Un entrada d’Eleanor Lowell al blog de la London School of Economics and Political Science senyala un camí molt interessant per mostrar la recerca d’una universitat. Lowell comenta el web de la Universitat de Warwick anomenat University of Warwick Knowledge Centre on periodistes i escriptors treballen de costat amb els investigadors de la universitat per tal de donar a conèixer el coneixement creat. Tot plegat fent de pont entre el registre que es fa servir a les publicacions originals i el registre dels mitjans de comunicació, i per arribar millor al públic.
… a pilot project with the aim of providing a public digital gateway to the university’s world class expertise and research. Bridging the gap between academic journals and the news media, it employs writers and journalists to work with academics and help tell the story of their research in a way that is accessible and engaging, as well as inviting staff and students to contribute articles and learning resources themselves.
Però el Knowledge Center no és només per comunicar de cares en fora, sinó també perquè la pròpia comunitat universitària conegui millor el coneixement creat:
For those looking to communicate their research activities the most immediate thing the Knowledge Centre can offer is a growing audience and not just an audience of external users – we have found that the academic community value the increased connectivity that it affords to their colleagues, highlighting research and activities that they might not otherwise have know about, and so spreading the impact of research wider.
Lowell comenta com cal aprofitar el fet que els departaments, grups de recerca i investigadors participen en els espais digitals, sempre de cares a la implicació de la societat:
University departments and individuals are increasingly interested in the digital space and the potential for demonstrating impact and public engagement. A growing number of academics and researchers are publishing articles online and contributing to various personal and group blogs. Complementing this, the Knowledge Centre aims to create an agile digital space for the university to develop new and existing initiatives – although it is early days there is scope to use this online space to provide more in-depth learning opportunities, by sign posting e-learning opportunities arising in different departments or publishing learning resources ourselves
En definitiva, es busca la implicació del públic (public engagement). No és pas fàcil, ja que
In an era of permission marketing, online attention spans are short. As such, Knowledge Centre staff are constantly trying to think of new ways to engage the audience, for example by providing opportunities to interact with academics and the student community through “live chats,” providing resources for learning, and facilitating video and audio coverage of Warwick events
Aquesta és una bona idea: fer accessibles els membres de la comunitat universitària a tota la societat. Ja està tot inventat, però aquest web de Warwick ho ajunta molt bé. Perquè el Knowledge Center està estructurat per temes (aquelles qüestions en què la U Warwick vol estar especialment en primera línia), àrees clàssiques de coneixement (ciències, tecnologia, lletres, etc.), eines per a l’aprenentage, “Pregunta a un expert“, etc… tot plegat en format text, podcast i video. Senzill però molt eficient.
Crec que és un exemple que cal seguir per a un centre de recerca o universitat. I per cert, també hi ha un blog per explicar el propi procés del Knowledge Centre. De fet, la raó de ser d’aquest centre és clara per a ells: The digital gateway to the University’s world class expertise, research and learning
The Knowledge Centre launched in July 2010 and is a major new initiative from the University which aims to ensure Warwick is your primary source of knowledge and learning providing access to our world class research, learning materials and leading academic experts.
Under a range of themes and a variety of exciting projects, the Knowledge Centre provides content of interest to alumni and friends including exclusive interviews with Warwick academics; specially commissioned videos and podcasts; topical news analysis; archive journals and documents; and online learning resources.
És a dir, es vol reforçar el paper de la Universitat de Warwick com a font reputada de notícies i d’expertesa, i també convertir-la en centre de discussió amb el public i amb els exestudiants.
El blog de la LSEPS té alguns altres articles altament recomanables, com per exemple Universities need proactive and imaginative strategies to communicate their research and to achieve high impact scores. Especialment en el camp de les ciències socials.