Add the feed to an RSS reader (This example uses iGoogle) using a test account
• Click on www.google.co.uk/ig
• Sign in using the email ‘emma.gillaspy@manchester.ac.uk’ and password ‘integrating2010’
• Click the add gadgets button in the top right
• Click “Add feed or gadget” (bottom left of the screen)
• Paste in the URL you copied from the MRC and click “Add”
• Click “Back to iGoogle home” (top left of the screen)
Optional Extension Tasks
• Repeat the above process with feeds from one or more of the following:
o Upcoming courses on the Vitae website www.vitae.ac.uk/events
o A search on the CiteULike website for “Open Science”
o Blog posts by the Thesis Whisperer http://thethesiswhisperer.wordpress.com/
o A news section on the BBC or newspaper of interest
• Rearrange your ‘gadgets’ by clicking and dragging.
• Delete a gadget using the down arrow link in the top right corner of the gadget.
• Add a new tab using the down arrow link in the ‘Home’ section on the left.
• Change the theme using the link next to the ‘Add stuff’ link.
• Set up your own iGoogle account featuring your own favourite news areas
Alternatives to iGoogle to create personalised homepages
• See www.howtogeek.com/129155/6-alternatives-to-igoogle-for-personalized-homepages
Using other forms of RSS reader
• http://libguides.mit.edu/content.php?pid=174869&sid=1481864
• http://suffolk.libguides.com/content.php?pid=151047&sid=1282361
• http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-rss-reader-aggregator.htm
• http://www.howtogeek.com/128487/the-best-free-rss-readers-for-keeping-up-with-your-
favorite-websites/
• http://www.techshout.com/features/2012/28/best-rss-readers/
2. Microblogging
Twitter (twitter.com/) is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and
read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the
author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.
Applications:
Ask questions relevant to your practice
Share links and resources you find interesting
Find out what others are interested in

Follow a conference (#tag)
Receive news (e.g. TimesHighered, BBSRC)
Collaborate and discuss with your network
How to use:
• Visit twitter.com/
• Create your own account or use the dummy account details below to sign in
o Username ‘techintraining1’ and password ‘integrating2010’.
What to practice:
• Enter a tweet using the ‘Compose new tweet’ box. You can also add your location or a photo to a
tweet.
• Click the ‘Who to follow’ link and find a source you would like to hear from and follow them.
• Widen your network by clicking on someone you are following. Then view who they are following to
see if any of them are of interest to you too.
• Update your profile settings to include a bio, image and background.
• Retweet something of interest by hovering over someone else’s tweet and clicking the retweet link
(note: ALWAYS acknowledge the source of the retweet by entering ‘RT @username’ in your retweet -
this will be done for you if you use the retweet function on Twitter or other applications).
Tips:
• You can use other applications to manage your Twitter. A good simple example of this is Twhirl. This
shows tweets from people you follow via a pop-up message in the corner of your computer screen in
much the same way as an incoming email does. You can also use the Twhirl application to enter
tweets, retweet other people’s tweets and shorten URLs using bit.ly (see next tip). Other good options
to explore include Tweetdeck and Hootsuite.
• You can gather evidence of how many people (and from what country) click on the links in your
tweets by using a tracking URL shortener such as bit.ly (bit.ly). You can also collect how many times
your tweet was retweeted by others and view your clicking history over time.
• You can gather feedback and evidence about an event or resource by using the #tag in your tweets.
For more information see mashable.com/2009/05/17/twitter-hashtags/. If you would like to record the
evidence collected, you can set up an archive via http://www.tweetarchivist.com/.
• For example, on Twitter, search for #ted. This will show you all of the tweets in which people are
talking about the www.ted.com resource (which is a great website so check it out if you don’t know
about it!)
• You can attach photos or videos to your tweets. This can be done using Twirl or the other 3
rd
party
applications as well as through the Twitter website. For more details visit
help.twitter.com/entries/75603-how-to-post-photos-videos-on-twitter.
• You can tweet from many mobile phones via applications (on Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry
smartphones) or SMS.
Examples:
• Times Higher: twitter.com/timeshighered
• Richard Dawkins: twitter.com/RichardDawkins
• MRC: twitter.com/MRCcomms
• Vitae NW Hub: twitter.com/vitaenwhub
• ESSENTIAL READING: The Twitter guidebook (Mashable the social media guide)
mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
• Handbook of social media for researchers and supervisors
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/CMS/files/upload/Vitae_Innovate_Open_University_Social_Media_Handbook_
2012.pdf
• A guide to using Twitter in university research, teaching and impact activities
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter-guide/

