The first thing you do to start a day is to switch on your computer.You launch the e-mail software to have a look at dozens of e-mails inyour inbox, sort them out, and write replies. Then, you launch anothersoftware, this time a word processor, to write your paper, while
searching for a related paper on the web after launching a web browser,
and sending a short message to your co-researcher–this is what
researchers do routinely today. It used to be very different. The
information and communication technology has greatly changed how we
work in just less than ten years.
Nowadays, most research papers are not digitalized, but born digital.
E-mails, rather than airmails which were common ten years ago, are now
the fundamental way for international collaborations. Many scholarly
journals are not open to hand-written articles any longer. When you
want to register to attend an international conference, online
registration is becoming your only choice; you now find it difficult to
do so in a more conventional way.
As such, it is becoming absolutely necessary for a researcher to have
an information infrastructure available at any time; in fact, it is as
important as to have your office. In this case, the “information
infrastructure” means not only a high-speed connection and a computer
for your personal use, but a sophisticated and flexible service which
you can rely on, with integrated many different functions that are
“feasible on the web”, such as web-based e-mail, calendar, cabinet, and
online broadcasting systems. These are commonly called Web 2.0, and for
researchers, it is anticipated that a “Science 2.0” environment be
realized and become freely available.
This is what
Researchmap, which is
National Institute of Informatics(NII) launched in 2009, does. With all the necessary functions andservices included,
Researchmap will be the research infrastructure forthe next generation.
Researchmap enables users to create personalized websites, manage their research information, and network and collaborate with other researchers.
