C4) Wikipedia: The Best, Most Hated Resource for Science Communicators

Time:
Saturday, October 27th, 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm
Location:
Room 302B
Speaker(s):
Andrew Su
Kevin Clauson
Rick Borchelt
Organizer(s):
Allison Eckhardt
Rick Borchelt

Most research and scientific organizations love to hate Internet resources like Wikipedia, preferring instead that the public and press come to the institution’s Web sites instead. But honestly -- where are your audiences actually going for their information? This session will explore using Wikipedia – arguably the most maligned of Internet science resources! - to disseminate research findings to the public. We will discuss the reality behind the presumption that Wikipedia is inaccurate, the Internet use habits of audiences seeking scientific and medical information, and strategies that science communicators can use to leverage Wikipedia and other Internet resources to tell our stories.