New channels for scientific communication:

Bonnie J. M. Swoger ‘99
Instructional Support Associate, Milne Library SUNY Geneseo

When the first issue of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions was published in 1665, it revolutionized scientific communication. Scholars could disseminate their research to a larger audience than was available by letter, and they could write smaller reports than required by a full-length book. The concept of peer review later revolutionized scientific communication by attempting to establish standards for research methods and presentation. In recent years, we have seen the internet revolutionize mass communication, and new methods of scientific communication are now emerging.

Social networking applications like Facebook and MySpace have inspired science networking applications like Nature Network and Knowble. Collaborative "publishing" efforts such as Wikipedia have inspired collaborative science sites like PLoS-ONE, Nature Precedings and the blog Useful Chemistry. Scientists are starting to "think out loud" on blogs and put early data up on the web.

The way that scientists communicate with the public is also changing. Science related groups on Facebook, blogs like "THE FILTER" and Wikipedia pages written by scientists are changing the way that scientists relate to the public.

What does all of this mean for science communication? How will the next generation of scientists, "digital natives", adapt new communication technologies to professional work in the sciences? While these questions may go unanswered for the near future, scientists can start exploring these new mediums.

Learn about these new applications and what they may mean for future scientific research and communication.