• 10 ways researchers can use Twitter http://www.networkedresearcher.co.uk/2011/08/03/10-ways-
researchers-can-use-twitter/
• JISC Web2practice Microblogging web2practice.jiscinvolve.org/microblogging/
• Using Twitter at academic conferences http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-341041/Using-
Twitter-at-academic-conferences.html
• Getting started on Twitter http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-332011/Getting-started-on-
Twitter.html
• Twitter in plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
• 7 things you should know about microblogging
www.educause.edu/Resources/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutMicro/174629
• 7 things you should know about Twitter
• www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutTwitt/161801
• Microblogging www.vitae.ac.uk/dr10
• Twitter on Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
• 19 Twitter desktop apps compared mashable.com/2009/06/27/twitter-desktop-apps/
• URL shorteners: Which shortening service should you use?
searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204
• How People are using Twitter during Conferences (Wolfgang Reinhardt, Martin Ebner, Gunter
Beham, Cristina Costa) lamp.tu-graz.ac.at/~i203/ebner/publication/09_edumedia.pdf
3. Blogging
Applications:
• Disseminate information to your community
• Gather comments and feedback from your community
• Gather evidence of the impact of your research (via guest posts or other people’s blogs)
• Use as a personal or team record/diary
• Gather information from other blogs
How to use:
To view Blogger through a test account:
• Visit www.blogger.com and click ‘sign in’.
• Enter the email address ‘emma.gillaspy@manchester.ac.uk’ and password ‘integrating2010’.
What to practice:
• Enter a new post by:
o Click New post (the pencil button)
o Enter a title
o Enter some text into the text box
o You can practice inserting photos and videos by clicking on the icons. Try inserting an image
from a website or download an image to the desktop and insert it into your blog post.
o Try linking to other websites by highlighting the text you want to link and clicking on the link
button on the menu bar.
o Click ‘Publish’
o Click the ‘View’ button to see your post live.
• Embed a video from YouTube into a new post by:
o Select a video you would like to embed using the YouTube website.
o Click on the <Embed> button below the video (under the ‘Share’ tab).
o Copy the text in the box that appears.
o Go to your Blogger account and click ‘new post’
o Click on the ‘Edit HTML’ tab and paste the text you copied. Enter a title for the post and any
other information you would like to include and publish your post.
• Try using the same process to embed other items such as:
o a Google Maps location

o a video from Ted.com
o a Slideshare presentation (see tool 4)
• Try customising the blog, by changing the template, fonts and colours or rearranging the page
elements. You can also add more page elements and gadgets e.g. your live Twitter updates.
To create your own account:
• Visit www.blogger.com and click ‘Create a blog’
• If you already have a Google account, complete your Google email and password details. If you do
not have a Google account, Click ‘Sign up for a new Google account’ and click ‘continue’. Complete
the create a Google account page and click ‘continue’.
• Give your blog a title and URL (think about this carefully!)
• Choose a template and click ‘continue’.
• Click ‘start blogging’ and blog away!
Tips:
• Look at other people’s blogs and decide what you like and don’t like about them. Is it a particular blog
provider you like (e.g. Blogger, Wordpress, Posterous etc)?
• Try to design your blog to suit the needs of your audience and to reflect your own style.
• Decide on how formal/personal you are going to make the blog and stick to it.
• Decide what you are going to use the blog for e.g. is it going to be a reflective journal, to create an
online identity for your research area, to engage the public in your research etc.
• Try to blog regularly (at least once a fortnight) but not too much (not more than once a day) otherwise
you are risking ‘under- or over-selling’ to your audience.
Examples:
• University of Manchester (MHS Faculty) research training team: researchtraining.wordpress.com/
• Manchester Postgraduate Careers Blog manchesterpgcareers.wordpress.com/
• Tristram Hooley: adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/
• Cristina Costa: knowmansland.com/learningpath/
• Research blogs: exquisitelife.researchresearch.com
• Thesis Whisperer: http://thesiswhisperer.com/
• Tips for academic blogging http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-332861/Tips-for-academic-
blogging.html
• How to blog webpossibilities.pbworks.com/blogs
• Tutorial on creating a blog (Wordpress or Blogger) and using RSS
emtechspring2008.pbworks.com/Tutorials
• Blogs in plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI
• Blogging www.vitae.ac.uk/dr10
• Blogging as a tool for reflection and learning www.virclass.net/eped/index.php?action=static&id=29
• 7 things you should know about blogging
www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutBlogs/156809
• Why blog? www.microbiologybytes.com/AJC/whyblog.html
• 8 reasons why researchers should blog homelessinstoke.com/2010/02/22/8-reasons-why-
researchers-should-blog/
• Why do I bother? An academic's view of blogging steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-do-i-
bother.html
• Adventures in Researcher Development 2.0 pgrdocblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/adventures-in-
researcher-development-2-0/
• Top 100 blogs (updated daily) technorati.com/blogs/top100/

