{"id":1599,"date":"2017-01-10T13:36:25","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T13:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeyoungacademy.dk\/keep-track-news-scientific-field\/"},"modified":"2017-11-14T13:34:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T13:34:08","slug":"keep-track-news-scientific-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeyoungacademy.dk\/da\/keep-track-news-scientific-field\/","title":{"rendered":"How to keep track of news in your own scientific field"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026or, how to make your own research field visible to others by acting like a news editor and finding the good stuff to share on LinkedIn and Twitter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a specialised professional you have many reasons to follow, like, and share developments in your own field on social media. Your perspective, your angle, and your rendering of an ongoing shared project is important to your close colleagues. And the following, liking and sharing puts yourself on the map with others in your wider network.<\/p>\n

In research groups in institutions, the scanning and monitoring of developments in a field can take on many forms. An\u00a0astrophysics group I followed in Copenhagen a few years ago<\/a> based theirs on updates from the global electronic scientific paper archive ArXiv and a subsequent\u00a0elaborate meeting system.<\/p>\n

Yet not many individual scientists and professionals set up their own\u00a0system to find\u00a0and share useful content. And this is where a news tracking and monitoring routine can be worthwhile.<\/p>\n

There is no reporting instinct<\/strong><\/p>\n

Humans have an instinctive reaction to news. We look up when things happen. But what we humans don\u2019t <\/em>have is an instinct for reporting it.<\/p>\n

Reporters and editors experience this all the time: Off-duty, or focused on something else, something suddenly happens that is relevant to the reporter\u2019s beat or specialty. But she doesn\u2019t see it as a story until she subsequently reflects upon it, after the event. Sometimes it is too late.<\/p>\n

\"Keeping

Photo: Esther Vargas, Creative Commons License<\/p><\/div>\n

The point is that in order to think about actually reporting a happening as a potential story, you have to consciously shift your role<\/em> back to your job as a reporter.<\/p>\n

Scientists and other professionals who communicate complex research with long term, introverted projects face the same problem as reporters and editors.<\/p>\n

You have to jump out of your primary role as scientist and professional to attune yourself to monitoring your field for new developments and sharing or reporting it to others. The role and mindset of doing science or other concentrated, long projects, can be at odds with the role and mindset of sharing and communicating with others. Even within your own field.<\/p>\n

But by using some of the tricks of the newsroom trade and by setting up a good news tracking routine, you can get around this problem. A good routine helps keep you on track, attuned to what is new, on a daily basis. As a bare minimum, it will at least allow you to keep track of what everyone else in your field considers news.<\/p>\n

Here below is a list of some newsroom tracking tricks for reporters that can be applied to other professional fields, including scientists:<\/p>\n

How to find news<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In science and research you will often be working from the desk. So the first tips are an inspiration for your daily office routine. Use half an hour at the beginning of your working day to keep a tab on what is happening via your desktop.<\/p>\n

On screen or in the office:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Feedly\"

Feedly doesn’t have a sexy interface. And the stuff you get up via your google alerts may look weird. But it works.<\/p><\/div>\n