Innovations in Reducing International Knowledge Isolation

First up in this symposium was Alex Deghan, Science and Technology Advisor at USAID. He discussed digital tools to enhance development initiatives, such as a real-time version of Google Earth, and 3D printers to decentralize manufacturing. USAID co-sponsored a grant challenge, Saving Lives at Birth, in which 1/4 of the applications came from the developing world. The 77 finalists attended an event where they exchanged ideas and met with venture capitalists. He also mentioned USAID's PEER program, which partners a US scientist with a developing world scientist, and its University Engagement program.

Charles Dunlap of CRDF Global spoke about the Iraq Virtual Science Library. The Iraq VSL was started in 2006 and handed over to Iraqi control in 2010. It includes a mix of for-profit journals provided at a reduced cost by publishers, and open access journals searchable through the same interface. About 1/2 of downloads are of open access journals. Since its founding in 2006, publications by Iraqi scientists in journals indexed by Web of Science have increased fourfold. CRDF Global has also launched VSLs in Afghanistan, Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco), and Armenia.

Gilbert Omenn talked about Supercourse, the collection of over 5000 freely available epidemiology and global health slide presentations. Visitors to the Supercourse site are free to reuse content in whole or in part. The extensive and engaged network of Supercourse authors has created just-in-time lectures after the Fukushima disaster, Katrina, and other emergencies. There is a new Science Supercourse hosted by the Biblioteca Alexandrina and partners. It already has over 160,000 lectures, features a ratings system, and focuses on public health, computer science, agriculture, and environment.

John Willinsky described his work with Open Journal Systems (OJS), an open source ejournal publishing platform produced by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP). There are currently about 11,500 journals using OJS, half of which are from developing countries, especially in Latin America. A recent survey of 1,000 of these journals found that most were sponsored by academic departments or scholarly societies; only 83% were completely open access, while others were partly OA or charged for access; and the average article processing fee was $140. The PKP is establishing partnerships with libraries for long-term archiving of these journals. Partners include Simon Fraser University, California Digital Library, Stanford University, and University of Pittsburgh.

The last speaker was Leslie Chan of Bioline International. It was one of the earliest sites to offer free access to online journals, and now hosts around 60. Chan has found that most of the barriers to publishing open access are institutional, not financial - academic departments in both developed and developing countries insist that researchers publish in journals indexed by Web of Science. He showed some articles on important development topics which, ironically, were behind steep paywalls so the people who need them most can't access them. Bioline seeks to publish literature that is relevant to people in the developing world, and which is often rejected by high-impact journals. For instance, one author sought to publish her work on indigenous African vegetables, and her paper was rejected by major publishers because it was about "weeds;" she then published in a Bioline journal. Chan mentioned articles which scrutinize the traditional scientific paper and impact factor:

• Peter Medawar's 1964 talk "Is the Scientific Paper a Fraud?"
• The International Mathematical Union's Citation Statistics report
• Retracted Science and the Retraction Index, Infection & Immunity, 8 August 2011
• Open Society Foundations Beyond Impact project
• SURFfoundation report, Users, Narcissism and Control

Good Science, Good Communication: Talking to the Media and the Public

Can scientists tell a good, 150-word story? Can one capture and sustain the public interests in a few minutes? What are the best strategies to talk to reporters and journalists about a scientific matter? Three leading science communication experts in this session discuss the reasons why scientists should engage with the media and how best to communicate the message.

Nancy Baron from COMPASS Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea emphasizes that effective communication should not be looked upon as an ancillary, after-thought "trade-off" that scientists only consider when they have time. It's important to frame the "Question" that garners attention. Through programs such as Leopold Leadership Program, scientists are brought together to hone their communication skills and refine their leadership potential.

Cornelia Dean, a science writer from the New York Times stresses the importance of telling a good story.
What kind of stories would command the journalist's and the public's attention?
a. a phenomenon that has a wide implication or a narrow yet intense impact.
b. a breakthrough with big consequences
c. a proximity to the readership base; a local angle or perspective.

A good narration touches on the notion of a quest, something that captivates the researcher's energy and drive.

Clear explanation accessible to lay persons helps advance causes for the scientific community. One should be mindful of the larger picture and provide crucial details (minus cluttering facts).

Scientists should prepare and know the media they work with. Talking to a PR professional at the home institution might help the scientist craft a succinct response to the press. Also, provide the reporter with other resources (colleagues, etc.) so that he/she can understand and convey the message better.

Dennis Meredith, a Science Communication Consultant, reiterates the importance of capturing public attention. Communication succeeds when what the scientist conveys matches with what the public wants to know. Besides the public, think broadly about your audience. Donors, program officers, foundation trustees, legislators, students, and colleagues all benefit from a well-told story. One should also think of visual, multimedia tools as another effective way to reach the mass.

The Q&A at the end highlighted the following points:

1. Most institutions have a PR department to help scientists package and deliver the message professionally.

2. Although a scientist cannot gauge exactly how his affiliated departments/institutions/colleagues might react to the scientist's active engagement in public, one should speak up to the public with passion and with good content/visualization to advance societal causes.

3. Klout is an online metric that measures how influential one is in the social-networking domain.

Khue Duong, California State University, Long Beach

Accelerating Scientific Progress through Public Availability of Research Data

This session featured three speakers: Atul Butte from Stanford, Vernon Asper of the University of Southern Mississippi, and Heather Piwowar of NESCent / University of British Columbia.

Atul Butte described the revolutionary effects of public microarray data repositories such as GEO. dbGaP collects a wide range of genetics data, including all data from the Framingham Heart Study (some data requires permission to access).  He also talked about Assay Depot, which allows scientists to order tests from labs worldwide. Often these labs offer services beyond what's available locally, and are cost-effective and easily accessible to dry bench researchers. Butte emphasized that "you can never outsource asking good questions," but researchers no longer need to gather all the data on their own.

