- ESCONET - European Science Communication Network

Public Science on the Web

Marta Entradas

Kostas Dimopoulos

Dubrovnik, CroatiaJuly 27 July 2010

1. The unique case of online science

2. Types of public science websites

3. Website Construction

4. Characteristics of public science websites

• Essential elements of online communication

5. Exercise

Presentation Overview

Objective• To study the use of the internet in science communication with the

public.

Topics

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• 40 million Americans use internet as their primary source of news and information about science

• Internet is as popular as TV for news and information about science

• For young adults the internet is most popular source for science news (44% - internet; 32% television)

Pew Internet Project/Exploratorium report, Pew Research Centre, 2006

• Television is main source of information about science

• Internet is means of obtaining greater detail on subject or in which participants have a particular interest

Qualitative Study on the Image of Science and the Research Policy of the European Union, European Commission - DG Research & Communication, 2008

The Unique Case of Online ScienceThe Need for Online Science Communication

Need for a web presence

Types of Public Science WebsitesThe Many Types of Public Science Websites

• Web-based science journalism: Websites of newspapers, magazines, TV or radio stations; online media, online popular science magazines

• Web-based organizational PR: Universities, research institutes, science foundations, etc.

• Scientific publishing companies, scientific journals

• Scientific libraries & databases (e.g. PubMed)

• Dissemination websites (related to research projects or programs)

• “Issue-management” websites which try to influence public policy debates (run by concerned scientists or – hidden – by stakeholders)

• Educational & advisory websites (e.g. health information)

• Websites of individual scientists

• Online-community provided websites: Wikipedia & Co.

• Scientists’ Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter…

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Types of Public Science WebsitesWeb-Based Science Journalism: Scientific American

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Types of Public Science WebsitesWeb-Based Science Journalism: Guardian Science

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Types of Public Science WebsitesWeb-Based Organisational PR

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www.mpg.de

Max Planck Society

Types of Public Science WebsitesWeb-Based Organisational PR

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UCL

www.ucl.ac.uk

Types of Public Science WebsitesWeb-Based Organisational PR

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NASA ESA

Types of Public Science WebsitesDissemination Websites

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The Galileo Project EurOcean

Types of Public Science WebsitesWebsites of Individual Scientists

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Personal website Personal website

Types of Public Science WebsitesOnline Community-Provided Websites: Wikipedia

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2 Types of Public Science WebsitesWhere Scientists are Likely to be Directly Involved

• Organizational websites (University, research center, scientific association, museum…)

• Part of an organizational website (institute, department, project, course, personal page…)

• “Independent” project websites (e.g. ESConet…)

• “Independent” conference websites

• “Independent” personal website of scientists

• “Online CV”

• Personal page with a “mission”

• Contact with students…

• Scientists’ blogs, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter…

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Corporate Design, Content Management, Organizational regulation, Communication department, Scientists as content provider

Individual initiative, creativity, preferences, responsibility

2 Types of Public Science WebsitesWhere Scientists are Likely to be Directly Involved

Example 1: Conference website

Example 3: Online lectures

Example 2: Scientist’s Blog]

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How to communicate my scientific work on the

internet?

Website ConstructionIssues to be discussed

Website ConstructionIssues to be discussed

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• Who is your audience? (Who are you trying to reach / communicate with?)

• E.g. scientific community, media, schools, general public…

• What kind of website do you want to develop?

• E.g. internal, external, both?

• How should the website be organised?

• Style

• Structure

• Content

• How to include interactivity/allow a two-way communication?

• What are the essential elements of public websites? (e.g. objectivity, navigation, authority…)

Make your page

• Useful

• Easily navigable

• Accessible

• Interactive

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• the ‘principal relationships that exist between the organisation and its many shareholders’;

• public relations (PR) is ‘the art and science of developing meaningful relationships the public necessary to continue the work of an organisation’;

• one-way, asymmetrical communication has failed science;

• a two-way symmetrical approach produces better long-term relationships with: taxpayers, media, shareholders, regulators, leaders, doners;

• it emphasises transparency, negotiation, compromise, mutual accommodation;

• it moves from deficit to dialogue models of communication.Borchelt, R.B. 2008. Public relations in science: Managing the trust portfolio. IN: Bucchi and Trench (eds).

Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology. Oxon: Routledge.

Website ConstructionWebsites are part of “the trust portfolio”

Website ConstructionOrganisation: How Users Read Web Pages

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Poynter Institute, US

• Eye tracking research –analyzed the path of reading on the web

• Reading on the web is different from print

• Start at upper left - read down – end at upper right

Website ConstructionOrganisation: Users’ Attention

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Eye tracking heatmap of Washington Post’s homepage, Melinda McAdams, 1995

• Red areas users looked the most; Yellow areas fewer fixations; grey no fixations

• Dominant headlines most often draw the eye when users first enter the page

Website ConstructionOrganisation: Users’ Attention

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Example eyetracking heatmap of “About Us” Page

in Jakob Nielsen and Kara Pernice, Eyetracking Web Usability, 2009

• Heatmap clearly shows users' tendency to read in an "F" pattern: two horizontal stripes followed by an vertical stripe

• Focus on information presented in bulleted lists

• Small amount of attention to the "see also" area

• No viewing of the promotions in the rightmost column

Website ConstructionOrganisation: Priority Areas for Information

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Website Construction Implications for the web design

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• People rarely read word by word, instead they SCAN the page, as a result:

• Meaningful sub-headings

• One idea per paragraph

• The inverted pyramid style (starting with the conclusion) – based on the idea that “users don’t scroll”.

