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Frequently Asked Questions - VIVO at your institution


Information on supporting adoption, installation and implementation of VIVO at your local institution.

  1. How does VIVO obtain profile information?
  2. Who are the primary users of VIVO?
  3. What are the key benefits of VIVO?
  4. In what situations might VIVO be helpful?
  5. How does VIVO enhance my research or academic standing?
  6. What are the advantages of using VIVO versus other social or research networking tools?
  7. How do I get VIVO for my institution?
1. How does VIVO obtain profile information?

Profile information is automatically imported in the system from verified sources such as human resources, grant databases, course listings, and faculty activity information.  Data may also be entered or customized manually by the individual user.  VIVO then makes this information available for browse and search capabilities as well as export to other web pages and outside sources.

2. Who are the primary users of VIVO?

Individuals may access the browse and search functionalities of VIVO at any time via the web.  Researchers, scholars, students, administrators, funding agencies, donors, and members of the general public may all benefit from utilizing VIVO.

3. What are the key benefits of VIVO?


  • VIVO's underlying database is automatically populated with information from verified sources, thus reducing the need for manual input of data.

  • VIVO users can locate profiles in the system using a variety of search methods, therefore facilitating the discoverability of researchers.

  • VIVO provides a centralized source of personal and professional information that may be utilized in a variety of ways.
4. In what situations might VIVO be helpful?


  • Researchers looking for collaborators on large-scale or multidisciplinary grants

  • Funding agencies and donors in search of individuals with specialized skills or expertise

  • Faculty who want to advertise upcoming seminars or courses they are teaching

  • Administrators hoping to showcase faculty or departmental activities

  • Students trying to locate graduate study programs
5. How does VIVO enhance my research or academic standing?

VIVO facilitates the process of finding research collaborators or sources of specified skills and informaton.  The integrated system promotes the kind of cross-disciplinary collaborations that are becoming more vital in the current research environment.

6. What are the advantages of using VIVO versus other social or research networking tools?

Most of the current networking platforms depend on manual input of information by users while VIVO is automatically populated with data from verified sources.  VIVO's data collection methodology uses controlled vocabulary in order to standardize the information and make it easier to locate and retrieve.  The system's added functionality provides data in a consistent format that is readable by not only people but other computer applications as well.

7. How do I get VIVO for my institution?

The open source! VIVO software and ontology! is now available for download. Note that we are still early in the project, and we anticipate releasing new versions every few months.   We welcome your feedback, however we are only able to provide direct support to the seven partner institutions from the initial consortium for the VIVO project. If you have questions about the project please contact us. If you would like to receive regular updates about the VIVO project, please subscribe to our notification list.