Group items tagged

"The current system of measuring scholarly influence doesn't reflect the way many researchers work in an environment driven more and more by the social Web. Research that used to take months or years to reach readers can now find them almost instantly via blogs and Twitter."

"We live in a world of too much information and not enough knowledge. No one feels the strain of that digital-age truism more than journalists, who are asked to ferret out and process information with ever-increasing speed - and often at the expense of providing solid context for the news of the day. Journalist's Resource, a new online tool developed at Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, aims to put that background knowledge at the fingertips of reporters, bloggers, or even concerned citizens by making the work of academics less opaque and easier to find. But the website, which curates scholarship on government, economics, society, and the environment, is more than just a reliable shortcut for deadline-driven journalists. "There is a real need for deepening journalism with verified, high-quality knowledge that informs the kind of serious journalism that makes our democracy work," said Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center and a lecturer in public policy at HKS.   "It becomes very difficult for journalists, journalism professors, and students to go through and find the key items that would help them. We're trying to be a useful filter and curator."...."