The Web and Science: the First Twenty Yearsby Kate Bannan 18 Aug, 2011 in Science Communications
Twenty years ago this month, Tim Berners-Lee, ayoung scientist at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), worked on a better way to communicate and share research information stored on computers at the CERN facility. The result was a browser and editor that could enable information sharing through a common hypertext language. The result was the world’s very first website. The project was started to allow high energy physicists to share data, news and documentation, and it quickly spread. Now, it touches nearly all aspects of our daily life. The Web has radically changed how we access information, products, services and applications. Prior to the Web, we stored paper documents in file cabinets. We went to libraries to look up information and went to bookstores to buy books. Twenty years ago, we got our news at 6 pm on network television or in the morning newspaper. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to buy an item, you drove to the store to purchase it. The web has changed the world! The Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is the DOE office that collects, preserves and disseminates DOE-sponsored R&D results that are the outcomes of R&D projects or other funded activities at DOE labs and facilities nationwide and grantees at universities and other institutions. OSTI has performed this service since the 1940s, but over the years it has evolved and pioneered techniques to make scientific information more readily available to a growing audience. Today OSTI provides access to scientific and technical information using web-based searchable databases offering ever-expanding sources of R&D information to DOE, the research community and the science-attentive public. The number of information... Related Topics: cern, customized alerts, r&d results Read more... |
OSTI Lights Candlesby Dr. Walt Warnick 25 Sep, 2009 in Personal Perspectives
Despite DOE's frequent leadership in science and technology (think "human genome" or winning 46 of the "R&D 100" awards in 2009), it's widely acknowledged within DOE that the public isn't particularly aware of DOE's role. Not that we in DOE are shamelessly craving a little credit, but in a representative government, an informed and supportive public is essential to sustain DOE's important programs. In terms of public awareness, it is as though the DOE program unintentionally operates in the dark. By disseminating DOE's R&D results to the public, including those who do not customarily have access to subscription journals of science and technology ,OSTI plays a role in making such results useful and visible to the public. Dissemination to the public is OSTI's mission as defined by law. One inevitable consequence of OSTI pursuing its mission is that DOE's R&D program becomes better known beyond the inner circles of the science and technology community. For a number of years now, OSTI's information transactions have been increasing exponentially, reaching 84 million in FY 2008 (see OSTI's web metrics ). To my way of thinking, this is tantamount to OSTI lighting 84 million candles that shine on DOE's R&D results and illuminate R&D breakthroughs for the public. This is just the beginning, we are doing everything we can to accelerate this exponential growth into the future and further increase awareness of DOE R&D results by the public. As the old saying goes, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. ... Related Topics: doe, osti, r&d results Read more... |
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