Google Scholar provides a simple way to search scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles. However since the update of the Google homepage with its new minimalist look, it is not so high profile. It’s probably quicker just searching for Google Scholar to get to it! Once there you can search for literature and now can save useful and relevant articles to your own library. Continue reading
Lily Cole, perhaps better known for her roles in film and fashion; is a recent graduate of Cambridge University and Founder of Impossible. Impossible is a social network based on the principle of gift exchange. Users can post wishes and they are answered with gifts. When a wish is granted recipients can respond with a ‘thank you’ post. These thank-yous are recorded on the user’s profile for all to see, a sort of virtual tally of their generosity.
make a wish.
take a wish.
say thanks. Continue reading
Getting to grips with Facebook settings is an important part of being in control of your online presence. We all love sharing updates and photos, but are you sharing them more publicly than you think? Take a look at who can see your past posts and limit the audience if you’re not comfortable with anything. Continue reading
As a blogger, author of a book, chapter or article; it should come as no surprise that we look to find ways to increase readership. This morning whilst researching for a project I am working on, I came across an article by Professor Christine Pascale who provides a list of tips for researchers and authors to improve research visibility and impact. Whilst this focuses on research, many of the tips can easily be applied to any form of writing you wish to share. It could be your blog about poetry or a book you have written. Continue reading
In previous posts I wrote about how to find images that have a Creative Commons licence and how to choose and apply a Creative Commons to your work It is important to remember that other people’s images must always be attributed and those which have copyright must not be used without permission. By searching for images that have a Creative Commons licence you will save yourself a lot of time.
The infographic below from Foter is a clear and useful visual guide which captures why a Creative Commons is important and explains what each of the licences represent.
Towards the end of infographic it also shows you how to attribute Creative Commons images that you may wish to use. Attributions can either be placed immediately below the image or within a blog or presentation for example, could be listed at the end.
How To Attribute Creative Commons Photos by Foter – CC BY SA
Having just watched an excellent screencast on how to spot a phishing scam created by Nik Peachey, I wanted to share his excellent tips.
Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
Nik’s screencast takes you through a real example of a fraudulent email which looks as if it has been sent by BT Yahoo. The short video points out the important things to look for to check for authenticity. I recommend you taking a look.
Nik advises that the key pointers to look out for are as follows:
To add, Microsoft warn about the misuse of web addresses by Cybercriminals. This is where they re-create an address that resembles the names of well-known companies but are slightly altered by adding, omitting, or transposing letters. For example, the address ‘www.microsoft.com’ could appear instead as:
This is called “typo-squatting” or “cybersquatting.”
Emails that sound too good to be true very often are. Taking care to check the points above will help to minimise risks. Microsoft offer further advice on how to protect yourself from email and webscams.
This is a very useful sizing guide for selecting images for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. Thank you Ashleigh Lay for sharing this infographic and the embed code for others to share on their blogs.
There are over 7.13 billion in the world today and every 24 hours 40% of these people go online to search, create, curate, learn and engage in social media. During this time an astounding 2.7 billion likes will take place on Facebook, where 1 in every 7 minutes online is spent. On LinkedIn 15.6 million searches will take place, on Slideshare 100 million page views, and on Google+ 5 billion uses of the +1 button. Continue reading
There is an increasing movement to openly share information and to encourage people to re-share through Twitter or any of the other social channels. Many do not want to attach strict copyright to such work, but still want to be attributed. They may wish to only share if the work is not edited or is not used for monetary gain. The use of Creative Commons licences is an excellent way to ensure it is clear what you are happy with. Continue reading
LinkedIn maps is a great app which allows you to create an interactive map of all of your connections on LinkedIn. You can click on each node and view the profile of that connection as well as zoom in to see how your connections are connected to each other. You will see groups of connections in different colours. When you hover over the nodes you will find that there are commonalities, such as groups of people you have worked with. In the bottom left hand corner of the map you can give names to these colour coded groups. As you will see on my map, I have identified colleagues from Sheffield Hallam University, colleagues in Higher Education from other countries and those with social media specialisms to name just a few. Continue reading
The Guardian: Social Media
Sue Beckingham
Social Media for Learning 