Clinical and TranslationalScience Institute / CTSIat the University of California, San Francisco

Profile Locally, Network GloballyEric Meeks and Brian Turner, CTSI at UCSF University of California Computing Services Conference, Aug 4, 2014

Research Networking

• VIVO, Profiles, SciVal Experts, many others

• Most universities have one (to several) in place

• LinkedIn for Researchers

LinkedIn for Researchers …

with some twists.

http://profiles.ucsf.edu

Why do institutions roll their own?

Credibility

• The home institutions know their researchers best.

• Prestigious publications look to institutional systems for reliable info.

Customization

Local engagement leads to richer profiles

… which leads to more page views

Users are happy with UCSF Profiles

• Helped me prepare lectures and work with students• I found a potential book contributor • It helps me find info about faculty • Identify potential mentors • Looking for research opportunities • Great resource for finding potential research

collaborators and for PhD dissertation committees• Helped prepare research critique• Helped find new nursing research problems• Found info about doctors

Networks however, are not local

• Researchers work with people across the country and world.

• Networks thrive when free and unfettered

The research environment has changed

• Funding agencies ask/require that researchers collaborate

• Harder problems require bigger and/or more selective teams

• Larger networks will have more specialized expertise– Get the best person, not the best one close by

Challenges for Cross-InstitutionalResearch Networking

• Users can’t be expected to manually connect to collaborators at other institutions.

• Data sources

• Disparate systems don’t share information

The Technologies to Connect Local Profiles in a Global Network

• Linked Open Data and a Common Ontology (VIVO) for data recognition

• Shibboleth/Incommon/OAuth for Authentication

• OpenSocial to connect different systems to common services

Linked Open Data and OpenSocial in Action

Live Demo:

http://stage-r2r.ucsf.edu/crosslinks/indexclick very slowly please….

http://stage-profiles.ucsf.edu/eric.meeks

Roadmap(in grid format)

LinksReal/Artifact

ActivitiesOnline

Activities

RealConnections X Coming soon! Coming soon!

Virtual Connections

Coming soon! Coming soon! Next Demo

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Linked Open Data, OpenSocial, OAuth and ActivityStreams in Action

http://activitystrea.ms/• Webfinger• Pump.io• Indie Web Camp

Live Demo:http://stage-profiles.ucsf.edu

http://stage-profiles.ucsd.edu

Roadmap(in grid format)

LinksReal/Artifact

ActivitiesOnline

Activities

RealConnections X Coming soon!

(best value)Coming soon!

Virtual Connections

Coming soon! Coming soon! X

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Next Steps

• Install our own ActivityStreams server

• Consume activities from UCSF/UCSD/USC/LBNL

• Consume activities from R2R/Crosslinks

• Build more gadgets for displaying and generating activities

• Share everything!

Thanks!

http://profiles.ucsf.edu/brian.turner

http://profiles.ucsf.edu/eric.meeks

Roadmap(in grid format)

LinksReal/Artifact

ActivitiesOnline

Activities

Public n/a Chatter->Activity Streams

Chatter->Activity Streams

RealConnections X Coming soon!

(best value)Coming soon!

Virtual Connections

Coming soon! Coming soon! X

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wor

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Content