On the integration of the Internet into informal science communication

Barjak, Franz (2004): On the integration of the Internet into informal science communication.

Abstract

The present analysis looks at how scientists use the Internet for informal scientific communication. It investigates the relationship between several explanatory variables and Internet use for social communication, information retrieval and information dissemination in a cross-section of scientists from seven European countries and five academic disciplines (astronomy, chemistry, computer science, economics, and psychology). The analysis confirmed some of the results of previous US-based analyses. In particular, it corroborated a positive relationship between scientific productivity and Internet use. Furthermore, the relationship was found to be non-linear, with very productive (non-productive) scientists using the Internet less (more) than would be expected according to their productivity. Also, being involved in collaborative R&D and having large networks of collaborators is associated with increased Internet use, again with a non-linear relationship for the latter variable. In contrast to older studies, the analysis did not find an equalizing effect of higher Internet use rates for potentially disadvantaged researchers. Obviously, everybody who wants to stay at the forefront of research and keep up-to-date with developments in their research fields has to use the Internet. This also applies to renowned academics who are very well integrated into invisible colleges, and to social scientists – in our analysis economists and psychologists – who do not have lower usage rates than their peers from the natural sciences when it comes to the most common tools such as e-mail and the World Wide Web.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: University of Applied Sciences, Northwestern Switzerland
• Language: English
• Keywords: Science communication; Internet
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O39 - Other

References

Abels, E.G.; Liebscher, P.; Denman, D. W. (1996): Factors that influence the use of electronic networks by science and engineering faculty at small institutions. Part I: Queries, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 47, pp. 146-158. Barjak, F; Harabi, N. (2004): The Internet in public science. Deliverable 5.2 of the SIBIS project in the topic area of the Internet in R&D (unpublished report at (http://www.empirica.biz/sibis/files/ WP5_No2_R_and_D_II.pdf, prior registration required). Brockman, W. S.; Neumann, L.; Palmer, C. L.; Tidline, T. J. (2001): Scholarly Work in the Humanities and the Evolving Information Environment. Digital Library Federation: Washington D.C. (available at: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub104/contents.html). Brown, C. D. (2001): The role of computer-mediated communication in the research process of music scholars: an exploratory investigation, in: Information Research, vol. 6, no. 2. (http://informationr.net/ir/6-2/paper99a.html). Butterworth, I. (1998): The impact of electronic publishing on the academic community an international workshop org. by the Academia Europaea and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. London [etc.]: Portland Press. Callon, M. (1995): Four models for the dynamics of science, in: Jasanoff, S.; Markle, G.E.; Petersen, J.C.; Pinch, T. (eds.): Handbook of science and technology studies. 2nd edition. Sage: Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi, pp. 29-63. Carley, K.; Wendt, K. (1991): Electronic mail and scientific communication. A study of the SOAR extended research group, in: Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 406-440. Clark, B. R. (1995): Places of inquiry: research and advanced education in modern universities. University of California Press: Berkeley. Cohen, J. (1996): Computer mediated communication and publication productivity among faculty, in: Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, vol. 6, no. 2/3, pp. 41-63. Crane, D. (1972): Invisible colleges. Diffusion of knowledge in scientific communities. Chicago and London. Daft, R.L. and Lengel, R.H. (1984): Information richness: A new approach to managerial behaviour and organisational design, in: Cummings, L.L., Staw, B.M. (Eds): Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 6, pp. 191-233. Day, J.; Bartle, C. (1998): The Internet as an Electronic Information Service: Its Impact on Academic Staff in Higher