Memorial University, in Canada, has created a research Web site inspired by online dating services — only this one matches researchers to interested members of the public, politicians, students, journalists, and other interested scholars.
The service, called Yaffle, was designed to connect researchers at or near the university and to allow members of the public or businesses to suggest projects. All the research is described in lay terms. “Google Scholar doesn’t have the matchmaking ability that Yaffle does,” said David Yetman, Memorial’s manager of knowledge mobilization, who put the project online last year. He called it a cross between a dating site and a search engine.
Yaffle has drawn attention from far outside campus boundaries. The site has attracted users from Australia, Asia, and Africa.
A primary benefit is to improve the university’s ability to communicate the breadth and impact of its research. “We have 1,700 graduate students and 900 faculty running thousands of research projects,” said Rob Greenwood, who now runs Yaffle. “Universities everywhere are having to show accountability for taxpayers’ dollars, and Yaffle does this easily.”
But one of the surprises, he says, has been Yaffle’s use by potential graduate students, and he says it will become a valuable marketing tool to recruit international students. “Graduate students from abroad are using it to find research supervisors and deciding whether to come to Memorial.”
Mr. Yetman said there is talk of expanding Yaffle, a Newfoundland English word meaning an armload of sticks or fish — or in this case, an armload of knowledge. Memorial has just finished a feasibility study and is developing a business plan with several options ranging from setting up a commercial business, freely sharing it, or licensing it. The university will make that decision later this year.
2 Responses to Canadian University Creates Matchmaking Tool for Research
graymccarty - January 6, 2010 at 9:45 pm
I didn’t know Canada was such a small place that it is just referred to as a ‘place’ without being more specific. We do have provinces, cities, towns, counties, and villages just like the US does. Please recognize that.
laoshi - January 7, 2010 at 12:42 pm
The United States doesn’t have provinces, #1. Only youse guys up North and the ChiComs got those. Anyway, this Yaffle site is very Canada-centric for use in other recognizable places. If it expands beyond the Great White North, that’d truly be a contender. The only thing is it needs some spiffying up. Users must drill down to find matches, which is not exactly the “cross between a dating site and a search engine” touted. More like an armful of fish or sticks, as expected.