4. Social citations using CiteULike
Applications:
• Easily store references you find online
• Discover new articles and resources
• Automated article recommendations
• Share references with your colleagues
• Find out who's reading what you're reading
• Store and search your PDFs
• Build a collaborative library for your research team
How to use:
To view CiteULike through a test account:
• Visit www.citeulike.org and click ‘log in’.
• Enter the username ‘techintraining1’ and password ‘integrating2010’.
What to practice:
• Find and add a reference
o In a separate window, visit an online database and find an article
o Copy the URL of the reference e.g. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21360695
o On CiteULike, hover over ‘My CiteULike’ and click ‘Post URL’
o Paste the URL from PubMed and click ‘Post it!’
o In the tags enter several keywords for the article separated by a space e.g. osteoarthritis
genetics SNP
o Complete the rest of the options according to your preference and click “Post Article”
o Click ‘Library’ in ‘MyCiteULike’ to view your library
• Explore the social features
o Go to your ‘Library’
o The bottom line of the reference “Defrosting the Digital Library: Bibliographic Tools for
the Next Generation Web” will say something like “posted
to social citation by techintraining1 on 2011-03-02 17:15:51 // along with 349
people and 29 groups”. Click on the link that says “along with 349 people and 29 groups” (the
exact wording of the link may be different)
o Click on a group e.g. “eLearning in Leicester” (highlighted in grey)
o Scroll down and click on the title of any article of interest (if none are of interest just pretend!)
o Click [copy] to add this citation to your own library
• Visit www.citeulike.org and click ‘Join now’ or ‘Join now with Facebook’.
• Complete the registration form and click ‘Sign up now!’.
• Click ‘Continue’.
Tips and next steps:
• Watch groups and other users and be alerted when they update their libraries
• Create a group and invite others to upload their reference
• Export lists to endnote and other reference software
• Look for any groups and users who have uploaded the same references as you to increase your
network
• Social citation workshop slides from the Digital Researcher www.vitae.ac.uk/dr11live
• 10 ways to promote an academic article that you’ve just published using social media and the
web www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-347081/10-ways-to-promote-an-academic-article-that-
youve-just-published-using-social-media-and-the-web.html

• CiteULike and other social citation tools http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-
332831/CiteULike-and-other-social-citation-tools.html
• CiteULike blog http://blog.citeulike.org/
• Citeulike: A Researcher's Social Bookmarking Service www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue51/emamy-
cameron/
• CiteULike: Keeping your bibliography on the web http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/156431-
205731/Citeulike---keeping-your-bibliography-on-the-web.html
Alternatives to CiteULike:
• Mendeley: http://libguides.mit.edu/mendeley
• Zotero: http://drsustainable.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/how-to-manage-a-research-
library-with-zotero/
• Qiqqa: http://www.qiqqa.com/
• Comparison of citation software:
o http://libguides.mit.edu/content.php?pid=55486&sid=427307
o http://www.qiqqa.com/About/Compare
• Social citations: http://citt.ufl.edu/tools/social-citations/
• Social bookmarking, citation and reference management
http://research20atimperial.wordpress.com/optional-content/social-bookmarking-ref-
management/
5. Presentation sharing using SlideShare
Applications:
• Share your PowerPoint presentations, pdf or Word documents with selected people or the public
• Keep a private record of your presentations
How to use:
To view SlideShare through a test account:
• Visit www.slideshare.net
• Click Login and enter the username ‘techintraining1’ and password ‘integrating2010’.
• Visit www.slideshare.net and click ‘Sign up’ (you can use your Facebook login if you have one)
• Complete the registration form and click ‘SIGN UP’. Remember to deselect the newsletter option if
you do not want to receive news from SlideShare.
• Click ‘Skip this’ when asked if you would like to upgrade.
What to practice:
• Create and upload a presentation
o Create a short test presentation in PowerPoint and save to the desktop.
o Visit www.slideshare.net and login.
o Click ‘UPLOAD’ in the top menu bar.
o Select the presentation you created.
o Ensure the title is correct and enter a short description of the presentation.
o You can add tags (keywords) to make your presentation more searchable by yourself or
others. For more details on tagging, visit www.wolf-howl.com/blogs/how-to-use-tagging/
o Select a category for the presentation.
o Add a short description about the presentation.
o Untick ‘Allow file download’ unless you would like people to be able to download the
presentation.
o Click ‘Save changes’ and wait for the upload to complete so you can view it.
• Embed the presentation in your blog by:
o Copy the ‘Embed’ code.

