In our Social Media Monday posts, we usually harp on the fact that, in order to thrive in the SocMed world, you must cover topics that are interesting to your readership.  We hope that we have been able to provide that for you all thus far, but also recognize that there are probably areas on which we don’t focus that would be valuable to our followers.  That’s why we are calling on YOU!

Since we’ve instituted our Guest Blogger program, you’ve been treated to submissions from VCU and Cornell, and more entries are on the horizon, including from our new friends in Australia who we met at the NCURA National Conference in November.  However, JHSPH ORA is always looking for individuals that are passionate about Research Administration and would be interested in becoming a guest blogger.

Do you have experience in Conflict of Interest, Compliance, Budget Justifications, Subawards, or another area of RA? Are you often times approached with certain questions that are relevant to persons outside of your colleagues?  Perhaps you host your own Research Administration blog and have an article you think our readers would enjoy? Well then, we would love for you to become a guest blogger for JHSPH ORA!

If you’re interested, please contact us at admin@bloggingora.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!

As most of you know, policy changes are a frequent and sometimes frustrating part of Research Administration. As Social Media advocates, we dedicate many of our tweets, posts, and blogs to these new policies so that all of you, our followers, can stay up to date. One of the most recent, and more grumbled about, changes was NIH’s implementation of new Conflict of Interest polices, released last August. Since then, Johns Hopkins has released its own revised procedures, but concerns still remain with respect to situations where PI’s interact with external parties.

Of particular attention is how Social Media, and its use by a PI, plays a role in the adherence to these new policies.  Last November, Dr. Matthew DeCamp, Clinical Fellow at the Berman Institute of Bioethics and DOM Division of General Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins, published an article detailing the uncertainty that has arisen through the use of Social Media sites to dispense information.  Dr. DeCamp was a guest speaker at a recent Johns Hopkins symposium on COI, and further discussed the related concerns and questions.

For example, 31% of medical blogs analyzed boasted product endorsements without any conflict disclosures.  Given how easy it is to disseminate substantive information through social media platforms, is there a responsibility for a site host to include a disclosure of interest (e.g. ‘I am receiving money for research from GSK’) along with any endorsements it may provide?  And, would these statements be communicated any differently, or more/less frequently, in an office setting?  Lastly, what about recruitments for clinical trials offered by a physician who also happens to have a separate relationship with the drug provider?  These are just some of the many questions that need to be addressed to allow both faculty and institutions alike to confidently move forward.

So far, both the American Medical Association and Federation of State Medical Boards have released their own policies.  However, with Social Media comparatively new and constantly evolving, it may be a while before anything all-encompassing is established.

Some of you may remember that the September/October issue of the NCURA Magazine published an article entitled Harnessing the Power of Social Media Pt.1, written by two of JHSPH’s very own, Charles Bartunek and Katie Magrogan. The article, the first in a series, described how social media, particularly Facebook, was an advantageous way for research administration offices to disseminate vital information to their faculty and departments.

Recently, Part Two of Harnessing the Power of Social Media was published in the December issue of the NCURA magazine, and continues the theme that social media is a fundamental tool for those involved in research administration. Specifically, Bartunek and Magrogan dive into other social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and blogs, as well as more emerging sites such as Google+.

For each of these social media devices, the article provides readers with an overview of what each of these outlets are and how they can be helpful for your office.  As in part one, the authors not only provide information as to how each site works, but also how to create accounts so that administrators can reach their audience most efficiently.

If you are interested in creating social media accounts for your office but aren’t sure where to start, we hope that you will utilize the resources in the article.  Additionally, we are always happy to talk shop with our colleagues at any stage in the social media process, as we are all just starting to learn how effective each platform can be to our efforts.

We hope that everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday, and that y’all are slowly but surely emerging from your food comas.

Given the impact of tryptophan and today being Cyber Monday, we thought we would keep Social Media Monday brief and continue promoting the SocMed efforts of NCURA, which we initially discussed two weeks ago.

Today, we direct you to Collaborate, which essentially operates as the NCURA offspring of LinkedIn and your favorite message boards.  With respect to the former, members can create a profile and utilize the site for networking purposes.  Regarding the latter, NCURA has created several different forums on myriad topics with the goal of encouraging discussion among research administration personnel across the world.

There are plenty of places to poke around once you’ve logged in, so take it for a test drive and take full advantage of what the site has to offer.  As a personal success story, we will be forever grateful to the site for alerting us to Brigette Pfister’s blog at VCU, who became our very first Guest Blogger in July.

There’s a lot going on with  Hurricane Sandy about to touch down here in Baltimore, Maryland. So today, from the safety of my home, I’d like to briefly discuss how social media can be a key source of information in times of trouble.

Although we normally like to focus on how social media can help to advance your office or department in regards to research, I find that it’s only appropriate to focus on how those at The Weather Channel have made it possible for you to stay up-to-date.

With Hurricane Sandy threatening the east coast, The Weather Channel (TWC) has a constant feed going through all of their social media networks. It’s important to utilize these social media outlets to keep informed on what’s going on around you. Yes, you can watch TWC on your televisions; however they also have a streaming website, an active twitter account and a Facebook page. By utilizing these other social media networks, TWC has offered a way for everyone to stay informed.

For updates on Johns Hopkins regarding class, office, and school closings check out JHU UPDATES or call (410)-516-7781.

Everyone please take caution and please stay safe.

Looks like it’s time for another Social Media Monday.

