York University is humming with experts in almost every field. Helping those experts come to the attention of media and to spread the word about their research is what the new online Experts Guide launching today is designed to do.
The online Experts Guide for media will also promote the University’s reputation for academic expertise.
As the Experts Guide is above all a tool for media, it is based on a keyword search. Members of the media will use keywords to search for the key areas of expertise that faculty members have included in their profiles.
In addition, media will be able to search a dropdown list of 63 general areas of expertise, a list which is based on topics that are frequently in the news, rather than academic disciplines.
The design of the Experts Guide is intended to help media find expertise on specific types of research, as well as to demonstrate York’s interdisciplinary expertise on a wide range of topics.
What a reporter might find when searching for a professor who does modelling of diseases, for example, is that expert is included in an interdisciplinary list of faculty members whose research relates to disease, along with a professor who researches the history of epidemics.
The general areas of expertise may be adjusted over time in response to world events, or if, for example, patterns emerge in professors’ Key Areas of Expertise which relate to topics of interest to media.
The Experts Guide will also enable Media Relations at York to quickly send out an advisory about a faculty member’s expertise when a topic comes into the news, or to put together a list of experts who can comment on a major event such as a federal election or even Hallowe’en.
Media Relations will also use the Experts Guide to promote use of the York Media Studio, located in the West Office Building, which enables faculty members to be interviewed by media outlets without travelling to the media outlet’s studio.
The Experts Guide will also help members of the media to find subject experts who are able to do interviews in a variety of languages.
About 200 experts including deans and faculty members have joined the Experts Guide. Want to be a part of the Experts Guide? Faculty members are invited to go to the guide’s front page and click on the Faculty icon to begin the process of drafting their profile.
Those who would like some help in drafting a profile, require assistance in finding a suitable photo or have any questions related to responding to media enquiries, should email experts@yorku.ca, or contact Media Relations Advisor Janice Walls at 416-736-2100 ext. 22101.