What started as a part time job during university, turned into a passion.

Christine Ackerley worked with the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) project during her undergraduate degree in Journalism at 杏吧原创 University. From September 2014 to May 2015, Ackerley assisted the Knowledge Mobilization Hub by writing blog posts, managing social media and helping with .

Christine Ackerley, former CFICE Knowledge Mobilization Research Assistant.

Since then, Ackerley has graduated and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where she is pursuing her Masters in Communication at Simon Fraser University. Currently, she is working as a research assistant for her graduate supervisor on a project, called , to help mobilize knowledge in the healthcare field.

Action ADE鈥檚 goal is to prevent adverse drug events, or ADEs, from happening. An adverse drug event is a harmful or unintended consequence caused by taking a drug.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really interesting because it鈥檚 all about communicating information to save lives,鈥� Ackerley says.

Action ADE is creating an electronic platform that would mobilize patient knowledge between healthcare providers.

Ackerley says working on a project like this is very valuable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just so important because the research that this one team has done can have an enormous impact across Canada with a relatively simple change 鈥� just implementing a small, easy electronic tool that has all this potential to save lives,鈥� she says.

Currently in British Columbia, there is no system to translate knowledge of adverse drug events, meaning it鈥檚 common for a patient to have the same reaction to a drug multiple times because there is no warning to healthcare providers.

That鈥檚 why this work in knowledge mobilization is so important to Ackerley.

However, Ackerley didn鈥檛 know she鈥檇 end up mobilizing knowledge as a career path.

鈥淚 think I was interested in knowledge mobilization without really realizing it in journalism because I loved writing stories about complex ideas or research that was being done,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 always loved that each project could be on a completely new topic that was totally foreign to me. I loved that learning curve of having to do a lot of research.”

It wasn鈥檛 until her undergraduate thesis supervisor recommended she explore the area of knowledge mobilization that she found her calling.

鈥淭he more I read about it, the more I just loved it. I loved the aims of sharing research with people that could find it useful, and then it kind of snowballed from there,鈥� she recalls.

Christine Ackerley presenting a poster on her current research project at the Canadian Knowledge Mobilization Forum.

While completing her undergraduate thesis on knowledge mobilization, she volunteered with CFICE. Soon after, Ackerley was welcomed on board as the CFICE Knowledge Mobilization Research Assistant where she was involved with C2UExpo.

鈥淚t totally shifted my interest and career path towards knowledge mobilization and I definitely see myself sticking with it,鈥� she says.

鈥淐FICE really helped me further develop my interest in knowledge mobilization and also give me a really complete and realistic picture of both the potential benefits and very many frustrations of knowledge mobilization, which I think is incredibly valuable,鈥� she says, adding that getting hands-on experience better prepared her for the work she鈥檚 doing now.

In addition to the research project and school, Ackerley sits on the Leadership Committee of the British Columbia Knowledge Translation Community of Practice (BCKTCOP). She volunteers with them to help run the website, host webinars and write newsletters.

While she鈥檚 still in the early stages of her master鈥檚 thesis, she will be looking at how parties in a knowledge mobilization partnership understand and talk about a project in terms of goals, aims, and translating knowledge.

She is in her first year of a two-year graduate program at SFU.

Watch a video starring Christine Ackerley talking about plain language writing during her time at CFICE here.

Before you head into your exams, be sure to check out our latest video on听Whether you’re creating a presentation, writing an essay or answering short questions, the video听provides great tips to reach听your target audience, get your point across, and avoid all the jargon!

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Be sure to download a copy of the !听Happy studying!

If you’re living in the modern world, chances are you’ve had some experience with the various forms of social media that are prevalent today. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are just a few of the platforms that people commonly use to convey messages, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. One of the many reasons as to why social media is so ingrained in today’s society is the fact of how easy it is to use, and how effective it is at conveying one’s thoughts. If one wants to check their facebook, all they need do is open the application on their mobile device, or go to the website on their computer.

Resources, time, and skill

In order to use social media, one must have a certain degree of computer literacy. That being said, from personal experience that requirement isn’t very onerous – even my computer-wary grandmother uses facebook! Another aspect to keep in mind is the willingness to actually use the social media in the first place. Some people may be reluctant to use online platforms due to privacy concerns.

Key Considerations

With advances in technology and the ability for general consumers to use social media, many organizations are putting efforts into their social media campaigns. It isn’t unheard of that whole occupational positions are dedicated to managing a companies social media 听network. That being said there are a few considerations that should be taken into account when using social media. Privacy is a big concern – with everything being online it is generally a good idea to go through several layers of editing before something is posted to the public. This will ensure that sensitive information and unintentional offensive messaging isn’t being posted. Furthermore, social media may not be the vehicle warranted for your KM strategy – if something is of a sensitive nature perhaps more formal routes of KM are needed.

Incorporating social media听into your KMb

In order to incorporate social media into your KMb you need to decide what type of message you want to disseminate and what type of medium that message would need to be in. For example, platforms such as Instagram utilize solely images. In this case perhaps infographics would be best used. If short bursts of information are needed, then Twitter is an option as it excels in piquing people’s interests quickly and effectively. If you want a platform that is able to do a bit of each of these things then perhaps initiating a facebook page for you KMb activities is warranted.

The take away

Social media is an excellent way to disseminate information as it is relatively easy to use and widely adopted by the general population. That being said, the message you are wanting to spread, and the audience you intend to target need to be taken into account when deciding to incorporate social media into you KMb activities.

