Research Networking Usage at a Large Biomedical Institution

Anirvan Chatterjee, Katja Reuter, PhD, John Daigre, Eric Meeks, Katherine Nelson, Cynthia Piontkowski, Rachael Sak, RN, MPH, Brian Turner, MBA, Leslie Yuan, MPH, Maninder Kahlon, PhD

Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of California, San Francisco

Introduction
Biomedical institutions have widely deployed institutional expertise discovery and researcher networking systems, including VIVO, Harvard Catalyst Proles, and SciVal Experts. Institutions have invested in networking systems drawn by the promise of enabling collaboration, matchmaking and other key needs for accelerating translational researchbut evidence is limited on the extent of usage of these tools and their perceived value in the research community. UCSFs Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) invested not only in early deployment of the tool but also in a multipronged approach to user-focused design, promotion, and analytics. Twenty-six months after launch, UCSF Proles, UCSFs research networking system is receiving over 2,000 visits per day, driven in large part by search engine optimization and strategic linking initiatives with major campus web properties.

What is UCSF Proles?

contact information

Trafc over time

We track both overall trafc, as well as power user trafc from our core targeted audience (oncampus users who spend 2+ minutes per visit).

Why use the system?

An on-site survey offers insights into how users make use of UCSF Proles. Examples:
Great resource for nding potential research" collaborators and for PhD dissertation committees I am hoping that it just helped me nd a mentor It has helped nd new nursing research problems It is wonderful to nd current publicationsfor our" annual report and for some grant applications. I am writing a letter in support of the faculty member " whose prole I just consulted. Gives me a prole of a potential contributor to a book Helps my company serve the UCSF community better Put together a list of potential guest lecturers Review the background and experience of an author For contacting expert reviewers

Daily visits from all sources

Daily 2+ minute visits from UCSF

40

prole page for every researcher on campus

2,250

2,000

35

research areas

1,750

30

1,500 25

publications, grants, etc. related people

1,250 20 1,000 15 750 10

500

250

Whos using the system?

UCSF Proles is used heavily by both internal and external audiences. On-site survey data shows that UCSF audiences include researchers, administrators, support staff, and external audiences include researchers, reviewers, doctors, and patients.

How do users nd it?

UCSF Proles users are most likely to arrive by searching Google for a researchers name In January 2013 Search engines drove 68% of visits on campus, and 74% outside Links from UCSF websites drove 26% of visits on campus, and 10% outside

What do they look at?

Virtually all users look at individual researcher proles, driven in large part by search engines. However, users who land on the home page are more likely to make heavier use of the site. In January 2013 96% of all visits hit a prole pages 5% of all visits hit the home page

Methods & Tools

The UCSF Proles teams usage analysis is based primarily on the extensive use of Google Analytics, including the use of custom events and trafc segmentation. This has been supplemented with several user input mechanisms, including an on-site survey shown to all users. This work was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through UCSFCTSI Grant Number UL1 TR000004. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the ofcial views of the NIH.

Visits per Day By Location (January 2013)

World, outside of USA, 397 Core UCSF campus, 282

Visits Per Day by Source (January 2013)

Direct / Unknown / Email / Private browsing, 214 Other non-UCSF websites, 48 Other UCSF websites, 171

Landing page Home page via search engines via other sources
Google search, 1419

Visits per Day" Avg. pages Trafc % January 2013 per visit 74 33 41 1,921 1,458 464 4% 2% 2% 93% 70% 22% 5.3 4.9 5.3 1.5 1.4 1.7

San Francisco, outside core UCSF campus, 287

UCSF.edu news stories, 29 UCSF.edu online directory, 76 UCSF.edu internal search engine, 49 Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines, 67

Prole page via search engines via other sources

USA, outside of California, 667

California, outside of UCSF, 440

Clinical and Translational Science Institute / CTSI

Accelerating Research to Improve Health

UC SF