Introduction
BU Profiles is a software tool that supports research networking and expertise searches.
It enables individuals (either internal or external to Boston University) to locate
researchers by subject matter keyword or by First or Last Name, Institution, Department,
Division, Faculty Type, etc. BU Profiles is a new way to network and collaborate,
find potential mentors, search for relevant panel members and advisory board expertise,
evaluate research trends by investigator, and broadly surveys the community at large.
BU Profiles offers traditional contact information but then also shows how individuals
are connected to others in the larger research community. BU Profiles is brought
to the BU community by the Clinical and Translational
Science Institute (BU CTSI).
Important types of information displayed in an individual's profile:
1. Managed Descriptions: Name, titles, affiliation, phone
number and email address. Researchers can edit their own profiles, adding publications,
awards, narrative, and a photo.
2. Passive Networks: (Displayed on the right of each profile
webpage).
Automatically formed when BU researchers share common traits such as: work in the
same department, work in the same building, co-author the same paper, or research
the same topics (as defined, by publication keywords (e.g. "MeSH"). Passive
networks are automatically updated with each new publication cited in PubMed
3. Active Networks: (Displayed on the left of each profile
webpage).
Defined by each researcher and, if actively managed, can significantly enhance the
power and value of BU PROFILES. When logged in to BU Profiles and viewing other
profiles, you can mark individuals as collaborators, advisors, or advisees. In summary,
you can build your own network of close collaborators. Only you can only see the
network that you build. In the future you will be able to share your lists with
others.
Network Pages
Network Pages show all the people in a particular Passive or Active Network. Networks
can also include other types of profiles, not just people. A "concept" network is
a list of all the topics a person has written about. There are many ways to display
a network other than a simple list, and Profiles offers several types of network
visualization tools.
Connection Pages
Certain Network Pages will include a "Why?" link. These will take you
to a Connection Page, which shows why two people or profiles in that network are
connected. For example, the Why link in a co-authorship network lists the publications
that two people wrote together. The Connection Pages also reveal why certain people
appear higher on search results and why particular concepts are highlighted on a
person's profile.
Visualizations
Profiles Research Networking Software includes several different ways to view networks,
including (from left to right) Concept Clouds, which highlight a person's areas
of research; Map Views, which show where a person's co-authors are located;
Publication Timelines, which graph the number of publications of different types
by year; Radial Network Views, which illustrate clusters of connectivity among related
people; and Concept Timelines, which depict how a person's research focus has
changed over time.
Sharing Data
Profiles Research Networking Software is a Semantic Web application, which means
its content can be read and understood by other computer programs. This enables
the data in profiles, such as addresses and publications, to be shared with other
institutions and appear on other websites. If you click the "Export RDF"
link on the left sidebar of a profile page, you can see what computer programs see
when visiting a profile. For technical information about how build a computer program
that can export data from Profiles Research Networking Software, view the
Sharing Data page.
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