There are a large number of community sites dedicated for scientists and physicians such as ResearchGATE, BiomedExperts, Sermo, Tiromed, ScienceStage and many others, but the latest one has already been announced in the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently announced a prototype networking application called Digital/Vita to help physicians and research scientists find appropriate collaborators quickly and efficiently (J Med Internet Res 2008;10[3]).
Scientists are still using traditional methods (e.g.: browsing through the literature or asking knowledgeable colleagues) to find potential candidates for collaboration, but these are becoming increasingly inefficient.
Digital/Vita will help them become more efficient by automatizing much of this process. Its main focus is on the CV, but you won’t be spending hours filling out another CV, since the system is supposed to recognize various formats, and help you export that data in various other useful formats such as grant applications.
Managing biographical information with Digita/Vita not only requires no extra effort from a scientist compared with traditional approaches, it actually reduces effort because the raw biographical information is converted automatically to several frequently used standard formats.
Is this a vital project? It sure adds simplicity to social media based on the snapshots. After all a list of contacts and a good, manageable CV is all one needs in professional life. The rest is just decoration [on Facebook].
Further reading:
– Andras
