Making Your Research Usable Online

Editor's Notes

• #2: IssueLab works at the forefront of knowledge mobilization in the nonprofit sector. Besides archiving work and facilitating access to it, we also provide advocacy, education and services to help organizations make their research more usable online. This webinar will _Give brief overview of shift in information needs _Share thoughts on usability, what it means in online context _Follow evolution of what already happens online _Take a closer look at tools at disposal and tips for using them _Cover case story for smart content creation & use
• #3: Why do we need to worry about making our social and policy work usable? A shift in how people want info, means shift in how we give it. On the receiving end, this means: Folks expect research in familiar environments Audiences share info amongst themselves Want easy access to info they can understand For us nonprofits and knowledge creators, it means: Allowing research transfer into different networks Providing access to findings within social media These two items are associated with relinquishing a bit of control. Creating content from research that's easily shared
• #4: Traditionally, dissemination has heavily focused on pushing information & Public Relations/press. Typical action items no longer work...
• #5: ...because in an online environment, usability takes on a new meaning. Usable research means: _ catering to short attention span and info overload _ your audience can actually find it _ getting attention & speaking to viewer _ shareability, which can be accomplished in different ways
• #6: By making our research usable, we're actually trying to enable dissemination. Here is an evolution of what already happens online, by example of a research report released by the IFPRI. _ all these action points happen because an organization or individual is interested in the research – they find a way to share it.
• #7: This is great coverage, from traditional perspective. This organization was able to get great press and reach a wide audience. But, the audience really only reads what a journalist has written about your research, not the research itself. This kind of coverage still important, but as research producers, there is so much more we can do. The Good news is that nonprofits can start right now to make their research more usable to enable and encourage direct dissemination by audiences, without having to wait for a big break or press coverage.
• #8: Start by giving your audience the tools it needs to talk about the research. So when nonprofit publishes a report, we do as much as we can to help a person interact with the report.
• #9: These are some of the most common tools we see used in online dissemination today.
• #10: Remember: Social platforms also include online networks (ning, LinkedIn, Google Groups, local networks) where people gather around particular topics. For those of you on Twitter (or interested in engaging): _ people like to RT statistics _ encourage jump from press release to social media _ Ex: look for relevant hashtags (indicator for convo around particular topic) On facebook: _ it's easy for folks to express support/opinions _ look for groups relevant to your research _ Ex: post research on fan page
• #11: There are fairly simple widgets that encourage sharing. This works best if your report has a separate web page. Blogs are great vehicles for information – whether you write one yourself or are a source for others _ delve deeper into background or details _ find others who already write about your issue _ as expert on the topic, compose short guest posts to offer others
• #12: Considering open licensing for your research is a dimension that can really add to mobilizing your knowledge. Feeds are helpful to audience and an easy, time-saving tool for organizations. Consider adding your research to IssueLab.
• #13: Finally, I'm going to share a case study of outreach around a report by ULI which was just released this month. ULI created a great new website to accompany the report, which is wonderful but not necessaryif you don't have the resources – most of following activities can be achieved separately.
• #14: First – report is contextualized for user: _ explains efficient housing developments and what this means _cost calculator _ external resource links and other like-minded organizations
• #15: Second, this setup encourages the reader to take part by: _ passing the research along to peers _ finding the ULI in other online environments _ reading quotes from officials and experts, and submitting comments themselves _ staying connected
• #16: ULI and collaborating organizations had a strong online dissemination plan. (This is how I found out about the report) _online push to get the research to interested folks _listening to the conversation and taking part (retweet)
• #17: Finally, the actual report page is set up in a very user-friendly way. _ it helps readers to get short abstract or bullets of findings or recommendations _ separate documents for key findings (important for journalists and audiences on deadline) _report access, bookmarking and sharing
• #18: List of helpful links for some of the topics in this presentation.