Education. Proceedings IRISS '98 International Conference: 25-27 March 1998, Bristol, UK. (http://sosig.ac.uk/iriss/ papers/paper06.htm). Dubrovsky, V.; Kiesler, S.; Sethna, B. (1991): The equalization phenomenon: Status effects in computer-mediated and face-to-face decision making groups, in: Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 119-146. European Commission (2003): Third European Report on Science & Technology Indicators 2003 - Towards a knowledge-based economy. European Commission: Brussels. European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN) (1999): Transforming European science through information and communication technologies: challenges and opportunities of the digital age. Final version. Finholt, T.A. (2001): Collaboratories, in: B. Cronin (Ed.): Annual Review of Information Sci¬ence and Technology, vol. 36. (also available at: http://intel.si.umich.edu/crew/technical_reports_alphabetical.htm). Finholt, T.A.; Rocco, E.; Bree, D.; Jain, N.; Herbsleb, J.D. (1998): NotMeeting: A field trial of NetMeeting in a geographically distributed organization, in: SIGGROUP BULLETIN, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 66-69. (http://www.bell-labs.com/org/11359/colab_prod/). Frank, S. (2003): R&D expenditure and personnel in Europe: 1999-2001, in: Statistics in focus, Theme 9, no. 3/2003. Fulk, J.; Schmitz, J.; Steinfield, C.W. (1990): A social influence model of technology use, in: Fulk, J.; Steinfield, C. (eds.): Organizations and communication technology. Sage: Newbury Park, London, New Delhi, pp. 117-140. Garvey, W. D. (1977): Communication: the essence of science. Facilitating information exchange among librarians, scientists, engineers and students. Pergamon Press: Oxford. Garvey, William D.; Griffith, Belver C. (1972): Communication and information processing within scientific disciplines: empirical findings for psychology, in: Information Storage and Retrieval, vol. 8, pp. 123-136. Ginsparg, P. (1994): First steps towards electronic research communication, in: Computers in Physics, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 390-396. Hagstrom, W.O. (1965): The scientific community. Basic books: New York. Harnad, S. (1991): Post-Gutenberg galaxy: the fourth revolution in the means of production of knowledge, in: Public-Access Computer Systems Review, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 39-53 (also available at: http://cogsci.soton.ac.uk/harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad91.postgutenberg.html). Harnad, S. (1997): The Paper House of Cards (And Why It is Taking So Long to Collapse), in: Ariadne, vol. 8, pp. 6-7. (also available at: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ariadne/issue8/harnad). Herbsleb, J.D.; Mockus, A.; Finholt, T.A.; Grinter, R.E. (2000): Distance, Dependencies, and Delay in a Global Collaboration, in: Proceedings of CSCW 2000, Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 2-7, 2000. (http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~jdh/collaboratory/research_papers/cscw_delay.pdf). Hesse, B. W.; Sproull, L. S.; Kiesler, S. B.; Walsh, J. P. (1993): Returns to science: Com¬puter networks in oceanography, in: Communications of the ACM, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 90-101. Hilgartner, S. (1995): Biomolecular database - new communication regimes for biology?, in: Science communication, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 240-263. Hiltz, S. R. (1984): Online communities. A case study of the office of the future. Alex Publishing Corporation: Norwood. Hiltz, S.R.; Turoff, M. (1993): The Network Nation: Human Communication via Computer. 2nd edition, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Holmquist, J. E. (1998): Survey on the Use of Electronic Journals at Princeton (1997), in: Grothkopf, U.; Andernach, H.; Stevens-Rayburn, S.; Gomez, M. (eds.): Library and Information Services in Astronomy III. