New ʻUB Expert Guideʼ available online
In 2005, the University of Barcelona (UB) created the first UB Expert Guide to provide journalists with a useful tool to find expert opinions. Ten years later, the Communication Unit of the UB has updated data and format in order to cope with new media demands requirements. The online version of the Guide is activated in late September and a print edition will be published in early 2016.
In 2005, the University of Barcelona (UB) created the first UB Expert Guide to provide journalists with a useful tool to find expert opinions. Ten years later, the Communication Unit of the UB has updated data and format in order to cope with new media demands requirements. The online version of the Guide is activated in late September and a print edition will be published in early 2016.
With data about 900 professors and researchers, the new edition of the UB Expert Guide duplicates the number of registers it contained and includes a greater range of specialities and expert fields. The objectives of the tool are to promote the dissemination of academic and research activity and to encourage the communication of scientific and humanistic knowledge among the general public.
The search engine includes some criteria to facilitate search: area of expertise, faculty or department, name and expert field. Areas of expertise have been grouped considering paper sections: Politics, Society, Culture, Sports and Economics. After selecting one of these five broad fields of knowledge, the user can make a more specific search. For example, within Politics, the journalist can choose among Catalan politics, Spanish politics, international politics, etc. Moreover, it is possible to do a keyword search and to look for a certain expert by writing his/her name.
Every record card provides detailed information about experts' field of knowledge and contact data. The new edition also includes information about social network contacts, for example Twitter user name and links to personal blogs.
Although the Guide facilitates expert search, the Communication Unit of the UB continues providing support to all those media professionals who need some help when they are looking for an expert opinion.
The UB Experts Guide is available for every member of the university community and journalism professionals but previous registration is required.
Tot i que la guia fa més àgil lʼaccés als experts, la Unitat de Comunicació de la UB continua estant al servei dels professionals dels mitjans de comunicació en la localització del perfil de lʼexpert més adequat a les necessitats puntuals.