1. 1 Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communication?

2. UKOLN is supported by: Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communication? Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath UK http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/online/scl-2010/ This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) About This Talk Social Web services, such as blogs, have been used successfully by early adopters. But should we now see such services being migrated to the institutional environment in order to address institutional concerns? Or should the institution seek to exploit the benefits of such out-sourced approaches? About This Talk Social Web services, such as blogs, have been used successfully by early adopters. But should we now see such services being migrated to the institutional environment in order to address institutional concerns? Or should the institution seek to exploit the benefits of such out-sourced approaches? Email: b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/briankelly/ Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/

3. Social Networks Focus on individual, not the institution 3

4. Ouseful.info blog by Tony Hirst Relaunched in July 2008 Original blog launched in March 2005 4

5. 5 Martin Weller’s Ed Techie Blog. Launched in May 2006

6. 6 Steve Wheeler’s Learning with ‘E’s blog Launched in December 2006

7. 7 eFoundations blog, provided by Andy Powell & Pete Johnson Launched in Sept 2006

8. 8 Marieke Guy’s Ramblings of a Remote Worker blog. Launched in Sept 2008

9. My ‘Must Read’ Blogs Characteristics of my ‘must-read’ blogs: Ouseful.info: hosted at ouseful.wordpress.com Ed Techie: hosted at nogoodreasons.typepad.com eFoundations: hosted at efoundation.typepad.com Learning with ‘e’s: hosted at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com Ramblings of a Remote Worker: hosted at remoteworker.wordpress.com Hosted outside the institution 9 Early Adopters

10. Characteristics of established & successful early adopters: Willing to take risks Passionate about communicating Identified ways of balancing personal approaches & institutional concerns Have developed established communities Want to continue to do a good job 10 Early Adopters

11. Acceptance by Organisations Increasingly the institutional perspective is: We must use blogs We need a Twitter account Situation today: Social Web widely accepted Evidence of ROI, value, etc. still needed But: Where does early adopter work fit in? Should existing approaches be continued? 11 Early Adopters

12. Institutional Concerns Concerns regarding use of Social Web being: On-message: having an authoritative, consistent & authentic voice Appropriate: relevant to organisation’s mission Legal: not being sued! Present: not disappearing over holidays or when author leaves 12 Concerns

13. Changes to Terms & Conditions 13 Concerns Ning changed their terms and conditions in 2010, removing the free service

14. Blog Dies Blogs which are abandoned 14 Risks that abandoned blogs attract comment spam

15. 15 Blogs can also disappear

16. Inappropriate Content 16 Story Council blocks Twitter due to tweet saying “A squirrel could run rings around journalist” (meant to be private message)

17. Addressing the Concerns Appropriation of Professional Uses Close down blogs, Twitter accounts, … Requirement to use institutionally approved accounts Professional Responses to Institutional Concerns What goes here? Leave Well Alone Accept the risks Avoid confrontation 17 Addressing Concerns

18. Inappropriate Content 18 Story Council blocks Twitter due to “A squirrel could run rings around journalist” tweet (meant to be private message) Parallel Email message sent to list rather than individual. Email service suspended How To Respond Training and advice on when mistakes are made (e.g. apologise)

19. Blog Dies 19 Abandoned blogs may be hosted in the institution Miles Metcalfe is now based in Shanghai – and has no access to institutional account (though he would be able to update Cloud blog).

20. 20 In-house blogs can disappear – and reappear due to value placed on them by their owner

21. 21 The revived Auricle blog, which the author cared about. Now at http://www.auricle.org/auriclewp/

22. Experience at Croydon Council illustrates the need for lightweight and flexible policies 22 Lightweight Policies Mosman Council provides an example of a lightweight policy for Twitter Policies

23. Managed Closure 23 There’s a need to manage the closure of Social Web services (in-house or external)

24. 24 iPres 2010 paper on “Approaches to archiving professional blogs hosted in the cloud” gives advice on best practices for closing blogs

25. JISC Use of Social Media 25 Increasing about of usage of Social Web services by JISC

26. Popularity of iTunes for OU “The Open University (OU) today reached a milestone as the first university to hit 20 million downloaded tracks on iTunes U, a dedicated area within the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). With an average of over a quarter of a million downloads per week*, the OU’s popularity has soared since content was first made available on iTunes U in June 2008.” 26 Institutions are using Social Web services, but what about individuals?

27. A University Perspective 27 Article on academics’ personal home pages published in THE

28. Personal Web Sites (1) 28 Professor David Gauntlett’s Web site

29. Personal Web Sites (2) 29 Professor Robert West’s Web site

30. Personal Web Sites (3) 30 Dr Jim Wilde’s Web site

31. Exemplar 31 Jo-Anne Alcock’s blog as an exemplar, launched in June 2007 Jo-Anne Alcock’s blog continues in her new role at BCU http://www.joeyanne.co.uk/

32. Moving From Personal to Organisational Use? What moves: The data and the service? The contacts, the comments, the social graph? The expertise, the approaches, …? The organisation moves: To make greater use of Cloud Services To accept that staff may leave the organisation & take (copies of) their content To appreciate and value staff commitment 32

33. Individual Responsibilities Context: Many information professionals use the Social Web to fulfil business objectives The ownership of the underlying technologies is no longer as important Implications: Need to adopt (and be seen to adopt) approaches which address concerns of organisations and others 33

34. Social Web Audit Memo From: PVC (Sustainability) To: HoDs As agreed at Senate all departments must provide an audit of use of Social Web services used for departmental/institutional purposes. In the audit you must provide: Details of third party services used A risk assessment Strategies for addressing risks 34

35. Blog Example Aline Hayes, Assistant Director of SLS/ Director of Information & Systems Technology at Sheffield Hallam University 35

36. Blog Policy (2) Policies For This Blog This blog is hosted by Sheffield Hallam University, therefore the content of this blog belongs to them and remains theirs in the event that I either cease to contribute to this blog, or leave the University. Policies for the use of & inclusion of Twitter Feeds The content of any Twitter feed relates to a mix of work and personal matters. … Staff who choose to follow me on Twitter are assumed to be happy that I may follow them in return … I reserve the right to treat the Twitter id Aline_Hayes as mine & not the property of SHU 36

37. Blog Policies Blog policy for UK Web Focus blog 37

38. A Scientist’s Approach 38 Full disclosure page on Cameron Neylon’s blog covers: Ownership Responsibilities Finances Copyright … http://cameronneylon.net/about/disclaimers-and-full-disclosure/

39. Professionalisation 39 Guidelines for JISCinvolve blogs covers in-house blogs. Guidelines on writing is applicable generally. Supporting organisation’s goals Personal responsibilities Personal style Legal issues Blogs are about links

40. Cloud Services As Saviour Risks of: Reduction in funding across public sector organisations Loss of staff, technical expertise and in-house services Therefore need for: Scenario planning Contingency plans for outsourcing to Cloud services Education and trust in staff offset loss of in- house solutions 40

41. Conclusions The Social Web is here and to stay Institutions are now recognising that approaches taken by early adopters have provided benefits In-house Social Web services are being implemented – but may not be ideal There is a need for a mixed environment Library staff may be well-positioned to demonstrate responsible approaches for working in this environment 41

42. 42 Questions Questions are welcome – you can engage in discussions on UK Web Focus blog. See http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/ TBC