Citizen science and the professional-amateur divide: lessons from differing online practices

Dowthwaite, L and Sprinks, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3781-5484, 2019. Citizen science and the professional-amateur divide: lessons from differing online practices. Journal of Science Communication, 18 (01). ISSN 1824-2049

Preview

Text 13170_Sprinks.pdf - Published version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Online citizen science platforms increasingly provide types of infrastructural support previously only available to organisationally-based professional scientists. Other practices, such as creative arts, also exploit the freedom and accessibility afforded by the World Wide Web to shift the professional-amateur relationship. This paper compares communities from these two areas to show that disparate practices can learn from each other to better understand their users and their technology needs. Three major areas are discussed: mutual acknowledgement, infrastructural support, and platform specialisation. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of differing practices, and lessons that can be learnt for online citizen science platforms.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Science Communication
Creators:	Dowthwaite, L. and Sprinks, J.
Publisher:	SISSA Medialab
Date:	17 January 2019
Volume:	18
Number:	01
ISSN:	1824-2049
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.22323/2.18010206 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	21 Jan 2019 11:11
Last Modified:	21 Jan 2019 11:11
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/35628

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads