Article
How research benefits from Web 2.0 services – ZB MED to participate in newly established Science 2.0 research group
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Authors
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Juliane Tiedt
- ZB MED Medizin. Gesundheit. Ernährung. Umwelt. Agrar., Pressestelle, Köln, Deutschland
| Received: | October 12, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Revised: | November 8, 2012 |
| Accepted: | November 8, 2012 |
| Published: | February 21, 2013 |
Outline
Press Release
Cologne, 12 October 2012 – Are new web technologies changing the face of research?
Are researchers reaping the benefits of Web 2.0 and social media? And how has the Internet affected the way in which science and research operates? These and related questions will be the subject of the Science 2.0 research group which the Leibniz Association has established with a five-year mandate. The group will be composed of 15 Leibniz institutes as well as the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED) and nine further institutions. The aim of the initiative is to conduct an interdisciplinary and comprehensive investigation of Science 2.0 over the next few years. The group will be led by the German National Library of Economics (ZBW).
Scientists and researchers are increasingly turning to Web 2.0 technologies, using new tools such as blogs, wikis and social networks to share their findings, data and theories with other people online. In addition, virtual research environments and open access publications are playing an ever more important role in science. “These new technologies are permanently changing the face of research,” says Ulrich Korwitz, Director of the German National Library of Medicine. “This new initiative offers us an opportunity to investigate exactly what these changes will entail.”
The participating institutions will be focusing on three key subject areas: New working habits prompted by Web 2.0, ongoing technology development and research into patterns of use. “Among other things, we’ll be investigating how the Internet influences research and publication processes, how these processes are supported by Web 2.0 and new web-based tools, and which novel forms of science communication are actually being generated by Science 2.0,” says Korwitz.
The ZB MED is contributing to the research group’s work through a number of different projects. The central specialist library in the fields of medicine, health, nutrition, the environment and agriculture has created the open access portal German Medical Science, a platform which offers free access to high-ranking and quality-reviewed specialist medical articles. The open access portal eyeMoviePedia publishes video recordings of eye surgery on the Internet which are accessible to everyone. And the goal of the HemaView project is to use a specialist software package to make microscope results available in a digitized format over the Internet through a virtual working environment for haematologists. “Our projects are examples of how Science 2.0 is already changing the day-to-day realities of research work,” says Korwitz.
Background information: Participating institutions
- German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF)
- German Institute for Economic Research (DIW)
- German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED)
- Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research
- Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe
- Institute for the German Language (IDS)
- Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN)
- Kiel Institute for the World Economy
- Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
- Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning (IRS)
- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
- Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID)
- Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History Museum)
- German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin
- German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB), Hannover
- Media Center, Dresden University of Technology
- Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
- Interdisciplinary Research Initiative "Web Research", Darmstadt University of Technology
- Department of Information Science, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf
- Department of Computer Science at Kiel University
- Department of Media Computer Science at the University of Passau
- Institute for Information Systems, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
- Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig)
- Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Background information: The German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED)
The ZB MED is an independent and non-partisan public institution. Since it was founded nearly 40 years ago, it has developed into the world's largest specialist library covering the combined fields of medicine, health, nutrition, the environment, and agriculture. Alongside its traditional role in the field of library services, the ZB MED is also actively engaged in a number of projects aimed at developing, publishing and promoting electronic literature, primary data and research results and facilitating access to these resources. The ZB MED's projects include the semantic search engines MEDPILOT and GREENPILOT. The Cologne and Bonn branches of the national library also promote free access to scientific literature (‘open access’) through initiatives such as the German Medical Science (gms) portal. As a member of the Leibniz Association, the ZB MED helps provide the information infrastructure required for scientific research. It plays a major part in maintaining Germany's status as a key player in the world of science and research.
Find out more: http://www.leibniz-science20.de, http://www.zbmed.de