During the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Vernon Asper conducted research on board the RV Pelican. As part of a government process called Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA), a database called ERMA was created showing where data on the spill had been collected. However, these data are not actually publicly accessible, and academic scientists were largely left out of the NRDA process. Academic scientists had difficulty coordinating efforts, resulting in duplication as well as missed opportunities. Three main issues hampered sharing of data: legal investigations limited what government agencies could release; some journals refused to publish articles if preliminary findings had been reported; and news media exaggerated scientists' findings in several cases. Asper recommended Nature's coverage of the spill, as their reporters were actually on scene.

Heather Piwowar situated the discussion of data in a broader context. Despite the growth in publicly available datasets, most data are not found in repositories and many authors are unwilling to share data when asked (particularly in cancer research). When 5-10% of papers contain errors which change the conclusions, it's crucial for other scientists to have access to data in order to replicate findings. Piwowar studies which datasets get reused; to do this, she follows citations in Google Scholar and Web of Science, then reads citing papers to find out if the citation means the data was actually reused. She's found that data housed in some repositories receive much more reuse than others. She also discussed the altmetrics movement as another way to attempt to measure data reuse, including the project she's involved with, total-impact. When researchers see that "the pain is worth the gain" - that their data does get reused - more of them will share their data, strengthening the scientific enterprise as a whole.

Unmuzzling Government Scientists: How to Re-Open the Discourse

This outstanding and much publicized session is available as a webcast at:
http://www.pipsc.ca/portal/page/portal/website/issues/science/aaas
You can also follow related discussion on Twitter: #unmuzzlescience

The panel featured journalist Margaret Munro, Union of Concerned Scientists representative Francesca Grifo, and University of Victoria professor Andrew Weaver. Several representatives from the Canadian government were approached to participate, but none were able to attend.

Munro shared examples of Canadian government scientists prevented from speaking to media about published research. Prior to 2007, press were able to approach scientists directly for interviews, but now requests must go through many layers of bureaucracy, in many cases up to the Privy Council Office. The most notable example was Kristi Miller, who was barred from talking with media about her article in Science on sockeye salmon. Other cases involved authors of articles on the Younger Dryas Flood and Arctic ozone loss.

Grifo discussed how the situation for government scientists is improving in the US. She pointed out this periodic table of scientific interference which documents past muzzlings, and this newly released report on corporate interference in science. Several government agencies are developing better scientific integrity policies, with NOAA and NSF in particular having crafted clear policies about communication.

Weaver presented evidence of declining public belief in global warming, and connected this to an 80% drop in climate change coverage in Canada in recent years. He stressed that Canadian federal government atmospheric and oceanic scientists have an excellent reputation internationally, and muzzling only serves to limit the public's knowledge of the research their tax dollars have paid for. The information will come out eventually, via FOIA requests, and the coverage that results focuses on the government's attempt to censor rather than on the science. All members of the panel agreed with the quote an audience member shared, that a scientist is first and foremost a public servant.

--Ursula Ellis, University of British Columbia

Attending an interesting session on the Atlas of Islamic-World Science and Innovation project, which investigates the current state and future opportunities for sci-tech innovation in countries with large Muslim populations.  Country-specific studies will cover Middle East, Africa, and Asia.  Thus far, reports are issued issued for Egypt, Malaysia, and Pakistan.   

Toward a Global Lab notes

Notes from Symposium Toward a Global Lab: Building Science Capacity in Developing Countries

• Lina Nilsson, UC Berkeley - building affordable infrastructure to fill the gap for countries that cannot afford commercially-produced lab equipment 
• Tekla Labs initiative, teklalabs.org - free DIY online community of basic lab equipment information / kludges.  Examples: cell culture shaker created from record player, blender converted into table top centrifuge.  Tenets of Tekla online site: easy to follow instructions, online community to troubleshoot/improve, quality assurance and description of limitations/capabilities.  Can post how-to videos online, use discussion boards to pose questions.
• Make magazine - popularity of DIY technology creation
• DIY Egg beater centrifuge proven to work as well - journal article
• 3D printing (plastic) - IKEA uses for prototypes.  PrintMyLab design challenge underway now - open for all, not just UC Berkeley community.  Future prospect as way to develop lab equipment.  Examples already in use: containers, pipette holders, replacement pieces.  Not a proven solution just yet. (Side note: 3D printing was a hot topic discussed at ALA Midwinter as well, still not clear on real applications)
• CellScope - turn a Smartphone into a microscope.  Greatest interest has been in its use for diagnosing tuberculosis, ear infections. 
• Barbara Gastell, Texas A&M - science writing - AuthorAID online product (supported by INASP, nonprofit supporting global research communication).
• 5 year old [project, funded by British, Danish, other governments
• hosts workshops and professional development for global authors, developing countries, online course in research writing
• Global community of online mentors
• Question on access to journals for developing countries.  Responded that they assist in pointing people to the publisher agreements  to developing countries that provide for low-cost or free access to research literature.

Ted Baldwin, University of Cincinnati

Hello world

Watch this space for commentary by librarians attending some of the many exciting sessions at AAAS 2012! While various librarians (such as the Hedgehog Librarian) have reflected on past AAAS meetings on their own blogs, we felt it would be helpful to offer a centralized location for librarian perspectives on the conference.

For those of you traveling from outside of Vancouver, welcome! Here's a particularly nice shot of the Convention Centre where AAAS will be held. See you next week!

photo credit: ecstaticist