The UK's Research Information Network (RIN) has released a new report on the use and relevance of web 2.0 for researchers. The report looks at the extent of adoption of different web 2.0 tools in different subject fields and disciplines, and the different types of researchers who are using them.
The report, 'If you build it, will they come? How researchers perceive and use web 2.0,' investigates the use of, and attitudes towards, web 2.0 tools and services among the research community. Using a quantitative survey of researchers, in-depth interviews with academics and case studies of five web 2.0 communities, it reportedly finds that while most researchers have a positive attitude towards web 2.0 services, only a few have made them a routine part of their working life.
It is suggested that web 2.0 tools have enormous potential for academic researchers, enabling them to communicate their research and its findings more rapidly, broadly and effectively than before. However, this report suggests that for most researchers the benefits of using web 2.0 tools are not yet sufficiently clear to incentivise uptake. Even frequent users tend to see web 2.0 services as an addition to, rather than a replacement for, traditional scholarly communications techniques, says the report.
The RIN commissioned a team from the National Centre for e-Social Science (NCeSS), University of Manchester, and the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation (ISSTI), University of Edinburgh, to conduct this project. The project enquired into the factors that influence researchers to adopt and use web 2.0 tools, and conversely the factors that prevent, constrain or discourage usage. The study also explores whether and how web 2.0 tools are changing researchers' behaviour in significant ways, and what implications this might have for researchers, institutions, librarians, information professionals and funders.
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