Delivering Targeted Information to Local Research Part 2 Eric Zimmerman 05 Aug 1997 02:34 EST
First of all, thank you to everyone who responded to my query of last Thursday. Almost everyone has pointed me to InfoEd and/or COS, which leads me to the conclusion that I did not explain myself adequately enough in my original posting. So, I'll try again. I'll try to be brief, and I hope it will be clear. I admit, that my thoughts may not be organized, as I am still at an early stage of developing this idea. Of course I am familiar with these two fine services, (InfoEd and COS) as I am with FEDIX, IRIS and the NIH FastLane systems. They are ALL quality services, but limited, in that they do not let YOU target YOUR messages and information to your academic staff members. At least as far as I can see. A unique drawback for me is that most of the funding opportunities in these US-based databases are not relevant for researchers "abroad", here in Israel, for example. There are funding sources in Israel and elsewhere, such as the European Union, for which we may apply. My problem here is that there is no central repository for the Israel-relevant information, and I do NOT want to point my researchers in too many directions. Furthermore, in Israeli universities, we pro-actively, perhaps to a greater degree than is common in the States, strive to assist our researchers ascertain information on grant opportunities and submit applications, we generate in essence many "calls" that we need to disseminate. My proposed system: The Targeted Information Portfolio (TIP) System Goal: Creation of a system of personal information pages for BIU researchers on the RA WebSite. Introduction: Researchers, as all professionals, increasingly need to digest ever-growing amounts of data. The trend of late is to deliver targeted information to specific populations, reducing the mass of data into manageable information, leading to a rich body of useable knowledge. Through the maintenance of a dynamic and unique user profile, managed by the researchers themselves, we propose to develop a system whereby researchers at the University will receive ONLY the information they choose to their computer. Information will concentrate on funding opportunities, financial data on current grants under RA administration, a listing of conferences in Israel, a database of resources and aids for the researcher, and the like. Access to the system will be username/password controlled. The system will reside within the Research Authority WebSite, at http://www.biu.ac.il/RA. This security system will allow for remote access (i.e. the home, sabbatical leave). Independent of this development, the RA is developing, an intelligent automatic email generation system. This feature plays a prominent role in the TIP system. Together, the passive system (email) and the active one (TIP), will serve to offer the research community of BIU state-of-the-art information delivery. What are my initial thoughts about the system? I am conceiving a system that will create on-the-fly webpages taken from data stored in a database. This system would... 1. let me channel my office-generated information to a target audience (see NSF FastLane), whereby reducing information overload; 2. allow the research community to decide for themselves what types of information they want to receive: by keyword, funding type, and funding source (see FEDIX); 3. allow for pre-defined searches of our Web-based digital library (see CustomCNN On-Target); and, 4. present on one html page all university information that is researcher-specific, i.e. payroll data, grant administration data, and so on. There would also be a pointer to: 1. an on-line form to update ones R&D profile in the university research catalog; and, 2. to other databases where their data is contained, such as INDARD (Israel National Database of Academic Research and Development), (http://www.ISRAD.ac.il) currently in development. It goes without saying that general information would also be available, such as: 1. a calendar of a) pending submission dates, b) conferences; and, 2. messages of importance to the entire university research community. In short, this system would be a one-stop shop for personal information. Realizing that many researchers will NOT avail themselves of this system, at least not initially, we will continue to develop a passive system of targeted email messages, with pointers to documents on our Homepage. At some point in the near future, I hope the "powers-that-be" at my University will take the courageous step of doing away with hard copy dissemination of mass quantities of paper. A rough schematic drawing is available upon request. I would very much appreciate your comments. -- Eric Zimmerman Research Grants Coordinator The Research Authority at Bar-Ilan University Ramat Gan 52900 ISRAEL +972-3-531-8097 Tel; +972-3-635-3277 Fax xxxxxx@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il ** http://www.biu.ac.il/RA