the world wide web of research and access to knowledge
DESCRIPTION
Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, June 18-20, Manchester, United Kingdom.TRANSCRIPT
The World Wide Web of Research and Access to Knowledge
Eric T. Meyer & Ralph SchroederOxford Internet Institute
University of Oxford
Paper associated with this presentation: Meyer, E.T., Schroeder, R. (2008). The World Wide Web of Research and Access to Knowledge. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on e-Social Science, June 18-20, Manchester, United Kingdom. Available online at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1153922
OverviewHow science communication is moving onlineOnline VisibilityThe digitisation of research materialse-Research in the Changing Research Landscape Social Science PerspectivesConclusion
How Science Communication is Moving Online
Shift to electronic publicationsGenerational and disciplinary differences’Google Generation’ report: search Web first, butnot expert searchersBorgman: experts can make distinctions aboutgood online knowledge, others may not be abletoInformal online science communication channelsHow do these various patterns fit into a ’system’?
Online visibilityIncreasing importance of online ‘impact’……amidst the various ways it is becoming soOnline presence and visibility within the system of knowledge - on the producer and consumer sidesCompetition within the attention space……with search engines as ‘gatekeepers’
The Digitisation of Research Materials
Borgman: data the fastest growing part of the content layer……but all online content is growingHeterogeneity……but also increased reflexivity about’access’ and via measurement
Novel forms of Digitized Research Materials
e-Research in the Changing Research Landscape
e-Research programmes and infrastructurese-Scholarly Communication ForumsThe Blurring of boundaries at the edges of these forums (public-private, formal-informal, etc.)Field differences, fields similar in beingpart of an online system
Social Science PerspectivesThe partiality of online only measurement……versus the self-reinforcing nature of measurement, online shifts, visibility, and behavioursLevels include projects, distributed collaboration, disciplines, infrastructures, science policy, and the transformation of knowledgeA Proliferation of Tools, Resources and Communication Channels versus a (large technological) “System” in-the-Making
Source: Meyer, E.T., Schroeder, R. (Submitted). The World Wide Web of Research and Access to Knowledge. Submitted to Social Science Computer Review.
ConclusionsThe incompleteness of social science perspectives due to disciplinary specialization, but can combine STIN, sociology of knowledge, and information scienceThree key elements: online research realm, gatekeepers and paths, user behaviours in relation to their ecologyConcepts of attention space, visibility, and gatekeepers cut across these elements
Oxford e-Social Science (OeSS) Node of NCeSS
Oxford Internet InstituteUniversity of Oxford
Ralph SchroederJames Martin Research [email protected]
http://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/schroeder
Eric T. MeyerResearch Fellow
[email protected]://people.oii.ox.ac.uk/meyer
Oxford e-Social Science Project