This book examines the expanding world of genres on the Internet to understand issues of science communication today. In examining scientific genres on the Internet this book seeks to illustrate the increasing diversification of genre ecologies and their underlying social, disciplinary and individual agendas.

Examines new genres of online science communication to further explore how boundaries between experts and nonexperts continue to shift.

The essays in Science and the Internet address the timely topic of how digital tools are shaping science communication. Featuring chapters by leading scholars of the rhetoric of science and technology, the volume fills a much needed gap in contemporary rhetoric of science scholarship. Overall, the essays reveal how digital technologies may both fray the boundaries between experts and non-experts and enable more collaborative, democratic means of public engagement with science. --Lisa Keränen, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Department of Communication, University of Colorado Denver

Science and technology are embedded in virtually every aspect of modern life. As a result, people face an increasing need to integrate information from science with their personal values and other considerations as they make important life decisions about medical care, the safety of foods, what to do about climate change, and many other issues. Communicating science effectively, however, is a complex task and an acquired skill. Moreover, the approaches to communicating science that will be most effective for specific audiences and circumstances are not obvious. Fortunately, there is an expanding science base from diverse disciplines that can support science communicators in making these determinations. Communicating Science Effectively offers a research agenda for science communicators and researchers seeking to apply this research and fill gaps in knowledge about how to communicate effectively about science, focusing in particular on issues that are contentious in the public sphere. To inform this research agenda, this publication identifies important influences â€" psychological, economic, political, social, cultural, and media-related â€" on how science related to such issues is understood, perceived, and used.

The volume gives a multi-perspective overview of scholarly and science communication, exploring its diverse functions, modalities, interactional structures, and dynamics in a rapidly changing world. In addition, it provides a guide to current research approaches and traditions on communication in many disciplines, including the humanities, technology, social and natural sciences, and on forms of communication with a wide range of audiences.

Science communication seeks to engage individuals and groups with evidence-based information about the nature, outcomes, and social consequences of science and technology. This text provides an overview of this burgeoning field ─ the issues with which it deals, important influences that affect it, the challenges that it faces. It introduces readers to the research-based literature about science communication and shows how it relates to actual or potential practice. A "Further Exploration" section provides suggestions for activities that readers might do to explore the issues raised. Organized around five themes, each chapter addresses a different aspect of science communication: • Models of science communication – theory into practice • Challenges in communicating science • Major themes in science communication • Informal learning • Communication of contemporary issues in science and society Relevant for all those interested in and concerned about current issues and developments in science communication, this volume is an ideal text for courses and a must-have resource for faculty, students, and professionals in this field.

'The book provides a concise, informative, comprehensive, and current overview of key issues in the field of science communication, the background of science communication, its theoretical bases, and its links to science communication practice. Especially the link between theory / research and practice is very well developed in the book and in the individual chapters. I think that is valuable for both readers new to the field of science communication, but also for those who identify with only one of these sides … it is indeed a comprehensive and concise overview, convincing in its aim to link theory, research, and practice and I will definitely use it for my lectures on science communication.'JCOM - Journal of Science CommunicationA concise, coherent and easily readable textbook about the field of science communication, connecting the practice of science communicators with theory. In the book, recent trends and shifts in the field resonate, such as the transition from telling about science to interacting with the public and the importance of science communication in health and environmental communication. The chapters have been written by experts in their disciplines, coming from philosophy of science and communication studies to health communication and science journalism. Cases from around the world illustrate science communication in practice. The book provides a broad, up-to-date and coherent introduction to science communication for both, students of science communication and related fields, as well as professionals.Related Link(s)