Beta launch of 2collab – Elsevier’s new social bookmarking and networking tool has been released in Beta. I’ve registered and started tagging some articles – I’m finding it very simple to get in and working with it. Try it out yourself and see –
On June 26, the beta version of 2collab was launched to the Scopus and ScienceDirect Development Partners. 2collab is a new collaborative research tool that enables researchers to share bookmarks, references or any linked materials with their peers and colleagues. Users can share, collaborate and discuss resources either in private groups or openly with the wider scientific community.
A common scenario involves a researcher writing an article with co-authors around the globe. Using 2collab he/she can store and share information resources such as research articles centrally so colleagues can access them. Bookmarks can be tagged to allow new ways of searching and accessing information. In addition, researchers can comment, rate and evaluate these resources in their groups. This makes collaboration more efficient and helps researchers share, connect and explore. All without the need for long and complex email strings!
“2collab beta is just the starting point,” says Michiel van der Heyden, Senior Product Manager, ScienceDirect. “We plan to create a platform that allows researchers across the globe not just to collaborate on evaluating information but also to help them build new networks, share expertise, and discover new information resources. And we gain from having an opportunity to observe and learn from their behavior.”
While I realize Elsevier’s ScienceDirect and Scopus are the flagship services here, 2Collab would seem to be a great fit with Scirus. Since 2Collab tags open resources that others can locate from your tags, Scirus’ indexing across open science resources would be a good for the early discovery stages of lit research. Also, Scirus recommends terms to you drawn from the search results. I know tagging is supposed to be user-specified, but the idea is to use meaningful tags recognized by other users – Scirus has a great index already from its (linked) suggested terms. How about an icon to display Scirus terms accessible to 2Collab?
