Building Your Academic Research Digital Identity

The purpose of this timely and stimulating book is to thoroughly prepare students, early researchers, and career scholars in establishing their digital identity online. Broadly defined, digital identity is one’s online history – that is, it is any trail a person has left in his or her life that is now online.  In academics, the issue is of digital presence is of utmost importance, as a digital identity frames one’s professional reputation, doing so by promoting and defining a person’s knowledge and research in their respective field.  Written by an accomplished interdisciplinary team of scholars in library science and related fields, this unique guide addresses the development of professional identity as a continuous, dynamic process that is constantly evolving, generally starting from university study and moving through one’s professional work life. It goes without saying that building your digital identity as a researcher can be an effective way to publicize your work among your peers, but, the authors emphasize, this activity must be done carefully and skillfully.  Indeed, developing these skills can forge a path to professional advancement in hiring, promotion, and tenure.  Moreover, a well-designed digital presence can help build networks which can lead to collaborations, increased research, and grants.  In addition, having a well-managed digital identity helps an academic engage with the public by strategically disseminating  one’s knowledge to students, public, and the media. Importantly, it can also help prevent misinformation.  Whether readers are new in the field of research and publishing, or have a well-established portfolio of written literature, this handy title will provide vital guidance in establishing a digital presence, covering a wide range of issues.  Key topics discussed, for example, include academic digital platforms and tools to consider when using them, working with academic librarians, social media platforms, choosing digital identity management tools like Open Researcher and Contributor ID or ORCID, the importance of author metrics and the h-index, and maintaining and curating a professional website, to name just several areas discussed.  An invaluable contribution to the career literature, Building Your Academic Research Digital Identity will enable readers to strategically understand all the tools, platforms, and metrics needed to establish and cultivate one’s crucially important digital profile. 

Margaret Rush Dreker, MPA, MLSMedical LibrarianInterprofessional Health Sciences LibraryHackensack Meridian School of Medicine123 Metro Blvd, Nutley, NJ 07110(973) 542-6973Margaret.dreker@hmhn.orgmargaret.dreker@shu.edu  Kyle James Downey, MLISCollege of Nursing & School of Health and Medical Sciences LibrarianInterprofessional Health Sciences LibrarySeton Hall University123 Metro Blvd,Nutley, NJ 07110 (973)-542-6967kyle.downey@shu.edu