• Highlight key words

Website Construction Web Writing

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• Each page would be structured as an inverted pyramid -- based on the idea that users “don’t scroll”.

Jakob Neilson, 1996, Inverted Pyramids

• As users got more experience with scrolling pages, many started scrolling (10% 1994 – 20% 1997) (Nielsen, 1997, Changes in Web usability, 1997).

Website Construction Web Writing

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• 2010 – whether the “fold” continues to be relevant:

• 21 users accessing 541 different web pages

• Attention focused:

• 80% above the fold

• 20% below the fold

• Is still a good guideline to ensure that the most important information appears above the fold

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, March 22, 2010:Scrolling and Attention

Characteristics of Public Science Websites Essential Elements

• Authority

• Accuracy

• Objectivity

• Currency

• Coverage

• Navigation

• Interactivity

• Editorial Quality

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Example Implementation: Max Planck SocietyKey Elements

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Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Navigation (Guiding the User)

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• Use navigation tools to highlight future paths, not to outline content.

• The navigation tools are designed to anticipate how the readers might want to use the site.

• Users must at all times know where they are on the site, where they were and where they might go next.

Johnson-Sheehan, R and Baehr, C. 2001. Visual-spatial thinking in hypertexts. Technical Communication, 48 (1)

Paths

Paths

Characteristics of Public Science Websites Essential Elements: Navigation

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Home Page Sub Menu Content

Home page presentsrange of clear paths

Sub-menus present clear nextsteps to access to content

Content pages show users where they are, how they got there

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Interactivity - External Links

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Example Implementation: Max Planck SocietyKey Points

• Add credibility, reliability and trust

• Help search engines find and rank your site

• Link to:

• Other similar sites

• Other sources of substantial information

• Is your site referenced in your correspondence, advertising, marketing?

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Forms of Interactivity

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• To ensure your site allows for two-way communication, include interactive elements

• Email address (to specific people)

• Emails alerts

• Newsletters

• Forums and message boards

• Surveys, polls

• Podcasts

• Search facilities

• Blogs

• Social networking websites

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Interactivity -- Blogs

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• Found more in areas where there is significant public attention and debate, but can also be general science…

• Arena for interaction between professionals, amateurs and media

• Favoured by scientists with strong political opinions, philosophical stances and desire for self-promotion

Example 2: Rerum natura

Example 1: Real Climate

(Trench 2008)

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Interactivity -- Multimedia

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• Podcasts about institutions’ work

• Video podcast

• Images

• Media streaming (YouTube)

Example 1: Max Planck Society Videos

Example 3: Nature Podcasts

Example 2: ESA image gallery

www.nature.com/podcast/

www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/multimedia/scienceMovies/

http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmghome.pl

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• Social networking website, 2004

• Different uses: Personal webpage; institutions; discussion topics; conferences…

• Add people/pages as friends, send messages, update profiles…

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Interactivity -- Networking

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• Real time information network

• Asks: “What’s happening”

• Answer spreads immediately - “tweets” (up 140 characters)

• Different uses: personal page; institution, topic of discussion;

• Follow and be followed

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Interactivity -- Twitter

Once you got “friends/followers” - spread your message around the world - may be very effective reaching lay audiences

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• Spend one second per line of text

• Read the left side more than the right side

• Read more frequently short paragraphs and introductory paragraphs

• Are encouraged to read by excerpts

• The first words of headlines are crucial

• Look at a minimum of five headlines on a homepage

Poynter Institute eye-track research. http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/history.htm

Characteristics of Public Science WebsitesEssential Elements: Editorial Content

Exercise5

• Trainees are divided into groups of four

• Trainees must develop a concept for a new website for a scientific topic, institution or initiative

• The group must design their homepage on PowerPoint:

• Audience and aims

• Authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, coverage, navigation, interactivity, editorial quality

• Each group will give a ten-minute presentation of their site to the workshop

Tomorrow’s timetable - current version6

• 8:30 - 9:30 Feedback on media interviews

• 10:00 - 12:00 Public science on web - prepare websites

• 12:00 - 12:45 Presentation of websites

• 12:45 - 1:30 Farewells

or …or …

Tomorrow’s timetable - alternative version6

• 8:30 - 11:00 Public science on web - prepare websites (inc. coffee break)

• 11:00 - 12:00 Feedback on media interviews

• 12:00 - 12:45 Presentation of websites

• 12:45 - 1:30 Farewells

You chooseYou choose