o Open a new window and log into your blog. To use the test blog, visit www.blogger.com and
click ‘sign in’. Enter the email address ‘emma.gillaspy@manchester.ac.uk’ and password
‘integrating2010’.
o Click ‘New post’, enter the title of your form and ensure you have the ‘Edit HTML’ tab
selected.
o Paste the code you copied from Google Docs into the main body of the post.
o Click ‘Publish post’
o Click the ‘View post’ button to see your post live.
• Share the presentation via Twitter, Facebook or Email using the links provided.
• Edit your profile to include additional information about yourself or your team.
• View your uploaded presentations via the ‘My uploads’ link.
• Find a person that is of interest to you and follow them.
• Find a presentation you like and add it to your favourites.
Tips:
• If you have a LinkedIn professional profile, your SlideShare presentations can automatically be seen
on your profile. For more details, visit www.slideshare.net/apps/linkedin/faqs
• You can upload videos or slidecasts to SlideShare.
• You can sync an audio file with a presentation you have uploaded.
• You can join a group of members with similar interests.
Examples:
• Alex Hardman www.slideshare.net/actualal
• Vitae NW Hub www.slideshare.net/vitaenwhub
• Manchester PG Careers www.slideshare.net/ManchesterPGCareers
• University of Sussex www.slideshare.net/universityofsussex
• Steve Wheeler www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth
• Using Slideshare And 5 Great Social Media Presentations
www.simplyzesty.com/brands/slideshare-5-great-social-media-presentations
• Top 100 tools: SlideShare www.c4lpt.co.uk/Top100Tools/slideshare.html
• Using SlideShare to share presentations www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/crossmedia/advice/slideshare/
6. Social networking using LinkedIn
Applications:
• Maintain your professional profile
• Participate in group discussions
• Extend your research connections
How to use:
• Visit www.linkedin.com and sign up by completing the relevant fields and searching your email
contacts to see if they are on LinkedIn
What to practice:
• Search for colleagues by clicking the relevant link
• Click the ‘Profile’ tab. Add details to your profile using the profile completion tips
• Find a group you may like e.g. Medical Research Council
• Extend your networks by viewing who your connections are connected to. Also look at what groups
they are part of.
Examples:

• Emma Gillaspy http://uk.linkedin.com/in/emmagillaspy
• Cristina Costa http://uk.linkedin.com/in/cristinacost
• Sarah Blackford http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sarah-blackford/10/b72/968
• Iain Cameron http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/iain-cameron/13/711/219
• 7 ways to get more out of LinkedIn http://mashable.com/2009/11/09/linkedin-tips/
• Social networking software for researchers http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315451-
341701/Social-networking-software-for-researchers.html
• Sharing on LinkedIn http://youtu.be/nxCR7KyM_w4
• More ways to use LinkedIn for postgrads http://manunicareersblog.com/2012/11/27/more-ways-to-
use-linkedin/
7. Collaborative writing using GoogleDocs (Drive)
Applications:
• Create private documents you can access from anywhere
• Create documents on a public or semi-public basis
• Create and amend collaborative documents e.g. funding proposals, journal articles, presentations
• Create online questionnaires to gather feedback from students or the public
How to use:
To view Google Drive through a test account:
(skip this step if you already have a Google account or would like to set one up)
• Visit https://drive.google.com/.
• Enter the email address ‘emma.gillaspy@manchester.ac.uk’ and password ‘integrating2010’.
• Visit https://drive.google.com/.
• If you already have a Google account, complete your email and password details and click ‘Sign in’. If
you do not have a Google account, click ‘Create an account’ and complete the relevant fields.
What to practice:
• Create a document by:
o Click ‘Create’ and ‘Document’
o Add a title and some text.
o Click ‘Save now’
• Share a document by:
o With the document open, click ‘Share’. Enter your own email address and click close. (you
will be sent an invite by email to edit/view the document)
o Alternatively, from the GoogleDocs main page, tick a document and click the share icon (a
person with + next to it)
• Create a folder to store items by clicking ‘Create’ and ‘Folder’. You can share a whole folder by
clicking the down arrow next to the folder in the left hand menu, then ‘Share’.
• Upload a document by:
o Create a document in Word, Excel or Powerpoint and save it to your desktop.
o In GoogleDocs, click the upload icon (next to Create) and File.
o Browse and select the file.
o Move the file to a folder by ticking next to the file name and clicking the organise icon (a
folder)
• Create a form by
o Click ‘Create’ and ‘Form’.

