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 isNational 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.