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

Dowthwaite, Liz; Sprinks, James

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Authors

James Sprinks



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.

Citation

Dowthwaite, L., & Sprinks, J. (2019). Citizen science and the professional-amateur divide: lessons from differing online practices. JCOM: Journal of Science Communication, 18(01), Article A06. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18010206

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 14, 2018
Online Publication Date Jan 17, 2019
Publication Date Jan 17, 2019
Deposit Date Jan 30, 2019
Publicly Available Date Jan 31, 2019
Journal Journal of Science Communication
Print ISSN 1824-2049
Electronic ISSN 1824-2049
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 18
Issue 01
Article Number A06
DOI https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18010206
Keywords Communication; Citizen science; Public engagement with science and technology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1507502
Publisher URL https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/18/01/JCOM_1801_2019_A06
Contract Date Jan 31, 2019

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