o Add a title (include your initials on the test forms to distinguish them from others created
during this training session). Add some background information then enter some sample
questions. Try selecting different question types to view what is available.
o Try deleting and/or reordering a question (drag and drop the questions to move them).
o Add a section header or page break using the ‘Add item’ button.
o Change the theme of the form.
o Edit the confirmation text that responders to the form see by clicking ‘More actions’ then ‘Edit
confirmation’.
o At any point, you can view the form by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.
o Once you are happy with the form, click ‘Save’. N.B. If you change your mind and want to
amend your form later just hover over the relevant question/section and click the edit icon.
o Send the completed form by clicking ‘Email this form’. This sends the form via your Google
email account. If you would like to send the form via your university or other account, just
send the form to yourself then forward it on in your usual email client.
• Embed the form into your blog by:
o Click ‘More actions’ then ‘Embed’. Right click the highlighted code text and click ‘copy’.
o Open a new window and log into your blog. To use the test blog, visit www.blogger.com and
click ‘sign in’. Enter the email address ‘emma.gillaspy@manchester.ac.uk’ and password
‘integrating2010’.
o Click ‘New post’, enter the title of your form and ensure you have the ‘Edit HTML’ tab
selected.
o Paste the code you copied from Google Docs into the main body of the post.
o Click ‘Publish the post’
o Click the ‘View post’ button to see your post live.
• View and export form data by:
o Complete one of the forms you have created a number of times using test data (via the blog
or form website directly).
o Visit https://drive.google.com/. Click on the title of your form to view the responses.
o To view the data in a graphical format click ‘Form’ and then ‘Show summary of responses’.
o To export the data as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet click ‘File, ‘Download as’ and then select
‘Excel’.
Tips:
• Set up your folders with relevant sharing settings before adding your documents. This means you
don’t have to share each individual file you create, it will be done for you by being located in the
relevant folder.
• You can upload files without converting them in case you want to store original files or other files such
as PDFs or audio/video.
• By embedding your forms into your blog, you direct traffic from users who may not visit it otherwise.
• If you'd like to track responses on your form(s), you can add the Forms gadget to your iGoogle page
(see docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=87805).
Examples (forms):
• Creating highly successful PhD students: The 7 secrets of success for supervisors (feedback form)
spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dFJKUmNjZFhkS0JLejljOEJkbmRRd3c6MA
• Evaluation questionnaire for Turbocharge your writing workshop (embedded in a blog)
vitaenwhub.posterous.com/evaluation-questionnaire-for-turbocharge-your
• Your complete guide to Google Drive http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57420527-285/your-
complete-guide-to-google-drive/
• 7 tips and tricks to get the most out of Google Drive http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-tips-tricks-
google-drive/

