Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of Innovation Explorers, an online community of 300 researchers from 69 countries. Through online activities ranging from facilitated chats to one-on-one interviews, the members will help Elsevier identify, design and deliver relevant products and services that resonate with and inspire research scientists around the world.
Communispace, which has created more than 325 online communities for the world's largest brands, kicked-off the Elsevier community in November 2008 and is now actively leading member activity and the delivery of insights. Through ongoing discussions with members and facilitated activities, Elsevier hopes to better understand the challenges and unmet needs of researchers, gaining deeper insight into the pressing issues within the research community. Elsevier has already begun involving the community in developing new products that more precisely match the needs of researchers, from the early ideation phase to usability testing of prototypes.
"As a company, we're committed to finding new innovative ways to better involve our users and buyers in our business, while providing them a global platform to engage with one another," said Jay Katzen, Managing Director Academic and Government Products. "During a time when resources are scarce and global collaboration is critical to achieving scientific breakthroughs, our goal for Innovation Explorers is to discover, in partnership with the researchers themselves, how Elsevier can help improve their research outcomes."
Innovation Explorers enables a select group of top scientists to interact and engage with colleagues from around the globe and across a broad range of fields of study. These interactions offer Elsevier an unprecedented opportunity to listen to and learn from researchers as they communicate with one another.
In December 2008, Elsevier added librarians to the Innovation Explorers community, facilitating interactions among 150 librarians from 40 different countries. Librarians are an important partner, alongside researchers, in designing the research library of the future. These members participate in unique activities with fellow librarians as well as in joint activities with members of the researcher group.
"Although the community is relatively new, we're excited about the active level of participation and the richness of member dialogue we've seen so far," commented Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace. "The geographic diversity of this community, with members from 69 countries, makes this an especially interesting initiative, and we look forward to seeing the unique insights that arise from this unprecedented global effort."