This presentation contains content from Dr Helen Webster ‘s The Researcher Online:

Building an Online Identity. The slides are available here:

http://dh23things.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/the-researcher-online-building-your-online-identity/.

Managing your online presence

Aims

Not to teach tools, but to have:

• an understanding of the ways in which social and

digital media platforms can enhance and be

embedded in your work as a researcher

• an understanding of the issues raised by social

and digital media tools, potential pitfalls, good

practice and impact.

• knowledge of unconventional publishing methods

Consider three aspects of managing

your online presence

• Your profile as an individual

• Your outputs – the academic content

that you create

• Communicating and connecting

And doing it all legally!

Why should I bother with an online presence?

Assess yourselfWho are you online?

Image: John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcisssus, Wikimedia Commons

Activity

Write your name on a post-it note.

Now pass it along, 2 people to your

left.

...now Google your partner.

• Analyse the results and draw up a

profile of information and impressions

about that person. Don’t forget to

check the images tab!

• Now pass it back, 2 people to your

right...

More info about you out there...

http://www.nowlookhear.co.uk/katiepiatt/digital_identity.html

60% internet users are not

concerned about the amount

of information available

about them online, and most

do not take steps to limit that

information.

http://www.pewinternet.org/2007/12/16/digital-footprints/

http://www.welivesecurity.com/la-es/2012/08/13/google-reputacion-linea-

usuario/

Why think harder about this at all?

Tips for managing your digital footprint

Discover it

Clean it up

• Get rid of old accounts you no longer use (such as

MySpace or Bebo)

• If you find something that could damage your

reputation, take steps to have it removed.

Restrict it

• Adjust privacy settings

• If there’s something you don’t want to lose

control of, don’t put it in the public domain –

even privately.

Unconventional Publishing

Why might you consider stepping

outside of traditional academic

publishing routes?

Some possibilities….

−Does not demand such crafting of hardcore prose

−You can explore other tones and types of writing

−Become more aware of audience and readers

−Learn how to manage colloquialism and levity –

contrasted to the “dutiful absolutism” of academic

work

−Becoming more nimble

−Stops yourself worrying that hours spent writing or

thinking in what you might consider to be

‘unacademic’ ways eg poetry, short stories, reviews,

essays, blogs, etc. is wasted time

Promoting your published work

Excellent example of Researcher 2.0

Amy Cutler

http://amycutler.wordpress.com/

Thanks to Dr Rob Macfarlane for his

recommendation

Managing an online

presence: connecting

Lyn Bailey

Librarian

Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge

How do you communicate & connect?

cc licensed flickr photo shared by ☺ Lee J Haywood

What do you want to get out of

networking?

• Advice – career, research, teaching

practice, feedback

• Information – new reading, contacts

• Opportunities – jobs, conferences,

collaboration

• Support – community, interaction

• Help – new perspectives,

collaboration, sharing

Benefits of online networking

• Access at any time

• Contacts beyond the institution,

across the globe and across

disciplines

• Lighter touch – relationships at

different levels

• Ongoing discussions, not fixed to a

particular event or person

Use Social Media to connect• Social Bookmarking

– Share links relevant to your subject (blogs, papers), subscribe

and create online bookmarks, e.g. Delicious or Pinterest

• Microblogging – Twitter– Follow academics, researchers, groups and societies in your

subject areas, livetweeting at conferences

• Blogging as a scholarly activity– Create a blog for colleagues or students

• Comment– Start and join in discussions on sites e.g. Mendeley,

Academia.edu, LinkedIn

• Digital file-sharing platforms– E.g. slideshare, Youtube

Build your online networks: Twitter

Create and subscribe to

Twitter listsCheck who other people follow

Search via

#hashtags

Managing networks on Twitter

Hootsuite – different

columns, also stream

different usernames.

Here @lettylib &

@cflcam

Tweetdeck – again

numerous columns make it

easy to track info quickly,

e.g. favourites, hashtag

search, or tweets from a

single user

Build your online networks: Facebook

Join/create groups in your subject

Create page for

academic promotion

Like pages from

societies/groups/

institutions

Build your online networks: LinkedIn

Be social!

• Interact

• Ask questions

• Respond to queries

• Share ideas/information with others in your

network

• Collate and pass on responses

cc licensed flickr

photo by Miss Vio

Any questions?

Contact DetailsLyn BaileyLibrarianFaculty of ClassicsEmail: lkb24@cam.ac.ukTwitter: @lettylib Tel: 01223 335154

Libby TilleyLibrarianFaculty of EnglishEmail: eat21@cam.ac.ukTwitter: @LibTil Tel: 01223 767296

Jenni Lecky-ThompsonLibrarianFaculty of PhilosophyEmail: jel52@cam.ac.ukTwitter: @LewyLib Tel: 01223 331889