Social media, web services and tips for health in MedLib’s Round 1.9

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Welcome to the MedLib’s Round 1.9. This month, the MedLib’s Round did not specify a special theme. This may have encouraged medical librarians and you to submit articles as 13 16 people took part in this round. It is always interesting to read medical librarians’ concerns as they are using state-of-the-art tools and techniques to work better and face the new challenges of communication, information retrieval and are always keen on sharing their impression on new services and debates. You will notice that this month, the MedLib’s Round leaves room for discussions on Social Media, web 2.0 services and Tips for health.

 

Thoughts

Social Media in health

  • How Can We Help? Roles for Librarians in Public Health on PH/HA News by Alison Aldrich
  • Alison exposes her feelings after she attended the American Public Health Association conferences. Her post is a nice sum up of the conference and the people that were there as lecturers. The amount of conferences about social media for health matters lets us guess its importance in discussions. She raises a great question about the importance of advocating open access to public health research too. Indeed, she spent a time in the National Library of Medicine’s booth in the exhibit hall where she could talk about one common question: how can I get all of your journal articles for free?.

  • What is Google Wave and why should I care? on Krafty Library.
  • Michelle sums up what is google Wave about and how you can use it. This article will be perfect for you to discover, understand and start using Wave in a proper way. She describes how medecial librarians have already created dedicated waves but still doubts about usefulness of the tool. (Follow her on Krafty)

  • Manhunt: Google Wave for Community (Emergency?) Communication posted at Eagle Dawg Blog by Nicole S. Dettmar.
  • Nicole took part in the google wave about the manhunt in Seattle that happened in early december. She shows how powerful was the very google wave as to information exchange and how users helped enriching previous content. At the same time, she raises the problem of false information in waves (new email tool from google encouraging real time exchange) and spam that may get into these new communication channels. (Follow EagleDawg on twitter)

  • FDASM Highlights for UM Stakeholders, pt. 1: Early Presenters as SWOT-Plus posted at Emerging Technologies Librarian by Patricia F Anderson
  • Patricia wrote a great post (the second) on the highlights of the FDASM. The FDASM is an initiative from the FDA about the use of internet and social media for health related communications for FDA-regulated products. This public hearing held in early november was a beginning to knowing and discovering how to use social media channels to communicate about products. In that field, she recalls how the FDA has already been providing essential resources online. There is more to learn and I encourage you to read it. (Follow Patricia F. Anderson on twitter)

Web 2.0 services for health

  • Biomedical search on Biomedsearch by Dr. Shock on Shock M.D.
  • In this article, we learn with Dr Shock about a new tool that wants to provide free access to documents relating to the biomedical field. He explains the functions of this search engine and wonders about whether it can be an alternative to the redesigned pubmed.

  • How to switch from one to the other antidepressant by Dr Shock.
  • There’s one common problem with antidepressant which is either that the antidepressant does not work or provokes side effects. When that happens, you have to switch from one to another. This can be a tricky task and Dr. Shock presents us some great resources websites to manage it. (Follow Dr. Shock on twitter)

  • Medpedia Now Includes News & Analysis, Alerts, Q&A by Walter Jessen on HighlightHealth
  • Walter Jessen focuses here on new functionalities brought recently to Medpedia and create a richer experience for users. Mepdedia is a medical wiki and has useful functionalities. You will now be able to use in Medpedia the following features: News & Analysis from over 150 professionals, Alerts from real time web platforms and Answers (a kind of medical Yahoo Answers). He then wonders about the possibility for Medpedia to become a medical wikipedia thanks to the amount of reliable information it has. (Follow HighlightHealth on twitter)

Tips

  • Adding Methodological Filters to MyNCBI posted at Laika’s MedLibLog by Jacqueline
  • Jacqueline has created a great tutorial to learn how to add methodological filters to MyNCBI. MyNCBI is one’s account on Pubmed. Obviously, creating filters is a must-use option when you are keen on research and need to automate search processes. In that case, she shows how Pubmed allows to create and run advanced filters to save time. It is always nice to read well detailed techniques that will turn the reader in a better prepared person for searches. Jacqueline writes a lot about Pubmed and she has a great experience with it. Enjoy learning with her. (Follow Laikas on twitter)

