Library interactions: An interview with Miggie Pickton

photo of narrow boat Rosalie

In this interview we hear from Miggie Pickton, Research Support Librarian at the University of Northampton. Miggie tells us about some of the challenges, themes and interactions involved in her work. What does your role involve? My job title is 'Research Support Librarian' and I lead the small (but perfectly formed!) library team … [Read more...]

A Norwegian experiment in cross-disciplinary collaboration

Kate Maxwell

Can a microbiologist perform groundbreaking research with a political scientist? Or an electronics engineer with an architect? As it seeks to find ways to move towards a zero-emissions society, the Research Council of Norway (Forskningsrådet) decided to host its first ‘idélab’, and find collaborative, holistic solutions to climate-change … [Read more...]

How do you measure your social media success? Let’s keep it simple.

graph

If you have a blog or you tweet, or perhaps your research team has a social media or web presence, then you may find yourself looking at that site's metrics, trying to make sense of the graphs, figures and numbers presented to you. In this blog post, I offer some simple tips for busy researchers. To keep it all simple, you need to … [Read more...]

Open and digital academics: Twitter hashtags to watch or use

screenshot of project report on public engagement & research

A recently released RCUK funded report on public engagement with research, based on a project designed to create the conditions where public engagement with research could flourish identifies challenges and solutions, and the keywords "open" and "digital" are clearly significant. Building on last week's list of general hashtags for … [Read more...]

Publish or Perish: where’s best to communicate research?

open pages of a book

Having completed my PhD at the end of last year, I've since been writing papers from it.  My work crossed disciplines of social and health sciences, and this has meant some serious consideration of where might be the best places to publish findings.  As I'm now based back in my home territory of midwifery, I've generally considered this … [Read more...]

What’s videography got to do with it? Classicist and guest vlogger Emma Cole shares her advice on academic videos

The image of the tweed-clad classicist sitting, isolated in their personal library, surrounded by Greek and Latin texts and writing by hand, or perhaps on a typewriter, could not today be further from the truth. Digital classics is a booming part of the discipline, encompassing a range of international projects such as the Open … [Read more...]

All kinds of conferences: A Brief Typology from our Arts & Humanities Correspondent

Medieval Congress WMU
Book Exhibit

Academic conferences in Arts and Humanities come, as it were, in all colors, shapes, and sizes, from small meetings by invitation to grand international affairs. This post takes a look at some of those types, and I give some examples of conferences that I rate highly. The large conference, also known as a congress. Conferences in my … [Read more...]

Increasing the impact of your research – evidence use in policy

As a researcher, it’s important to consider the impact of your research, and policy may be one area where your research can make an impact. What are the barriers to and facilitators of evidence use in policy? A recent systematic review investigated the facilitators of and barriers to evidence-based policy by undertaking a study of 145 … [Read more...]