Resources

Here are a list of resources if you are interested in setting up a social media platform for your KMb strategy:

• http://www.facebook.com
• http://www.instagram.com
• http://www.pinterest.com
• http://www.twitter.com

• Video abstracts tend to be 1-4 minutes, and allow the authors of an academic paper to personally explain their work to a broader audience.
• Video abstracts maximize engagement and visibility by allowing authors to combine filming themselves with images, animations and laboratory experiments to explain their research paper.
• Video abstracts should tell a story, rather than a regurgitation of facts. They should convey the researcher鈥檚 interest and excitement.
• More journals are accepting video abstracts (e.g., New Journal of Physics, Cell, Elsevier).

Resources, time, and skill

• A video abstract can be created with a simple laptop camera and have the researcher summarize their research.
• 听More complex video abstracts can use visuals or animations (free software such as Paint, Pant.NET, or Windows Movie Maker may be used). Use the best quality camera possible.
• 听Depending on the complexity of the video abstract, the amount of time, resources and skill will vary.

Key Considerations

Video abstracts are not meant to replace a text-based article, but rather to enhance the understanding (e.g., explanation of complex methods, or technical aspects) of the research. Just as text-based abstracts provide a preview of the article to allow the reader to determine to purchase or download the article, the same applies to a video abstract, except through images, animations, and sounds.

Incorporating webinars in your KMb

• Video abstracts are a great way to reach other audiences that may not be directly involved in your research field.
• Video abstracts can be a way for research to have an immediate impact on students, colleagues, and/or other researchers by streamlining, and increasing visibility and access to the research.
• These informative and accessible communication products may be appreciated or required by funding agencies.

The take away

• Video abstracts maximize engagement with viewers, allowing researchers to explain complex concepts, thereby reaching more diverse audiences.
  

Resources

(step by step guide with additional resources)

Examples

(examples are on the right pane)

Video Editing Software

(freeware, usually comes with your machine)

(Not free, but does offer a free trial)

Graphic Editing Software

(freeware)

(freeware)

(Not free, but does offer a free trial)

Resources, time, and skill

Just like any tool used to portray a message, a certain level of resources, time, and skill is required to utilize, graphic, visual, performance arts. However, the amount of resources, time, and skill that needs to be expended depends on the medium and message you choose to use. For example, it can be argued that a photograph used to elicit a certain emotional response will be far easier to obtain than an interpretive dance recital used to the same end.

Key considerations

The main aspect that needs to be considered when employing the use of graphic, visual, and performance arts is whether or not the use of such tools are warranted given the message being portrayed. Although such tools are great at catching the attention of the masses given their 鈥渙ut of the box鈥� nature, if a truly complex message needs to be disseminated a more straightforward approach may be needed.

The take away

Graphic, visual, and performance arts are a novel way to disseminate knowledge because they capture the attention of people and present them a message while allowing the freedom of personal interpretation. The use of such a KM tool depends highly on the message being disseminated.

Other resources

The following is a list of other resources and services related Graphic/Visual/Performance Arts that you may be interested in:

• Meggs, Phillip B. 鈥淕raphic Design.鈥� Encyclop忙dia Britannica. 2010. Encyclop忙dia Britannica Online. 26 Oct. 2010<http://www.britannica.in the Graphic Arts and Computer Graphics (Career Resource Library). June 2000. New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1999.
• . Buzzle.com.
• Carlson, Marvin (1998 (first 1996)).Performance: A Critical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge. pp.听1, 2.听.

• Webinars use the internet to share knowledge with people in different cities, countries, or even continents.

• People can access them from anywhere.

• Webinars can be interactive including polls, question and answers, and dialogue.

• Participants can also connect and contribute through chat forums.

• Presentations can be saved and made available for additional users.

Resources, time, and skill

• Although not required, you may want to have an opt-in registration page. Registration is useful because it gives a sense of the size, and diversity of the audience, and may connect with them later to provide follow-up resources, or to participate in on-going conversation. Freeware such as wordpress may be used to build this page.

• There needs to be a mail-service that allows for participant tracking and to send out details about the webinar (e.g., freeware such as Mailchimp).

• Lastly, a webinar platform is needed in order for participants to hear, see, and interact with the presenter. Webinar software can either be free (Anymeeting), or paid through a subscription model (e.g., GoToWebinar and Adobe Connect are the most popular paid version. Typically, paid versions offer more features such as custom branding, better security, webinar recording abilities, etc).

Key Considerations

Be mindful of your organization鈥檚 use of technology. Some people may not be experienced with using webinar software or technology in general. Weigh the pros and cons of using webinar

software. Ask questions such as 鈥渨ill webinars benefit our organization?鈥� 鈥淲ill implementation be met with a negative response?鈥� 鈥淗ow big will the learning curve be?鈥�.

Incorporating webinars in your KMb

• Webinars can be a great way to keep your organization up-to-date if there are difficulties trying to arrange in-person meetings.

• Webinars can be used as a training tool.

• Webinars can be a way to present research findings to different people across cities or countries.

• Webinars can be used to support collective thinking for a geographically dispersed group

听The take away

• Webinars are a great way to engage participants from different locations all over the world, when face-face communication is not feasible due to time, travel, and/or costs.

• 听Webinars can be created with freeware and takes little time to set up.

听Resources

Examples

Software Examples

(freeware)

(subscription)