  • How to follow Twitter users in Google Reader on Clinical Cases and Images Blog by Dr. Ves Dimov.
  • In this post, Dr. Ves Dimov (who has a great blog in medicine) makes us discover a way to easily read Twitter updates without even following the people via Google Reader. Dr. Ves Dimov explains how this approach makes it easier for him to manage multiple information streams. Plus, Google Reader is web-based and can be accessed from any devide with an interent connection. (Follow Dr. Ves Dimov on twitter)

  • How to make and maintain a Library Twitter account on DigiCMB by Guus Van Den Brekel
  • Guus shows in this example of a new twitter account how to fine tune parameters to receive all the possible interesting updates and twitts right into your twitter account. This tutorial will definitely take you to the best practices in terms of interconnection and follow up! (Follow DigiCMB on twitter)

  • Allergy Notes: If you think blogs don’t matter, think again: this blog is the number one search result for “allergic rhinitis guidelines” on Allergy News Updated Daily Blog Dr. Ves Dimov.
  • Interesting reflexion by Dr. Ves Dimov on the role of blogs when looking for information online through search engines. From the example “allergic rhinitis guidelines” which is the first result on Google, and a blog post -hence listed before NEJM- he shares with us his vision of the future of search results. Blogs and fresh content can play a significant role but better quality source should always be sought for. (Follow Dr. Ves Dimov on twitter)

  • A review of the main reference management softwares on Knowledge beyond words by Valentin.
  • Through a detailed post, we describe the main citation managers available out there and their particularity. You should consult this article if you are to decide what is the citation managers most adapted to your needs and uses. There is also the results of a poll launched on twitter asking people what is their favorite citation manager. (Follow novoseek on twitter)

Thank you for reading this MedLib’s Round on Knowledge beyond words. We’d like to help spread Jacqueline’s message who is looking for ideas for a logo and a new name for the MedLib’s Round which is according to Berci, one of the important things of a blog carnival. So feel free to submit her your ideas, it will be much appreciated.

Feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed of MedLib’s Round Blog Carnival. Next MedLib’s Round will be published next January 5th on Dr. Shock’s blog and you can already submit your materials via this form.

Call for MedLib’s Round 1.9 submissions

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blog_carnival

The MedLib’s round is a monthly blog carnival which tends to show every month the best of the blogposts in the field of medical librarianship. We have been following the past rounds with great interest and even took part in some of them. Obviously, it allows to read and have a comprehensive view of the actuality in that field each month.

Last month, the MedLib Round was hosted by Walter Jessen from Highlight Health and dealt with subjects such as biomedical research, web2.0 tools, Pubmed redesign or the use of social medias for health.

Next round is hosted here on Knowledge beyond words. For this MedLib Round 1.9, we do not specify a theme to deal with as we’d like to encourage you to post your writings here.

Edit:MedLib’s Round is reported to December 13th.


Please submit your article before December 5th through this form and remember to come back read us soon. The MedLib’s Round 1.9 should be available on December 8th.

credit photograph

5 science social networks you should know about

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social_media_marketing
With the growing popularity of Facebook over the last year and the ever growing amount of highly specialized social networks, it was just a matter of time for specializing science networks to appear. With an almost constantly growing numbers of science social networks, it has been a hard time for us to list our favorites’ in a top 5 science social networks you should know about.

Why are specialized social networks growing popular?

The main function of a social network is to get people to connect between them. Whith networks like  Facebook (the first “real” player in social medias) people have discovered what it is like to share information and be up to date on relatives, friends and colleagues activities. Almost overnight one could share photographs, places he likes, opinions, weblinks, work experiences and so on.

Since we have a special interest in science, life sciences and web based services, we want to share with you our favorites science networks with this 5 science social networks you should know about.

