:: Social Sciences Researchers Community - Concept paper

Overview

The community of social sciences researchers is in very much need for an effective communication tool and a sound structuring of the relevant information.

Due to the economic situation in Romania, there is a serious lack of funds for the research field and therefore researchers cannot use all ICT facilities. At the same time, researchers are by definition a category of people eager to absorb what is new. A project aiming at supporting the creation of a resource center where those interested could post and retrieve relevant documents would be more than welcomed.

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The Project

"Social Sciences Researchers Community" aimes at establishing a centralized basis of relevant information resources and of an internet-based network of resource centers. The project is addressed to the researchers active in the social field.

According to the Webster Dictionary, a community is a unified body of individuals of common interests spread through a larger society. An online community is a web-based system that enables people to work together or educate each other. A successful community serves a clear purpose in the professions or lives of its members, and also meets the fundamental goals of its owners.

The Project will focus on the following specific issues:

1. Design and set up the community
The design is a process of gathering and organizing information on the structure of the community, the focus being on the representation of the professional community's internal system of relations and the creation of a "formative context".

2. Advertise the community
The Internet address of the community as well as its aims and services will be widely publicized throughout specific channels (specialized newsletters, magazines and web sites).

3. Working group
During the first phase of the project, a one-day workshop will be organized, aiming at defining the ground rules and the plan of activities. The scientific advisory board will be also elected, its role being to supervise the scientific content of the site.

4. Focus groups and online surveys
In order to identify the needs of the community's members, a series of focus groups and online surveys will be organized. Following its results, new services and topics will be developed within the site.

5. Development of the community
The emphasis will be on offering a very dynamic community platform. The community sites will include decentralized publishing and community-building tools to do the following:

• Post and manage news section relevant for the community
• Manage and develop content - define own subtopics, decentralized cataloging of knowledge resources by topic and category
• Maintain a calendar of events
• Host a directory of the communities members (both organizations and individuals)
• Moderate community and discussion forums
• Carry out site-wide search
• Ability to collect user comments on any item within their site
• Notifications sent to members about new content on the site

6. Researchers and the Online Communities
The workshop aims at evaluating the results of the project and spreading out the best practice models regarding the Internet based communities and their role in strengthening the professional communities.

7. Evaluation
A periodic evaluation of the community's activity will be carried out. The results will be published on the community's web site and will represent the starting point of its future development.

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Project results

- Better communication and access to information
The project will enhance the communication and exchange of information within the community and with the stakeholders.

- Enhancement of the cooperation
Through out the activities carried out by this project the cooperation between the researchers active in the social sciences field will be improved and thus their results.

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Partners

Center for Social Science Research, a nongovernmental organization based in Timisoara

eRomania Gateway (eRG) is a not-for-profit organization, its mission being to promote and support the e-development in Romania. Established in November 2001, the Association is an open partnership between the public sector (represented by the Romanian Government as a founding member and under the umbrella of the Romanian Presidency), the business community and civil society organizations.

Specific objectives include:

• to develop and manage a leading portal on Romania, "Romania Development Gateway" (RDG), within the context of World Bank's "Development Gateways" (DG) initiative, which aims to assist countries in establishing a presence on the Internet through Country Gateway portals;
• to assist the Romanian Government and Romania in general in drawing-up and implementing various initiatives part of the national information strategy, presenting them with clear guidelines guarantees so that they will be successfully implemented in a medium and long- term perspective;
• to conduct public awareness campaigns on IC&Ts impact on economy, education, and society as a whole.
  

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