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 153. (http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/libraries/lisa3/holmquistj.html). Hurd, J.M. (1996): Models of scientific communication systems, in: Crawford, S.Y.; Hurd, J.M.; Weller, A.C. (eds.): From print to electronic: the transformation of scientific communication. Information Today Inc.: Medford NJ, pp. 9-33. Kaminer, N.; Braunstein, Y.M. (1998): Bibliometric analysis of the impact of Internet use on scholarly productivity, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 720-730. Kircz, J.G. (1998): Changing Presentations! Changing Science? Colloquium “L'écrit de la science/Writing Science” organised by the journal “Alliage” for The European Science & Technology Forum of the European Commission (DG XII), Nice 12-14 March 1998. (http://www.science.uva.nl/projects/commphys/papers/nicem.htm). Kling, R.; Callahan, E. (2001): Electronic Journals, the Internet, and Scholarly Communication. (http://www.slis.indiana.edu/csi/WP/wp01-04B.html). Kling, R.; Kraemer, K. L.; Allen, J. P.; Bakos, Y.; Gurbaxani, V.; Elliott, M. (1996): Transforming Coordination: The Promise and Problems of Information Technology in Coordination. (http://www.slis.indiana.edu/kling/pubs/CTCT97B.htm). Kling, R.; McKim, G. (2000): Not just a matter of time: Field differences and the Shaping of Electronic Media in Supporting Scientific Communication, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 51, no. 14, pp. 1306-1320. (also available at: http://xxx.lanl.gov/ftp/cs/papers/9909/9909008.pdf). Knorr-Cetina, K. (1981): The Manufacture of Knowledge. An Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual Nature of Science. Pergamon Press: Oxford et al. Knorr-Cetina, K. (1983): The ethnographic study of scientific work: towards a constructivistic interpretation of science, in: Knorr-Cetina, K.; Mulkay, M. (eds.): Science Observed. Perspectives on the Social Studies of Science. Sage: London, pp. 115-140. Koku, E.; Nazer, N.; Wellman, B. (2001): Netting Scholars: Online and Offline, in: American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 44, no. 10, pp. 1752-1774. Kraut, R.E.; Egido, C.; Galegher, J. (1990): Patterns of contact and communication in scientific research collaboration, in: Kraut, R.E.; Egido, C.; Galegher, J. (eds.): Intellectual teamwork. Social and technological foundations of cooperative work. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, pp. 149-171. Kuhn, T.S. (1996): The structure of scientific revolutions. 3rd edition, University of Chicago Press: Chicago and London. Latour, B.; Woolgar, S. (1979): Laboratory life. The social construction of scientific facts. Sage Publications: Beverly Hills and London. Lazinger, S.S.; Bar-Ilan, J.; Peritz, B.C. (1997): Internet use by faculty members in various disciplines: a comparative case study, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 508-518. Leiner, B.M. et al. (2000): A Brief History of the Internet. (http://www.isoc.org/internet/ history/brief.shtml). Lenares, D. (1999): Faculty use of electronic journals at research institutions, in: Proceedings of the ACRL Ninth National Conference. (http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/lenares99.pdf). Liebscher, P.; Abels, E: G.; Denman, D. W. (1997): Factors that influence the use of electronic networks by science and engineering faculty at small institutions. Part II: Preliminary use indicators, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 496-507. Lievrouw, L. (1988): Four programs of research in scientific communication, in: Knowledge in Society, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 6-22. Lievrouw, L. A.; Carley, K. (1990): Changing patterns of communication among scientists in an era of "telescience", in: Technology in Society, vol. 12, pp. 457-477. Mark, G; Grudin, J.; Poltrock, S. E. (1999): Meeting at the Desktop: An Empirical Study of Virtually Collocated Teams, in: Proceedings of ECSCW'99, The 6th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 12-16 September 1999, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 159-178. (http://research.microsoft.com/users/jgrudin/) Merton, R. (1942): Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press: New York. Merz, M. (1998): 'Nobody Can Force You When You Are Across the Ocean' - Face to Face and E-Mail Exchanges between Theoretical Physicists, in: Crosbie Smith and Jon Agar (eds.): Making Space for Science: Territorial Themes in the Shaping of Knowledge. Macmillan: London, pp. 313-329. Mitra, A.; Hazen, M. D.; LaFrance, B.; Rogan, R. G. (1999): Faculty Use and Non-Use of Electronic Mail: Attitudes, Expectations and Profiles, in: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 4, no. 3. (http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol4/issue3/mitra.html). Mulkay, M. (1977): Sociology of the scientific research community, in: Spiegel-Rösing, I.; Price, D. de Solla (eds.): Science, technology and society. A cross-disciplinary perspective. Sage: London and Beverly Hills, pp. 93-148. Mulkay, M.J.; Gilbert, G.N.; Woolgar, S. (1975): Problem areas and research networks in science, in: Sociology, vol. 9, pp. 187-203. National Science Board (2002): Science & engineering indicators 2002. Arlington, Va. (http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/pdfstart.htm). Nentwich, M. (2003): Cyberscience – Research in the age of the Internet. