Created by a UMB student, linkCorners is a platform for students to organize their academic portfolio, and for professors to showcase their groups.
The COVID-19 pandemic has propagated the idea of social distancing. In fact, for several months, many of us had to be indoors without the ability to go on-campus and interact with other students. Many classes are now remote, and research labs and groups have also been forced to work remotely as much as possible. A new platform called linkCorners was just recently launched to help students connect freely, and for research labs or groups to interact seemlessly while showcasing their work publicly.
The original idea of linkCorners was to help research labs or academic groups create elegant and modern websites. However, labs and groups are made up of professors, students, and staff. Each of these individuals also needed to have a modern and professional profile to be able to piece together a comprehensive profile for the entire lab or group public page. For this reason, linkCorners allows free creation and customizations for both individuals and groups alike.
When you search the word "linkCorners" on major search sites like Google and Bing, this platform is top on the list of results you get. This is important because when you join linkCorners, you will also be easily discoverable by others trying to view your work just by typing your name on the aformentioned search sites. If you created a lab or group profile on linkCorners, this will be among the first set of results shown when anyone searches for your group online. This is to say that linkCorners helps improve your visibility.
A major difference between linkCorners and other platforms that may exist for students, professors, and groups is that everything is included. What does that mean exactly? Well, if you are looking up articles of a colleague, you may need to do that by searching Google Scholar or Pubmed. If you are trying to find a profile that shows the person's academic information and previous work experience, you'd look to LinkedIn. If you are trying to find a person's publications and possibly download them, you'd have to rely on platforms like Academia.edu or ResearchGate. For groups, you'd visit the University faculty pages or personal group websites if they own one. linkCorners combines all of this in one.
A user of linkCorners has the flexibility to organize their profile much like a comprehensive online resume or portfolio. linkCorners allows the user to combine his/her awards, projects, collaborations, publications, articles, presentations, posters, and patents all within their Corners page. Addition of these various constituents can be shared from other colleagues. For example, if you worked on a project with a person, you or the person may create the project and then tag all the other contributors. When you are added to projects or other proceedings, linkCorners requests your approval for the inclusion on your Corner page. If you approve, the item will be added to your profile. This applies to the groups as well. A group is an almagation of the work of all of its members. Approval of what to add and what not to add is decided by the group owner.
In addition, like a comprehensive resume that you will share with potential employers or agencies, you can share the link to your linkCorners profile. You may also choose to generate a comprehensive PDF of your entire profile for use in applying to positions in various places.
The vision of linkCorners is to connect all students and professors, allowing them to showcase a comprehensive and professional representation of their work while giving them the ability to connect, communicate, and collaborate with colleagues all around the globe.