Link: Science Bloggers Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are [Preview]
Description:
The December 1 issue of Nature contains a special section Science in the Web Age that covers the new wave of online publishing and communication, which seems to be passing many scientists by. Open access publishing, weblogs, and wikis, which are huge, growing forces on the internet, have yet to gather strength within the scientific research community, which ironically lives and dies by peer-review, publishing, and citations. According to one article by Declan Butler, "Most younger biologists blog anonymously, says Roland Krause, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin and a bioinformatics blogger. 'Many fear that their superiors consider it a waste of time, or even dangerous,' he says. [RealClimate blogger and scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin] Schmidt agrees: 'Until blogging is seen as normal, this will continue to be a problem.'" Perhaps it's a generation gap that distinguishes young researchers who grew up with the internet, video games, and online social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace, which are only a few years old. "Such fears are dated, argues Jason Kelly, an MIT graduate student involved in OpenWetWare. The upcoming generation, he says, believes that excessive competition can harm science; they see the benefits of brainstorming their research ideas on blogs as far outweighing the risks."
The December 1 issue of Nature contains a special section Science in the Web Age that covers the new wave of online publishing and communication, which seems to be passing many scientists by. Open access publishing, weblogs, and wikis, which are huge, growing forces on the internet, have yet to gather strength within the scientific research community, which ironically lives and dies by peer-review, publishing, and citations. According to one article by Declan Butler, "Most younger biologists blog anonymously, says Roland Krause, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin and a bioinformatics blogger. 'Many fear that their superiors consider it a waste of time, or even dangerous,' he says. [RealClimate blogger and scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin] Schmidt agrees: 'Until blogging is seen as normal, this will continue to be a problem.'" Perhaps it's a generation gap that distinguishes young researchers who grew up with the internet, video games, and online social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace, which are only a few years old. "Such fears are dated, argues Jason Kelly, an MIT graduate student involved in OpenWetWare. The upcoming generation, he says, believes that excessive competition can harm science; they see the benefits of brainstorming their research ideas on blogs as far outweighing the risks." Posted:
12/04/05 (Edited 12/05/05)
Rating:
1 vote(s).
Views:
139
Views in the last 30 days: 5.
1 vote(s).
Views:
139
Views in the last 30 days: 5.
Rate this Link:
E-mail Link to Someone:
Comments
Post a Comment
Members currently reading these link details:
Online Users
0 members, 10 guests
Submit
Search
Newest Links