Understanding How Twitter is Used to Widely Spread Scientific Messages (8 pages; PDF)

by: Julie Letierce and Alexandre Passant and John Breslin and Stefan Decker

From the Abstract:

According to a survey we recently conducted, Twitter was ranked in the top three services used by Semantic Web researchers to spread information. In order to understand how Twitter is practically used for spreading scientific messages, we captured tweets containing the official hashtags of three conferences and studied (1) the type of content that researchers are more likely to tweet, (2) how they do it, and finally (3) if their tweets can reach other communities — in addition to their own. In addition, we also conducted some interviews to complete our understanding of researchers’ motivation to use Twitter during conferences.

 

The Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project recently conducted a qualitative assessment of health information needs in Uttar Pradesh, India. The assessment was designed to inform stakeholders on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the health information system in the state and to identify priority issues and suggest potential solutions.

K4Health Needs Assessments focus on family planning and reproductive health and other health information needs, and are based on a continuous feedback principle that ensures audience demand for health information is routinely gauged and met. There are three components of the needs assessment: an environment scan, a global online survey, and a multi-country qualitative study conducted in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

From the Announcement:

Click on the “Become a Fan” icon, at the top right of the screen. You’ll then be treated to updates in real time, as they’re issued.

[Snip]

The new Facebook page will post information about all aspects of the Library. Fans will be among the first to know about the latest NLM developments, receive notifications on conferences, guest speakers and other events, and be guided to the vast and various research resources NLM has to offer. They can also read the latest issues of NLM’s popular consumer magazine, NIH MedlinePlus, and its Spanish/English language counterpart, NIH MedlinePlus Salud. Viewers can browse through historical images and contribute to discussions on future projects, all via their favorite social networking site. The page will also lead users to content from NLM’s growing roster of social media sites.

Source: NLM

Make sure to read the complete introduction. Important info at the conclusion.

Access the Complete List

In case you’re interested, a librarian is #46 on the list. That’s one below a Market Research Analyst at #45 and one above an Anthropologist at #47.

Source: Careercast [reposted from ResourceShelf]

Libraries are the heart of their communities. National Library Week 2010 (April 11-17) will be celebrated with the theme, “Communities thrive @ your library.”

National Library Week is an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate.

Check out the free promotional tools  for new ways to promote the message of National Library Week.

I found this article [Hal Varian on how the Web challenges managers] in the January 2009 McKinsey Quarterly (you need to register to read content) very thought-provoking (maybe just provoking).  Some of the points he made that triggered reactions/emotions from me (in the order they appear in the transcript) are:

 

1. …we’re going to have a totally different concept of what it means to go to work. The work goes to you, and you’re able to deal with your work at any time and any place, using the infrastructure that’s now become available.

2. When we’re all networked, we all have access to the same documents, to the same capabilities, to this common infrastructure, and we can improve the way work—intellectual work, knowledge work—flows through the organization.

3.  Back in the early days of the Web, every document had at the bottom, “Copyright 1997. Do not redistribute.” Now every document has at the bottom, “Copyright 2008. Click here to send to your friends.”

4. …there is typically a revenue-generating component somewhere in the value chain. And most commonly today we’re seeing it on the advertising side.

5. “What is it that’s really scarce in the Internet economy?” And the answer is attention. … “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” So being able to capture someone’s attention at the right time is a very valuable asset.

6. Because now we really do have essentially free and ubiquitous data. So the complimentary scarce factor is the ability to understand that data and extract value from it...skills—of being able to access, understand, and communicate the insights you get from data analysis—are going to be extremely important.

 

 I’d be interested in others’ reactions or opinions of his points.  But I do just want to share this piece, as it brings to the fore the issue of attention (as related to time, especially the “right time”) and understanding.