Jeff Lang
Market Manager for Graduate Research
ProQuest
Major social networking communities like Facebook and MySpace fill a social need to build your online identity and connect with friends, but online communities are evolving to meet other information needs. The same social model can support communities of shared interest, and these niche communities complement the larger social sites. GradShare is an example of a focused online community where research-oriented graduate students can ask questions and get answers about the challenges they face while pursuing their degrees. The presentation will include lessons learned and discuss the strategy for including university administrators in the community. GradShare was developed in close collaboration with the Council of Graduate Schools and incorporates feedback from the nine beta school participants, including over 600 graduate students.
Handout (MS Word)
Presentation (PDF)