Appendix 2: Additional tools and resources
Prezi
Applications:
Dynamic presentation software as an alternative to PowerPoint
What to practice:
• Enter a title and short description of a test presentation.
• Choose one of the themes and click ‘Create’.
• Click ‘Open me’ and select whether you would like to make your Prezi public or private. Click ‘Open’.
• View the getting started video then close the video window to leave your canvas.
• Double click on the canvas and write the title of your presentation. Brainstorm a few ideas for your
presentation and enter these around the canvas by double-clicking to write.
• Click once on each part of your text and move it around using the centre of the ‘zebra’, change the
size using the inner circle of the ‘zebra’ and rotate using the outer circle.
• Try uploading an image or video using the ‘Insert’ menu.
• Once you are happy with the layout of your canvas, start grouping items together using the ‘Frames’
menu. N.B. You can use invisible frames to group items without showing a frame.
• Next draw a path around your canvas using the ‘Path’ menu. You can select individual items or
frames in your path.
• View your presentation using the ‘Show’ menu.
• Exit the presentation then click on it in your ‘My Prezi’ page. Download the Prezi for use on
computers which have no internet access.
Tips:
• There is a whole host of help on the ‘Prezi learn’ site at prezi.com/learn
• You can adapt other people’s Prezi presentations rather than creating them from scratch. To do this,
click on ‘Showcase’ and tick ‘Show only reusable’.
• Prezi is a difficult tool to ‘teach’ so just have a play around and see what works for you. Your first
presentation may take some time but once you learn the system, it’s incredibly easy and intuitive.
Examples:
• About perspective prezi.com/jipjiqvj6dsc/about-perspective/
• Discover IE University prezi.com/wxv6uhgee4sr/discover-ie-university/
• Singing Bridges prezi.com/io1sgtwwkg5v/singing-bridges/
• Toolkit: Prezi effectivenesscoach.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/toolkit-prezi/
• Prezi blog blog.prezi.com/
• Prezi: A new presentation tool that lets you see the big picture and the nitty gritty details
techrav.blogspot.com/2009/05/prezi-new-presentation-that-lets-you.html
Screenr
screenr.com
Screenr is a web-based tool that lets you create screencasts without installing any software. You just click
the record button and your screen activity is recorded along with narration from your microphone. Screenr
then publishes your screencast in high-definition Flash format. Screenr makes it easy to share your
screencast on Twitter, YouTube or anywhere else on the web.
Diigo
www.diigo.com
Diigo allows you to take personal notes and highlight text information on web pages just as you would on
a piece of paper. You can then bookmark and save this information for further review, while adding tags
to keep everything organized. In bookmarking this information, you can also choose to share with

colleagues and friends to allow them to access the web page, view your notes and highlights, and add
their own annotations. All of this information is also saved online and can be accessed by any computer
or browser, including mobile phones with browsing capabilities.
Delicious
delicious.com
Delicious is a web service created to help you store, manage and share all or some of your collection of
bookmarks. Two of its powerful features are tagging and its ability to allow access to all of your
bookmarks from any computer with an internet connection.
Lefora
www.lefora.com
Lefora is a free discussion forum tool with no limits on the amount of posts or members in your forum.
Lefora allows you to run a public or fully private forum. On public forums, every topic has a button that will
allow your members to share a link to the topic on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. They can
even share links over email or IM. You can also easily add videos and photos to the forum.

Appendix 3: Links
WORKSHOPS (SLIDES & HANDOUTS)
The Digital Researcher (Vitae)
A workshop for researchers exploring the use of Web 2.0 in research, networks and building researchers
own profiles. Interactive sessions included microblogging, RSS feeds, social networking and social
citation sharing. Read or comment on the blog, catch up with the tweets (#DR10 hashtag) or download
the slides:
www.vitae.ac.uk/dr10 and www.vitae.ac.uk/dr11
Using Technology to Enhance Your Research (MHS Training Blog)
Explores the digital world and how researchers can use it to develop reputations through a digital identity,
literature managing and extending research connections.
researchtraining.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/using-technology-to-enhance-your-research/ and
researchtraining.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/21st-century-research-profiles-workshop/
Using Technology to Enhance Your Teaching (MHS Training Blog)
Explores how technology can be used in teaching and an evaluation of these tools.
researchtraining.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/using-technology-to-enhance-your-teaching/
Social Media Tools and Resources (University of Nottingham)
Explore the social, participatory and collaborative qualities of social media technologies. Includes a
summary of social media tools for publishing, content sharing, networking and collaboration, and an
extensive set of resources including tutorials, guides, videos, references and examples.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/jubileegraduatecentre/training-and-events/events-resources.phtml
ONLINE GUIDES & HOW TOS
Vitae PGR Tips – Using online resources in your research (issue 40) and Digital networking (issue
51)
One page monthly ebulletin offering tips and advice to PGR students on a host of topics. Advice often
relevant for all researchers.
www.vitae.ac.uk/pgrtips
JISC Web2.0 Practice Guides
Explains how technologies like Social Media, RSS, Collaborative Writing, Podcasting, can enhance
working practice. Each guide consists of a video explaining key concepts, supported by a more in-depth
overview of the topic, covering the potential uses, risks and how to get started.
web2practice.jiscinvolve.org/
A beginners guide to social media (Universities Affairs)
Advice from tech-savvy professors to give you the resources you need to start incorporating social media
into your teaching.
www.universityaffairs.ca/a-beginners-guide-to-social-media.aspx
7 Things You Should Know About Microblogging
Provides information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and
describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters.
www.educause.edu/Resources/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutMicro/174629
Tutorial on creating a blog (Wordpress or Blogger) and using RSS
emtechspring2008.pbworks.com/Tutorials
Plain English Resources (CommonCraft)