Recently we have been discussing what you can do to best utilize your media outlets, such as Facebook and twitter. But today I’d like to talk about how you can best utilize your outside resources to broaden your viewer-ship. Yes, you can spend countless hours poking, tweeting, and friend-ing hundreds of people and organizations but how are you going to reach those that have not yet jumped on the social media wagon, themselves?

Here are three fairly simple things that you can do…

1. Create some personalized Swag

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the term “swag” it can be interpreted in many different ways. We here in the JHSPH ORA office consider swag to be anything we can personalize with our blog/Facebook/twitter address and pass out to people at conferences. This can be anything from pens, mouse pads, stress balls, and water bottles. Basically, your office swag is a fun, and often times useful, business card for your social media networks.

2. Create a Newsletter

Newsflash—not everyone has a facebook or twitter, BUT everyone working at or with a university, has email! Your newsletters can be a compilation of some hot topics from your blog, twitter, or facebook that can be emailed to a listserv of 10, or even 500 people. By creating a Newsletter that can be emailed, you are able to reach those individuals that aren’t Facebook or Twitter fanatics. By featuring your twitter and Facebook links on your Newsletter, you may also encourage people to create accounts so that they may easily follow you in the future

3. Utilize your school’s resources!

So you think that you have done absolutely everything possible to get your name out there, so what’s next? Your schools event and communications marketing office can help! Their jobs are to be good at getting the word out about your school TO your school, so chances are they can help spread the word about your office’s resources too! Ask about their digital advertisements, hanging posters, and if they can promote your office’s social media information on their Facebook, twitter, and websites.

As avid social media users, we often seek out new ways to best utilize our platforms.  Two weeks ago, we passed on some advice about how to best use your Twitter account. Today, we will focus on Facebook and ways to make it work best for you.

First, we direct your attention to an article published in the September/October issue of the NCURA Magazine, written by two of our very own here at ORA at JHSPH.

Harnessing the Power of Social Media is Part 1 of a two-part series that dives into the most effective ways Research Administration offices can employ Facebook. The article details the importance of setup, creating user specific content, and how to generate a widespread membership.

“To put it bluntly, Facebook is the largest social network in the world, and not participating is a missed opportunity to reduce headaches both for you and everyone with whom you interact.”

Next, in the spirit of ORA partnership, I’d like to point out two schools that are taking full advantage of their Facebook accounts.

Duke University’s ORA

The Office of Research Administration at Duke University monitors and actively uses a Facebook Page. The layout they chose enables them to acquire “Likes” from other universities or organizations that want to follow that activity that they post on their page. The content on this page is also relevant to their office and their target audience. By posting information such as important upcoming deadlines, they are able to alert and remind their followers of things that they find interesting and relevant. Lastly, they also decided to use their full name on the page, “Duke University Office of Research Administration.” By doing this, they made their page easily accessible to individuals looking for ORA guidance in various search engines.

University of Arkansas Research Administrator’s Post (RAP)

The University of Arkansas has also utilized Facebook by creating a page for their sponsored projects office. This Facebook page also involves the “Like” ability, provides relevant content, and is easily found through the Facebook search bar. However, the University of Arkansas has a unique feature on their page that many research administration offices, including our own, may want to add to their own pages. RAP includes an application at the top of their site that provides a link to their Administrators Manual. This link sends a user to the UARK Research Administration page that provides various forms, guidelines and procedures that would be useful to anyone involved in Research Admin. By having this application linked to their Facebook Page, the information is availed to a wider audience and makes it more likely that relevant UA personnel will access accordingly.

Both of these schools are exceptional examples of how to effectively use Facebook to promote your office as well as provide information to your followers!

We get by with a little help from our friends

Once you’ve set up your various social media platforms, it can be daunting trying to figure out how best to publicize your new creations.  However, in a recent meeting with JHSPH’s marketing department, we discussed several helpful tips for getting the word out and being noticed, which we’re happy to share with our research administration brethren.  Today, we’ll focus on your Twitter feed.

#1—The Key to Success is the Creation

The most important way to utilize your Twitter account is to MAKE a Twitter account. Simply by putting your office out there gives you visibility. So, if you have already taken the leap into the Twitter world, than you’re already doing something right!

#2—Follow, Follow, and Follow Some More!

By following as many relevant people/groups/organizations/departments as possible, you are creating further visibility. For example, when you elect to follow a specific department you show them that you are interested in what they have to offer, and in turn they have the opportunity to check out your feed as well.  This can create a diverse network audience with minimal work for you, and, if you reference them in a Tweet (e.g. @SheldonORA), you’ll receive additional exposure.

#3—Relevant or Irrelevant, the Decision is Yours

If the information that you post is not applicable to the people you are interested in reaching, they won’t pay attention to your feed. You want to make sure that you are tweeting information that your followers will find useful and helpful. If you are having trouble finding information to tweet, check out some of these sites that we find helpful and informational!

• Chronicle of Higher Education — for recent news/blogs/fun facts, etc.
• NIH – for fast facts and information
• Rock Talk – Sally Rockey is NIH’s Deputy Director for Extramural Research, and writes a blog that provides updated information regarding everything NIH. It is an extremely useful resource of information.
• Your own school website – Your school’s site may publish relevant information to your department, so it is useful to follow them on Twitter as well as read up on the school site regularly. You may find that a particular staff member received an award, or there may be a new breakthrough in research that you had otherwise overlooked. These are things that will be interesting to your followers and are worth tweeting about!