Nature with an editorial about access to data, and with news reports about the changing scholarly communications landscape... even including library blogging!
Web tools now allow data sharing and informal debate to take place alongside published papers. But to take full advantage, scientists must embrace a culture of sharing and rethink their vision of databases.
Upload and share your raw data, and have a high impact factor for your blog — or perish? That day has not yet come, but web technologies, from personal publishing tools such as blogs to electronic laboratory notebooks, are pushing the character of the web from that of a large library towards providing a user-driven collaborative workspace (see [Science in the web age, linked below]).
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A key technological shift that could change this is a move away from centralized databases to what are known as 'web services'. These are published interfaces that serve to simplify access to data and software (for an example of such services in action, see http://www.ebi.ac.uk/xembl/index.html). Until recently the preserve of expert programmers, such interfaces now mean that anyone with even a basic knowledge of programming can automate data processing and analysis.
Nature Editorial Let data speak to data.
Nature 438, 531
(1 December 2005)
| doi:10.1038/438531a
Next up: Nature News Feature Science in the web age: The expanding electronic universe.
Nature 438, 547
(1 December 2005)
| doi:10.1038/438547a
This week's News Features look at what wikis, blogs and other technologies may mean for the future of scientific communication beyond the confines of scientific journals. These tools offer fresh opportunities both before publication, when people are debating ideas and hypotheses, and after, when they are finding and discussing published results. They also provide scientists with exciting new possibilities for communicating with policy-makers and the public.
Our opening Feature on scientific blogs and wikis finds that scientists are lagging behind other communities, including the commercial sector, in seizing these opportunities. Young scientists are often reluctant to express their thoughts online out of fear that it is somehow inappropriate, or even possibly damaging to their careers.
Another worry is that new technologies bring the threat of information overload. Some of the tools we highlight here offer hope on this score, whether through better filtering or improved searching. Academic librarians are keeping a close eye on the development of search engines, such as Google Scholar; some are even blogging about it (http://acrlblog.org).
Which leads us to...
Nature News Feature Science in the web age: Joint efforts
Nature 438, 548-549
(1 December 2005)
| doi:10.1038/438548a
At its best, academia is a marketplace of ideas. But many scientists are reluctant to embrace the latest web tools that would allow them to communicate their ideas in new ways, says Declan Butler.
...
The emerging web is largely being shaped by dynamic interactions between users in real time. But many researchers still see publications in the formal scientific literature as 'the' means of scientific communication. Although the traditional published paper is accepted as the undisputed information of record, younger researchers, in particular, are concerned that scientists are missing out on new ways to communicate with each other and the public.
They recommend the use of collaborative technologies such as blogs and wikis, websites that any visitor can add to and edit. Supporters say these offer a forum for broader and more timely discussion, to complement the existing system of peer-reviewed journals. This could enhance science communication, both before publication, when generating ideas, and after publication, when discussing results (see 'Open house').
Blogs are just one example of new social technologies that are allowing more people to publish more easily and in more diverse ways on the web. By allowing reader feedback and syndication feeds, blogs create an instant online community. "Blogs can offer any kind of content — from peer-reviewed articles to sheer speculation to rants, and everything in between," says Amy Gahran, an expert in new media and editor of Contentious.com.
The write stuff
The best-known wiki is the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, which has grown to almost a million entries since its launch in 2001. Scientists at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently started their own wiki, OpenWetWare, to apply the same approach to sharing lab protocols and data among biology groups worldwide.
Outside academia, blogs are taking off in a big way. A study published in October by the Guidewire Group, a research firm in new media, says that 90% of marketing communication companies have either launched, or intend to launch, internal blogs. There are now some 20 million blogs, permeating almost every sector of society. But science is a glaring exception, and today there are still only a few dozen scientific bloggers.
Scientists who blog see their activities as a useful adjunct to formal journals, not a replacement.
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But wait, there's more!
Science in the web age: The real death of print p550
Despite clashes with publishers over copyright, Google's plan to make millions of books available online is turning the tide for efforts to digitize the world's literature. Andreas von Bubnoff tracks the demise of the printed page.
doi:10.1038/438550a
Science in the web age: Start your engines p554
Google has launched another challenge to commercial search services — this time aimed at scientists. But is the new engine running as smoothly as its fans hope? Jim Giles investigates.
doi:10.1038/438554a
Thanks to Open Access News for the entry pointer into this great series of articles.
Also see previously:
August 27, 2005 more about science blogs
August 26, 2005 life science bloggers
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