Issue 34 / Contents / Page 12 of 17: Researchers and new techology

Like or
unlike? Young researchers’ attitudes to the social web

We understand that insights into your doctoral students are valuable for improving their experience and ensuring that your research retains its competitive edge. Following the release of a JISC and British Library study, we examine the findings and what you might do to support your young researchers.

Generation Y research students are defined in this study as those born between 1982 and 1994

Research students are hampering themselves and the wider research community by being slow to embrace open web technologies and social media fully.

That’s the story that emerges from the final report from the ‘Researchers of Tomorrow’ project, a three year longitudinal study commissioned by the British Library and JISC to set a benchmark for the research behaviour of Generation Y doctoral research students. It will be used to help in measuring the behaviours of future generations. The study has also sought to offer guidance to library and information professionals on how they can be most effective in helping young academics with their research needs.

People are too cagey about their research and so scared about being ripped off that they will gladly sacrifice any potential scientific benefits.”

The final year of the study looked in detail at researchers’ use of social media applications within the research setting, and it found that, over the three-year period, there has been a gradual increase in use of the social web and social media. Interestingly, Generation Y students are only very slightly more likely to use them than older ones, and are innately sceptical – they will adopt new technologies only when they are really convinced of the benefits in doing so.

Certainly, institutions are promoting the benefits of openness and this may be one reason for the increase in its acceptance. But researchers remain far more likely to use open technologies and applications to search for material for their own research than they are to add their own data into the mix. For example, 23% of all the students (including older ones) have made passive use of online forums, but only 13% have taken an active part in any discussions: 23% followed blogs, but only 9% maintained a blog themselves. Active take-up of institutionally-provided open web resources remains low.

Recognise this person?

What is a typical Generation Y research student like? How do they work, and think?

Click all that apply...

Like generations of their predecessors, Generation Y researchers tend to work alone, and have a strong sense of their own isolation, especially in the less self-confident early years of their research project.

Many find solace in their own primary workspace – their computer – which they find a comfortable and safe place to be. And while they appreciate the world that computers and the internet open up for them, and their capacity to speed work along, they are surprisingly cautious about adopting new technology applications.

And yet, they tend to rate themselves as both confident and competent with IT, so there is no ‘techno-fear’. What comes out of the research very tellingly is that Generation Y researchers have well-established and cherished working practices, and will adopt new applications and methods only when the potential benefits are very clear, and where they can be assimilated easily into existing methods.

The internet is overwhelmingly the tool of choice in searching for information, and Google is still the go-to discovery channel. But the general feeling is that, while it offers breadth, good old-fashioned books are best for detailed study. And when a detailed resource does present on the web, many researchers are still likely to print it out and read the hard copy – both because they don’t like doing it on-screen and because they worry about the transient nature of material found on-line.

They get very frustrated when they can’t get hold of material they want, often because journals are by subscription only, or because of licensing issues: e-journals are a hugely important resource for them. When they genuinely can’t obtain what they want, they are likely to make do with an abstract, and move on.

Most work either in an office or a lab at their institution, and they set a high value on support from their peers, as well as their supervisors when the going gets tough. These are the people who are likely to be most influential when it comes to decisions about adopting new methods, and for assistance in doing so.

It is clear that a continuing lack of understanding about the nature of Open Access is holding many back. They fear that putting their own work out there will bring them no positive benefits, and may even have a negative impact.

These comments from the final year report are two among several expressing similar concerns:

“I wouldn’t ‘publish’ anything as it wouldn’t be possible to reference for others and so my work could in essence be stolen (at least I wouldn’t increase my own or my institution’s citations which renders ‘publishing’ like that pretty useless).” (Engineering and computer sciences researcher)

In the six months to March 2011 the number of Tweets posted daily on Twitter doubled to 140 million.”

“People are too cagey about their research and so scared about being ripped off that they will gladly sacrifice any potential scientific benefits [to sharing].” (Science, technology and medicine researcher)

There are a number of quick-win ways in which institutions could address this particular finding. Louisa Dale, senior relations and support manager at JISC, has been overseeing the last phase of the study for JISC. She says: “Institutions could easily direct their research students towards some of the JISC guides to open access to say, ‘look, this is how you do it, and this is how it could benefit you’.

“Also, we found many doctoral students expressed a preference for support, advice and practical help from their supervisors, library staff and peers. So it could be that library staff decide to set up drop-in sessions or a dedicated Twitter account for queries, in addition to the more traditional training sessions.”

You can find out more about supporting digital literacy among your students and staff here.

Solutions at a more strategic level will doubtless emerge when pro-vice chancellors for research consider the final report: it offers a very quick and easy way to get inside the heads of today’s young PhD researchers, and to see both how they differ from previous generations, and how they don’t.

Some of the study findings echo other research carried out by JISC, showing that Generation Y students are not so very different from older ones. But they are working in a very different environment in terms of technology than researchers even a few years ago, and it is one of the main challenges universities face that the whole area is still changing so fast.

We want to make sure that everyone within the university – from the blogging vice chancellor to the researcher connecting on Twitter – can and does utilise the latest technologies.”

In the six months to March 2011 the number of Tweets posted daily on Twitter doubled to 140 million. This means that universities have to move very quickly to help their researchers take advantage of new trends.

Louisa Dale said: “Universities are under enormous pressure now, and staff are having to make a lot of decisions, very quickly. JISC’s role is to help by stepping back a little from the everyday, and asking: What’s coming up? What is changing about the way your researchers are working and using technology? And what does that mean for how JISC can help?

“We’re keen to release the study findings openly, to enable all organisations and institutions supporting the researcher to take a closer look and think about ways they can extend and improve UK research excellence. We want to make sure that everyone within the university – from the blogging vice chancellor to the researcher connecting on Twitter – can and does utilise the latest technologies to inspire and transform higher education and research.”

Read the report online or download a copy.

Listen to a podcast with Julie Carpenter of Education for Change who wrote the report (MP3 download).