[Or read THIS POSTING in German] Colleague Susan Schneegans, editor of the UNESCO A World of Science and the Science Report series has pointed me to a new book: In the context of the US ‘Civil War’ between science and dogma (as Shawn Otto puts it in his book — see posting) the authors raise…

It was the largest grassroots initiative in US history: The “Science Debate” in reaction to the presidential campaign in 2008 (see Wikipedia entry). Among the scientific organizations supporting the campaign were the Carnegie Institution, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Biophysical…

“Cities of scientific culture” are the topic of the EU-funded project “Open Places“, constisting of no less than 69 partnerships from 27 European countries, every one a joint initiative of science communication institutions and local policymakers. The project partners mainly want to mutually learn from each other’s experiences, which is exactly what happened at the…

My sobering conclusion after two days of ScienceOnline London: The technologies are ready for take-off, the early-adopter-scientists are eager to kickstart the engine, but the runway to widespread usage of interactive technologies in science is still blocked by the debris of the traditional academic system. This system needs to be adapted to the new media…

Revolutioniert das Internet die wissenschaftliche Kommunikation? In einem Video-Vortrag erinnert Prof. James Boyle, Mitbegründer von Creative Commons, u.a. daran, dass das WWW eigentlich für die Wissenschaft entwickelt wurde. Er beklagt jedoch, dass das Potenzial offener Informationssysteme nach wie vor unterschätzt werde. Der Umgang der Wissenschaft mit dem Web hängt Boyle zufolge um Jahre hinter der…

As high as the potential of web 2.0 for the communication among scientists might be, any kind of widespread use is nowhere to be seen. Academia mostly reacts hesitantly at best to the new technological opportunities. The discussions in our recent international workshop, however, also revealed that “Science 2.0” is no closer to becoming mainstream…

“Weiterbildungen zum ‘Antragsschreiben’ gibt es jede Menge, aber was ist mit der Vermarktung und Sichtbarmachung von Wissenschaft?” Diese Frage wirft Jason Hoyt auf, Forschungsleiter bei Mendeley. Kürzlich argumentierte Jason in einem Workshop, dass Publizieren allein — wie wir es sozusagen seit Jahrhunderten im Wissenschaftssystem perfektioniert haben — nicht mehr reiche. Ganz im Sinne von ‘Open…