Science communication, an emerging discipline

Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current issues and recent research. But the status of science communication is uncertain in disciplinary terms.

This commentary considers two dimensions of the status of discipline as they apply to science communication – the clarity with which the field is defined and the level of development of theories to guide formal studies.

It argues that further theoretical development is needed to support science communication’s full emergence as a discipline.

URL : http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/09/03/Jcom0903%282010%29C01/Jcom0903%282010%29C03/Jcom0903%282010%29C03.pdf

Global trends in research resources and …

Global trends in research resources and scientific output in microbiology in Spain (1998-2007) :

“This work assesses the main features of microbiological research developed in Spain over the last decade (1998–2007), observing its changes and trends along the time and comparing them to those which have taken place in other life sciences. This analysis encompasses the entire scientific cycle: the organizations involved (basically, universities, research centers, scientific societies, and companies), resources invested (human and economic), and outputs or results obtained (journals, articles, doctoral theses, and other documents or publications). Summarizing, there is a positive trend in Spanish microbiology regarding research projects and scientific articles; the scientific output (research articles) of Spanish microbiologists ranks 6th in the world, which is higher than the ranking of Spain with respect to economic development.”

URL : http://eprints.rclis.org/19054/

Almost Halfway There: an Analysis of the…

Almost Halfway There: an Analysis of the Open Access Behaviors of Academic Librarians :

“Academic librarians are increasingly expected to advocate for scholarly communications reforms such as open access to scholarly publications, yet librarians do not always practice what they preach. Previous research examined librarian attitudes toward open access, whereas this article presents results of a study of open access publishing and self-archiving behaviors of academic librarians. Following an analysis of open access to library and information science literature in
2008, several strategies to encourage academic librarians to continue embrace open access
behaviors are discussed.”

URL : http://crl.acrl.org/content/early/2010/09/14/crl-167.full.pdf

Médiathèques en mutation: les pieds sur terre, la tête dans les nuage

Dans cet article, Xavier Galaup directeur adjoint de Médiathèque départementale du Haut-Rhin, dresse tout d’abord un état des lieux morose des bibliothèques à l’ère du numérique, craignant une dévalorisation symbolique de médiathèques encore beaucoup associées aux livres, face au”tout virtuel” qui a aujourd’hui envahi le quotidien de chacun.

Partant de ce constat inquiétant, il réaffirme pourtant le rôle majeur que les bibliothèques pourront jouer en offrant aux populations un troisième lieu, espace intermédiaire entre le travail et le domicile, pour se former, pour se repérer dans les flux numériques, pour faire des découvertes, et surtout pour se rencontrer.

URL : http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/notices/48602-mediatheques-en-mutation-les-pieds-sur-terre-la-tete-dans-les-nuages

 

Open to All? Case studies of openness in…

Open to All? Case studies of openness in research :

“Since the early 1990s, the open access movement has promoted the concept of openness in relationto scientific research. Focusing initially upon the records of science in the form of the text of articles in scholarly journals, interest has broadened in the last decade to include a much wider range of materials produced by researchers. At the same time, concepts of openness and access have also developed to include various kinds of use, by machines as well as humans.
Academic bodies, including funders and groups of researchers, have set out statements in support
of various levels of openness in research. Such statements often focus upon two key dimensions:
what is made open, and how; and to whom is it made open, and under what conditions? This study
set out to consider the practice of six research groups from a range of disciplines in order to better
understand how principles of openness are translated into practice.”

URL : http://www.rin.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/NESTA-RIN_Open_Science_V01_0.pdf