A series of short introductory videos to getting started with social media tools such as RSS, Twitter, social
media, and social networking.
RSS in Plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU
Twitter in Plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
Social Media in Plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE
Social Networking in Plain English www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc
Podcasting www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMgemQahuFM
Citeulike: A Researcher's Social Bookmarking Service
An academic guide to using Citeulike a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references
online.
www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue51/emamy-cameron/
The Twitter Guidebook (Mashable the Social Media Guide)
Everything you need to know about getting started with Twitter and using it to build communities.
mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
RESEARCH PRACTICE
JISC: Research 3.0 - How are digital technologies revolutionising research?
A year long project by JISC to debate how digital technologies are changing research practice.
www.jisc.ac.uk/Home/news/stories/2009/11/res3.aspx?utm
PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
Why blog? (Dr Alan Cann)
www.microbiologybytes.com/AJC/whyblog.html
Why I'm keen on getting researchers to be more digital (Dr Tristram Hooley, Vitae Digital
Researcher Blog)
www.vitae.ac.uk/dr10blog
8 reasons why researchers should blog (Gareth Morris)
homelessinstoke.com/2010/02/22/8-reasons-why-researchers-should-blog/
Why do I bother? An academic's view of blogging (Learning with ‘e’s Blog)
steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-do-i-bother.html
Keeping your bibliography on the web (Vitae Research Staff Blog)
www.vitae.ac.uk/rsblog
Using Blogging as a Research Tool (David Harrison)
www.stress-free.co.nz/using_blogging_as_a_research_tool
Adventures in Researcher Development 2.0 (Hum PGR Doc Blog)
pgrdocblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/adventures-in-researcher-development-2-0/
Blog Recommendations (Manchester Postgraduate Careers Blog)
manchesterpgcareers.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/blog-recommendations/
You are online even if you think you are not… (PGR Salford Blog)
www.pg.salford.ac.uk/blog/?p=506
Connect Project: How do you connect to people online? (Darcy Norman)
connect.darcynorman.net/
Digital Scholarship (Gideon Burton)

www.academicevolution.com/
PUBLICATIONS & ARTICLES
It’s good to blog (Nature)
bit.ly/4sMUvv
From the Blogosphere (Nature)
www.nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7231/full/7231762c.html
Should you be tweeting? (Laura Bonetta)
tinyurl.com/yaj9cnh
How People are using Twitter during Conferences (Wolfgang Reinhardt, Martin Ebner, Gunter
Beham, Cristina Costa)
lamp.tu-graz.ac.at/~i203/ebner/publication/09_edumedia.pdf
By the blog: academics tread carefully (THE)
www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=403827
Web 2.0 fails to excite today's researchers (Research Information)
www.researchinformation.info/features/feature.php?feature_id=236
Universities use social media to connect (NY Times)
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/education/31iht-riedsoc.html
Social networking in academia (Research Trends)
http://www.info.scopus.com/researchtrends/archive/RT16/09084_RT16lowres.pdf
The Conversation Prism: Making Sense of Social Media (Wikinomics)
http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/27/the-conversation-prism-making-sense-of-social-
media
Defrosting the Digital Library: Bibliographic Tools for the Next Generation Web
PLoS Comput Biol, Vol. 4, No. 10. (31 October 2008)
By Duncan Hull, Steve R. Pettifer, Douglas B. Kell
http://bit.ly/1dz7JT
TOOLS
Web 2.0: Academic Research & 10 Useful Tools
scholarspace.jccc.edu/sidlit/23/
Web 2.0 for Academic Researchers
www.scribd.com/doc/22603454/Web-2-0-for-Academic-Researchers
Social Media Tools (University of Nottingham)
www.nottingham.ac.uk/jubileegraduatecentre/training-and-events/tools.phtml

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