A Sounding Board for Ideas - MyNetResearch Forums
Posted by MyNetResearch Wire on June 6th, 2009 | Filed under Collaborative Research, Featured, Global Research, Individual researchers
Forums have become a ubiquitious part of websites in the new Web 2.0 world. Forums allow an exchange of information in a less formal setting than journals and magazines and even allow lurkers to visit and learn from the exchanges that take place. However, very few interdisciplinary forums currently exist. If one were to take a look at Google or Yahoo forums for example, you would find most to be single subject or specialized forums.
The new research focus is interdisciplinary and collaborative. The need also is to have forums that walk the fine line between moderation and non-moderation. MyNetResearch’s new forums ae a perfect location for researchers seeking both attributes. They are interdisciplinary and do not not employ moderation, to keep conversations moving. However, they require membership of the MyNetReearch portal (which takes about 2 minutes) in order to post. This enables the best of both worlds, where scholars and researchers from 95 countries can exchange knowledge, find answers to research questions and find research collaborators.
The new MyNetResearch forums are at: http://forums.mynetresearch.com.
Check them out.
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Computers Enhance Face-to-Face Collaboration
Posted by MyNetResearch Wire on May 26th, 2009 | Filed under Collaborative Research, Computers
While we often think of research collaboration as conducted via the Internet, stand-alone computers can enhance face-to-face collaboration. EU-funded research initiatives called LEAD shows that students can solve problems, master subject matter, and learn to collaborate more effectively when specific software tools enhance their face-to-face communication. Individual learning and problem solving alone do not prepare students adequately for the interactive and collaborative settings they will encounter later in life. The primary software tool created by the LEAD team called CoFFEE, for Collaborative Face to Face Educational Environment, is freely available as open-source software, installed easily on any local area network. Because CoFFEE is designed to foster communication and problem solving in class rather than learning at a distance, it does not require an internet link (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525134153.htm). To be effective, researchers, like students, need to be capable of working with a variety of computer-enhanced tools. A mark of excellent researchers is the ability to weave an efficient web of tools. Further excellent researchers should be vigilant in spotting new technologies and software which can foster a collaborative environment.
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“Collaboration - How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Create Unity, and Reap Big Results”
Posted by MyNetResearch Wire on May 13th, 2009 | Filed under Collaborative Research, Generational Differences, Leadership
This is the title of a recent book by Morten T. Hansen, (Harvard Business Press ISBN 978-1-4221-1515-2) resulting from fifteen years of research into internal collaboration within organizations. The conclusion is that the foundation of successful collaboration is leadership with strong management design. Hansen does not mention the use of information technology (video-conferencing, social networking, company blogging, or research communities like MyNetResearch.com) until at the end of the book and only briefly. The primary reason is that technology enables and enacts the common objectives and collaborative culture created by organizational leaders. Technology without unifying people, cultivating rewards for both independent results and cross-unit contributions, and building networks crisscrossing the organization, is like carrying water in a bucket with holes. Achieving results is as impossible as carrying water.
Another key to successful collaboration is deciding when to collaborate and when not to. This skill developed over time and is as much an art as a science. Referencing organizational goals is a solid decisional framework which aids this process.
Collaboration is a critical issue in our workplaces. Some interesting statistics from the April 28, 2008 issue of Businessweek: apparently, 82% of white-collar workers collaborate with co-workers. 51% of women like working together so that they can learn from others in comparison to 40% for men. In terms of the different age groups, 18-24 year olds like working together the most (60%), followed by the 25-64 year olds (44%) and finally only 28% of the 65+ enjoy collaborating. Is the difference among age groups surprising to anyone? How will this predisposition to collaboration among the 18-24 group help or hinder collaboration in the workplace, especially in the research disciplines?
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Research Collaboration in Green, Energy Studies
Posted by MyNetResearch Wire on April 8th, 2009 | Filed under Collaborative Research, Global Research, Greening collaborative research, MyNetResearch
While many of us tend to view research collaboration at the individual, lab, or organizational level, nations can also be the unit of collaboration. In an exciting development, The United States and Japan agreed to collaborate in eight research areas that include solar power generation, carbon capture and storage, nanotechnology and hydrogen technology. Japanese officials expect a final agreement by the end of April. U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed on energy and environment research collaboration when they met in February 2009. The Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, an affiliate of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, will work together with five U.S. institutes. The emphasis of this collaboration is to promote environmentally friendly energy solutions. Efforts at reducing deleterious human effects on the environment are critically important. It is heartening to see commitment at the highest levels of government to improving our planet. Every endeavor, no matter how small, is significant. Throughout U.S. history, abundant natural resources blessed the United States and many people in the U.S. were very cavalier about the environment (amazingly some still are). We applaud the efforts of the Japanese Prime Minister and the President of the United States. Perhaps some of you will be lucky enough to work on one of these projects. If you do, please consider using green practices in your work. Using electronic media (such as MyNetResearch.com) can help you print less and travel less, as well as help you get your tasks done on time and within budget. We are counting on you and thank you for your efforts.
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Online Social Networking and Online Research Networking
Posted by MyNetResearch Wire on March 25th, 2009 | Filed under Research Network, Social Network
As social media becomes ubiquitous, they increasingly are the center of research attention. “The power of social media is turning old models on their heads,” says Fraser, coauthor along with Dutta of Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work and World (Wiley, 2008, ISBN:0470740140 ). “In the Web 2.0 world, fans become celebrities, students become teachers, customers become producers, employees become bosses, citizens become politicians, Davids become Goliaths.” (http://newsblaze.com/story/20090319172544zzzz.nb/topstory.html). While researchers, particularly in the business and social sciences disciplines see social media as objects of study, all research disciplines seem to be moving more slowly to adapting it for the practice of their work. Research sites like MyNetResearch.com and others are the professional version of social media. What is the impact of online research networking on your discipline?
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