Ever wanted to watch a scientist present their latest work? Then you might enjoy SciVee, a new online tool for net-savvy scientists, writes Ceri Perkins.
It allows authors to upload their published research papers along with 10-minute multimedia presentations known as "pubcasts" where they explain the salient points.
The site is still in its infancy, so content is a little thin on the ground: just four biology-focused uploads so far on subjects from evolution to proteins. Clearly they aren't all intended for laymen, though Dr Eric Scheeff, presenting "Structural Evolution of the Protein Kinase-Like Superfamily" is careful to explain his more difficult concepts and to speak in plain language.
This is the best of the videos, featuring an animated, well-structured explanation. The worst video involves a wooden delivery captured on a webcam, with the presenter's eyes distractingly scanning back and forth across the script on her screen.
And herein lies the problem. The potential for this to take off as a means of scholarly communication relies on the competency of the individuals involved in giving engaging presentations.
The blurb on the site reads:
"SciVee is about the free and widespread dissemination and comprehension of science. SciVee, created for scientists, by scientists, moves science beyond the printed word and lecture theater taking advantage of the Internet as a communication medium where scientists young and old have a place and a voice."
The content is free and searchable either by journal name or by key words and phrases. Bizarrely, there is also the option to select a video at random (perhaps the creators envisage a YouTube style takeoff, where entertainment-seekers surf from video to video).
As well as publicising their research, the site allows users to form communities with other researchers, and rate each others' work. SciVee's creators initially intend to link with all open-access journals, but the eventual aim is to add abstracts from paid-for journals.
As Wordpress blogger Peanutbutter writes:
"The fact that a publishing house (PLoS) has got involved in this effort is encouraging, and may be an admittance that a paper, in isolation of public commentary...is no longer sufficient in the web-based publishing era."
The interface is straight-forward, allowing viewers to toggle between the video and original paper without interrupting the audio feed, but it does take some fiddling to work out how to disable the irksome textboxes which appear frequently over the presentation screen.
Over on Slashdot, Wormholio comments on the presenting style:
"Great. Instead of papers that are dry, stale, full of technical jargon and can only be understood by someone else who works in that particular sub-speciality, we will have video presentations which are dry, stale, full of technical jargon, and can only be understood by someone else who works in that particular sub-speciality."
Others, like Astonish, hold a different opinion:
"As someone who works in academia I really believe research is crying for something like this. There is so much information out there that is going unused...getting out there in an easy to access and digestible format is key."
These are early days for SciVee. Its appeal is clear; accessible video content could make the literature easier to keep up with - and more enjoyable. It presents us non-specialists with a window onto science, and may even force scientists to polish their presentation skills. Unless something (unintentionally) hilarious is uploaded, it's unlikely that any of the videos will go viral, but there is certainly the possibility for it to extend the reach of lectures in areas of popular science.
Perhaps SciVee could act as a substitute for attending a conference. Think of the time, cost, or carbon footprinting you could save. But does the loss of interactivity leave it wanting? Is this just a quirky site doomed to further tarnish the fusty image of science, or will it take off?
