A mission statement for our SIG

by Geoff Hart

Previously published as: Hart, G.J. 2003. A mission statement for our SIG. the Exchange 10(1):2, 7.

I haven’t seen a formal mission and vision statement for the Science SIG, and though I’m always a bit skeptical about the value of such things for large organizations because of the difficulty of implementing them across the organization, there are important benefits for smaller groups such as the Scientific Communication SIG. Among other things, they serve as a good statement on the kinds of issues I’d like to see discussed in our newsletter.

That being the case, here’s a brief summary of what I see as the primary emphases for the newsletter and our SIG:

communication of scientific information to specialist audiences (scientists), decisionmakers (government, managers, and others), and the public
discussion of the nature of scientific communication, its unique challenges, and solutions to those challenges
understanding the importance of science to society, and how to communicate that importance to various audiences in different contexts
tips and tricks for typical communications challenges that arise in the sciences
things we can teach the more typical STC communicator (someone who most likely documents computer or software applications) based on what we’ve learned from standard practices in the sciences
things we can learn from other branches of STC (e.g., computer documentation) and use to improve upon our standard practices

Agree or disagree? Want to write an article on any of these topics? Drop me a line (geoff-h@mtl.feric.ca), and let’s talk!

My essays on scientific communication have now been collected in the following book:

Hart, G. 2011. Exchanges: 10 years of essays on scientific communication. Diaskeuasis Publishing, Pointe-Claire, Que. Printed version, 242 p.; eBook in PDF format, 327 p.