  • BioCrowd
biocrowd

URL: http://www.biocrowd.com/
Tagline: a Social Network for Biosciences Professional
Main functionalities: We are delighted by this life sciences social network because it provides original content, podcasts, video, powerpoint presentations etc to the wider bioscience community. In details, it allows to:

  • Networking
  • Discussions Board
  • Jobs Board
  • Blog updates
  • Twitter updates
  • Podcasts & Videos

Date created: February 2009
Registered users: 1000 users in the life sciences domain only
Who is behind: Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D & Clifford S. Mintz, Ph.D (currently president of BioInsights, Inc, a company that specializes in bioscience training and career development)
We like: The focus on business interaction and career development for aspiring bioprofessionals. They try hard to promote a better understanding of the life sciences to the lay public. This life sciences community platform allows you to access valuable information in a click and is very easy to use.
Blog:
Twitter: @Biocrowd

  • ResearchGate
researchgate

URL: http://www.researchgate.net/
Tagline: Scientific Network
Main functionalities:

  • Networking
  • Discussions Board
  • Jobs Board
  • Groups
  • Browse literature
  • Advanced profile page

Date created: April 2008
Registered users: 140.000 and “growing fast” according to its founder.
Who is behind: Ijad Madisch, MD Ph.D & Sören Hofmayer.
We like: The possibility to custom the homepage thanks to the easy drag&drop boxes. The ability to rate and share publications. The network graph allowing you to potentially know what is your network like and expand it. Also, the groups discussions are lively and help keep updated in your area of interest.
Blog:ResearchGate Blog
Twitter: @ResearchGate

  • LabRoots
labroots

URL: http://www.labroots.com/
Tagline: Your Science Network
Main functionalities:

  • Networking
  • Blog Creation
  • Groups
  • Browse literature
  • Manage events
  • Jobs Board
  • Gadgetized tools

Date created: October 2008
Registered users:
Who is behind: Greg Cruikshank, current CEO at LabRoots but also managing director of more copmanies.
We like: The gadgetized homepage allowing one to really make it personal. Being directed to science people in general (and not only to life sciences) makes it hard to connect and having lively interactions.
Blog:
Twitter: @LabRoots

  • SciLink
scilink

URL: http://www.scilink.com/
Tagline: Science Connected
Main functionalities:

  • Networking
  • Groups
  • Manage events
  • Questions & Answers
  • Jobs Board
  • Trees of Science
  • CItation Manager

Date created: April 2008
Registered users:
Who is behind: Brian Gilman, Founder & CEO of SciLink.
We like: The Tree of Science which allows to connect and manage your contacts efficiently and virtually connect with 5.8 million other scientists.
Blog SciLink Blog
Twitter:

  • BioMedExperts
biomedexperts

URL: http://www.biomedexperts.com/
Tagline: Your scientific match point
Main functionalities:

  • Networking – Collaborating
  • Find people by keywords, name or places
  • Email
  • Advanced visualization system

Date created: January 2008
Registered users:
Who is behind: Columbia, South Carolina-based Collexis Holdings
We like: The goal of this science social networks to make interactions of people “locked in their labs” possible and providing them with a platform allowing it.
Blog:
Twitter:

We hope you enjoyed this selection and it helped you discover science social networks you should know about and subscribe to. Additionally, let us know if you are using any other science social network.

Companies & social medias: How far do you listen to your customers?

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listen

« How far do you listen to your customers? How are companies getting into social medias?” I have been thinking about asking you for a while now. In your company, do you have set up a platform (a blog, a twitter, a Facebook group, a getsatisfaction account, all of them at once) where they can talk with you? or where you could interact with them? If so, how far will you take into consideration what they say ?

You may be aware of how important are social medias today. You may also acknowledge the importance companies are granting them. Firms that have long been a one way inventing, developing and selling their products are now hiring costly consultants to get into “it“. Of course, “it” refers to social medias, users voice and to a -most of the time- unknown component of management. If they are not doing so, they still can hire a « community manager » or a « twitter manager » in a rush. I am not kidding, this job offer does exist as a twitter internship at Pizza Hut.

Undoubtedly, these jobs openings, this concern to get into social medias seem to be a consequence of several factors somehow connected.

  • People now have means to speak about a product thanks to the several existing platforms
  • Gathered in a community or through a communication channel, they have a voice and impact
  • Firms have discovered (or at least considered) that some people say things about them
  • And these things they say could either help them think and develop, benefit or do them harm
social_media_platforms

There comes the interesting part in terms of behavior and consideration towards customers. In your firm, have you developed something anticipating your users’ expectations or just responding to your boss and shareholders’ orders ? Depending on the answer, you are likely to succeed or fail.

