Institutions as well as researchers face challenges in presenting a clear picture of their research capabilities both internally and to the outside world. And even though these institutions seek to encourage networking and cross-disciplinary collaborations, they have not put the right mechanisms in place to support and nurture networking among researchers. It is not uncommon to find a disconnect between the functional areas in a research environment with more attention and resources going into the administrative, instructional and research computing needs rather than the evolving nature of research. It is even more challenging when considering scenarios beyond one institution to try and understand research patterns or identify specific expertise. Scientific information is hardly delivered with consistency except within the confines of some narrow disciplines. It is important for research institutions and researchers to communicate their activities, expertise, results and resources in a way that can be understood and reused not only within their institutional boundaries but also nationally and internationally.
Key to overcoming this predicament is devising a way to bring together authoritative information from local institutional contexts to meet the needs of researchers, their teams, and institutions, and promote Research Networking (RN). RN is the use of Research Networking tools to discover and use research and scholarly information for the Research Enterprise. Research Networking Systems (RNSs) have provided a remedy for researchers and institutions to showcase their research competences, activities and accomplishments to enable discovery of persons with common interests and facilitate team work. Besides this, they facilitate networking among experts within and across institutions.
Key to overcoming this predicament is devising a way to bring together authoritative information from local institutional contexts to meet the needs of researchers, their teams, and institutions, and promote Research Networking (RN). RN is the use of Research Networking tools to discover and use research and scholarly information for the Research Enterprise. Research Networking Systems (RNSs) have provided a remedy for researchers and institutions to showcase their research competences, activities and accomplishments to enable discovery of persons with common interests and facilitate team work. Besides this, they facilitate networking among experts within and across institutions.
