Sharpening Your Research Profile on the PennExpertise Database

Penn faculty members can now add and update their records in PennExpertise, the University's network-accessible database of faculty and their research specialties.

The database supports full-text searching and was designed to enable faculty members to identify potential research collaborators, students to locate potential advisors, and staff to respond to inquires from potential donors, the media, and others. Maintained under the auspices of the Vice Provost for Research by Baltimore-based Community of Science (COS), PennExpertise is now accessible via the Internet to all American universities and to a set of commercial research organizations that pay fees to COS.

Faculty members already in the database will soon receive via campus mail an individual username and password with which they can be authorized to update their records. Other faculty members can access the database directly, assigning themselves a username and password for use in subsequent updates. All access is via "forms-capable" World Wide Web clients, such as Netscape, Mosaic, and Lynx.

Background

In 1993, the PennExpertise database was developed and edited into a consistent format by COS from faculty members' varying curricula vitae. Delivery to the Penn community was via a "Gopher" database using a "WAIS" index for full-text searching. About half of the standing faculty contributed data to the database at that time.

In the past year, COS, like most other Internet-based publishers, converted its user interface to the World Wide Web and added on-line forms to enable faculty members (or their proxies) to add and update records. A committee charged by former Vice Provost for Research Barry Cooperman assessed the COS approach and has recommended that the University continue participating in the COS program, which now includes over 40,000 researchers from nearly 100 universities. The new, WWW-based interface is now available on the "Faculty View" in the redesigned Penn Web.

Several aspects of the COS program were noted by the committee:

• Although the vendor's name implies a focus on science, in fact all faculty are welcome and strongly encouragedto become part of the database

• The database, its WWW interface, and the editing required to maintain its coherence could be done internally, but at a higher cost to the University than by contracting with COS.

• COS does, however, restrict access to the database to American universities and to commercial organizations that subscribe to its database search services. Faculty members who wish to make their information available throughout the Internet without restriction can do so through personal home pages. (The COS record allows for a link to a personal home page as well.)

• COS also provides additional services, including searchable databases of grants available, grants received, and research facilities.

• The COS program to market the database to commercial organizations seeking research collaborators and technology transfer could result in revenue to the University, although no such revenue could be accounted for in the first two years of the program.

Checking your Record

To determine if you are in the database or if your information requires updating, use a desktop Web browser (such as Netscape or Mosaic) or telnet to www.upenn.edu to access the Penn Home Page ( http://www.upenn.edu). Then:

• Select "Faculty & Colleagues Worldwide"
• Scroll down and select "Penn Expertise"

• Enter your last name in the "name" field and "do the search"

• Follow the instructions below for "updating" or "adding yourself."

Updating your Record

• Return from the search screen and select "Add Yourself to the University of Pennsylvania Expertise Database."

• After reading some brief instructions, you will be prompted for your username and password. (You are the only researcher with this username and password.) Your current record will then appear in the on-line form for your "update."

• Enter your new information (you may "cut and paste" from other sources)

• Keep your username and password handy for future reference.

Adding yourself to the Database

• Return from the search screen and select, "Update Your University of Pennsylvania Expertise Record."

• Complete the form, making note of the username and password you have chosen for your use in future updates.

Where your Information Goes

Your record will not go into the database until it has been verified by a team of COS technical editors. For approximately two weeks, you will be unable to see your new entry or update your profile.

Many thanks for your participation in the University of Pennsylvania faculty Expertise database. If you or an assistant lack WWW access, please see your local computer support personnel or contact this office.

Stuart Watson
Assistant Director, Research Administration

PennExpertise Committee Members

Joseph N. Cappella
Professor of Communication

Janine Corbett
Assistant Vice Provost for Research

Neal Nathanson
Professor and Chair Emeritus of Microbiology

Daniel A. Updegrove (chair)
Associate Vice Provost, ISC

Stuart Watson
Assistant Director, Research Administration

Almanac

Tuesday
February 6, 1996

Volume 42 Number 19

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