In order to listen to your customers and get involved in discussions, there are already some good readings on the subject. I was surprised that when I asked « How far do you listen to your customer » on a our professional Linkedin Group, people would be likely to share their point of views and links. So there are few of them you may want to read :

design_by_committee_horse

I agree with statements expressed. Companies should listen to their customers. How far ? I don’t know yet. What is sure is that there must be a good balance between what you want to produce and what our customers’ expectations are. Listen too much to them and you will have the typical “design by committee horse“.

In the field of biotechnologies applied to the internet, listening is something rather new. At novoseek, this is something we put much emphasis on. We have several communications channels open and we try to answer every question that is asked to us. As to development’s needs, we take good care to explain why some of the suggestions are possible while others not. In any case, our Uservoice dedicated platform is the best place to suggest or ask us explanations.

Making long stories short, if you are a service or product’s user, how far do you think they are listening to you? And as a company employee, how far are you listening to them?

Is the Swine Flu infecting social medias?

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Swine Flu epidemics started a couple of weeks ago now and it has been largely covered in social medias. By social medias, I mean all those platforms where one is able to speak and share real-time information about swine flu. Like for other recent and outbreaking news, real-time information has shown its great and useful possibilities. In fact, recently they have been consulted and used to be broadcasted on mainstream channels such as television. I will insist on the “Twitter thing“, but not only and this is why we can talk of social medias.

The importance of Twitter has been largely acknowledged these past months. For example, this man twitting directly about the plane landing in the Hudson river or the Mumbay attacks. These are examples who have settled a new order in information releases. On one because people like you and me would be likely to become reporters -would they want it or not- able to release information and pictures. On the other hand because it would get people involved and react to attacks, threats or needs faster, as it was done for this hospital in Mumbai.

However, Swine Flu is pretty different: the epidemics is best managed by the WHO organization and there is few people like you and me could do besides informing about what is this disease about (H1N1, Influenza, etc). Are social medias information relevant for Swine Flu ? Is everyone entitled to speak about the Swine Flu on real time information platforms and social medias? Are there limits to one’s use of twitter? And, most importantly, are social medias infected with Swine Flu?

I was stuck by the amount of information people have been releasing on Swine Flu, regardless their specialty or their areas of interest. It just seems everybody had something to say and something to share on that matter. I admit that I (as part of the marketing team) decided too to enjoy this phenomenon to put a search example on H1N1 and swine flu in novoseek. But hey, we’re not the black sheep, other search engines did so, I’ll let you guess which ones.

To give you an idea of the phenomenon, let’s check on trends for swine flu in twitter. Obviously it’s been a hot potato on twitter. But not only. And interestingly, searches for this term experimented a great increase…that quickly dropped.

I understand this is something legitimate –getting worried and twitting about it. However not all of the twitts seem to be justified nor important. Indeed, people started joking about it or -even worse- spreading false information. And I sense that the “you can get swine flu by eating pork” comment is about to become a famous example. Trustworthy people have already been writing about it.

Don’t get me wrong, the problem is not in people joking about swine flu but in the information reliability. Since everyone can follow the hot news using the # hashtags in Twitter Search, it triggers a debate. How to find reliable information among users? Who can be trusted? Who should be avoided ? These are questions that matter-of-factly appear to me and should raise your conscience too.

According to the following statistics for Swine Flu in Google Trends we notice that the drop of interest is almost as fast as its rise. Are we dealing with a serious pandemics here, or just some buzz effect? I am wondering…

swine flu in google trends

The fact is swine flu has had its days and information –good or bad- has spread like fire over social medias. People would speak about it on Facebook too. This map shows how people have been updating their status mentioning “swine flu” in it. It has gone west to east.

This is a good illustration of how people started mentioning swine flu in social medias regardless the reliability or truth of information they would state. One more example, people would start making business over it and enjoying the phenomenon, worries or hysteria (no matter how you call it)… It seems like using the Swine Flu keyword was the key to success. You don’t believe me? Have a look at this advertisement in Google when you perform a search for “prevent swine flu“.

swine flu advertisement google

You’ll tell me that it’s always been this way, people would tend to enjoy people’s worries and buzz events. But I fear that Swine Flu has reached a new step.

Where are we going with social medias? Is the epidemics matter enough for people to be entitled to tell all sort of things over the internet? Do we have to find a way to select and filter our contacts ? Should we move to other (new?) platforms? There are questions I don’t know how to answer but I’d sure like to have your opinion about.