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. Noam, E. M. (1995): Electronics and the Dim Future of the University, in: Science, vol. 270, pp. 247-249. Odlyzko, A. (2001): The rapid evolution of scholarly communication. (http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/rapid.evolution.pdf). OECD (1998): The Global Research Village: How Information and Communica¬tion Technologies Affect the Science System, Paris. (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/30/2754574.pdf). Olson, G.M.; Olson, J.S. (2002): Distance matters, in: John M. Carroll (ed.): Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millennium. Addison-Wesley, pp. 139-179. Price, D. J. de Solla; Beaver, D. (1965): Collaboration in an invisible college, in: American Psychologist, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 1011-1018. Ravetz, J. (1971): Scientific knowledge and its social problems. Clarendon Press: Oxford. Rusch-Feja, D.; Siebeky, U. (1999): Evaluation of Usage and Acceptance of Electronic Journals: Results of an Electronic Survey of Max Planck Society Researchers including Usage Statistics from Elsevier, Springer and Academic Press (Full Report), in: D-Lib Magazine, vol. 5, no. 10. (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october99/rusch-feja/10rusch-feja-full-report.html). Sanderson, D. (1996): Cooperative and collaborative mediated research, in T. M. Harrison and T. D. Stephen (eds.): Computer Networking and Scholarly Communication in the 21st Century University, New York, pp. 95-114. Steinmueller, W.E. (2001): ICTs and the possibilities for leapfrogging by developing countries, in: International Labour Review, vol. 140, no. 2, pp. 193-210. Stevens-Rayburn, S.; Bouton, E. N. (1998): "If it's not on the Web, it doesn't exist at all": Electronic Information Resources - Myth and Reality, in: Grothkopf, U.; Andernach, H.; Stevens-Rayburn, S.; Gomez, M. (eds.): Library and Information Services in Astronomy III. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 153. (http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/libraries/lisa3/stevens-rayburns.html). Tenopir, C.; King, D.W. (2000): Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Sci¬entists, Librarians, and Publishers. Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Associa¬tion. Tibbo, H. (1991): Information systems, services and technology for the humanities, in: Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, vol. 26, pp. 287-346. Trevino, L.K.; Daft, R.L.; Lengel, R.H. (1990): Understanding manager's media choices: a symbolic interactionist perspective, in: Fulk, J.; Steinfield, C. (eds.): Organizations and communication technology. Sage: Newbury Park, London, New Delhi, pp. 71-94. Van Alstyne, M.; Brynjolfsson, E. (1996): Could the Internet Balkanize Science?, in: Science, vol. 274, no. 5292, pp. 1479-1480. Van Leeuwen, T. N.; Moed, H. F.; Tijssen, R. J. W.; Visser, M. S.; van Raan, A. F. J. (2001): Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequences for international comparisons of national research performance, in: Scientometrics, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 335-346. Walsh, J. P.; Bayma, T. (1996a): The Virtual College: Computer-Mediated Com¬munication and Scientific Work, in: The Information Society, vol. 12, pp. 343-363. Walsh, J. P.; Bayma, T. (1996b): Computer networks and scientific work, in: Social Studies of Science, vol. 26, pp. 661-703. Walsh, J.P.; Roselle, A. (1999): Computer Networks and the Virtual College, in: STI Review No. 24: Special Issue on the Global Research Village. Paris, pp. 49-77. Walsh, J. P.; Kucker, S.; Maloney, N.; Gabbay, S. (2000): Connecting minds: CMC and scientific work, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 51, pp. 1295-1305. Whitley, R. (2000): The intellectual and social organization of the sciences. 2nd edition. University Press: Oxford. Ziman, J. (1994): Prometheus bound. Science in a dynamic steady state. Cambridge. Zuckerman, H. (1988): The sociology of science, in: Smelser, N. J. (ed.), Handbook of sociology. Newbury Park, pp. 511-574.