Tips for Networking, No. 4

Bloggers and blogging at the Research Cooperative

Welcome to the fourth issue of Tips for Networking

Date: April 8th, 2011. Publisher: The Research Cooperative. Circulation: 3,400+

Our previous note in this series explained how each member can manage the "latest activity" report at top of his or her personal profile page.

Today I would like to introduce the subject of blogging, and a new group, Research Co-op Bloggers.

All members are able to use their own profile page as a personal blogging site (go to 'My Page'). This provides another way to publish information related to your work interests, and then perhaps attract the attention of people with related interests, within our growing network, and beyond.

All blog posts are public messages that will appear on the top page of our network, inside a box for blog posts, but they will soon disappear from that position as new posts arrive.

Your blog posts can still be found through your profile page, and also when visitors search our page for "All blog posts" (identified as 'Member blogs' in the main search menu on our top page).

Blogging is an important new publishing style for science writing and research communication generally. It is also important (or potentially important) as a medium for promotion or marketing by small language-service providers and academic publishers.

There are many varieties of bog site and blog hosting service. Our network can only provide a basic service. Many researchers and language specialists are already using specialized blogging platforms elsewhere.

Some blogs employ multiple authors, and also need the help of editors and translators. Blogging is a new territory in publishing, and promises many new opportunities for science writers, researchers, language specialists, illustrators, and mainstream publishers.

To help members who are interested, a new group has been established: Research Co-op Bloggers.

Please visit and join our new group if you have any interest in blogging for research or research communication.

Members who join our new group can introduce:

(i) specific blog posts they have published within our network (active links can be inserted into messages on our group page),

(ii) their plans for blogging,

(iii) questions about blogging, and

(iv) blogs produced by themselves, or other people and organisations, on other blogging platforms.

The Research Co-op Bloggers may eventually play a key role in the emerging realm of science blogging.

Why?

Because we can ask a large network of researchers, editors, translators, illustrators, and publishers to give attention to blogging as a new form of communication.

Please climb on board the bus, and see what happens!

Photo by the Manila Bloggers Network , Wikimedia Commons, Internet, 11th May 2011 : Manila Jeepney.

Visit The Research Cooperative at: http://researchcooperative. org