Is the Gamification of Scientific Work a Good Idea?

This chapter shows that, contrary to what some researchers claim, setting up the conditions for a “playful environment” is not so simple, in particular when it comes to organizing a new competition for the popularization of science (MT180®). In fact, we will see that popularization does not fit so easily into the “playful environment” desired by the organizers due to the gamified nature of the approach, which gradually colonizes the initial desire to present one's scientific work and pushes some participants to exaggerate their results in order to go as far as possible in the competition. It is therefore feared that the gamification of scientific work, while compatible with neoliberal expectations, will in fact lead to the production of bad science. The question then arises as to whether the need to turn researchers into effective communicators with a view to building the “knowledge society” advocated by international institutions can be achieved through gamified approaches, with the risk of creating an ever-greater distance between (real) scientific knowledge and citizens.

«NON-PROFESSORAL CORPORATION»: NON-ACADEMIC EMPLOYEES OF THE ODESA BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOCIETY (TO THE 110TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ASSOCIATION OF BIBLIOLOGISTS IN UKRAINE)

The purpose of this article is to study how individuals who did not work in universities or academies, were teachers of secondary educational institutions, officials, and public figures took part in the activities of the Odesa Bibliographic Society. In the history of OBS, we can distinguish the following stages: 1) 1911–1914 – the stage of stability, prosperity; 2) 1914–1917 – the stage in the conditions of the first World War, which had a significant impact on the subject, personnel, etc.; 3) 1917–1919 – the period of crisis in the conditions of revolutionary events, when OBS increasingly operated not because of, but in spite of circumstances; 4) 1920–1923 – the period of adaptation to new conditions communist reality, where OBS acted as a bearer of previous traditions. In the end, this was led to the liquidation of the society in its original form, but, at the same time, in fact, the transformation into a Ukrainian bibliographic society, which largely continued the traditions of the “old”. During all these stages, non-academic individuals played an important role in the development of OBS. They participated in all aspects of the OBS’s activities, in particular, replenishing the society’s library, reading reports, and so on. Among them, a large and active group consisted of women, which was a unique phenomenon for the culture of Odessa. They were high school teachers, representatives of the city’s elite. A fairly active role in the life of society, in addition to Odesa members, was played by those who were outside of Odessa. Most often, such persons did not take an active part in societies. But MBT managed to break this trend, as evidenced by the examples of Londoner V. S. Isakovich, Petersburgers O. S. Partsevsky, O. Z. Popelnitsky, M. G. Martynov, a citizen of Riga V. E. Cheshikhin. For the trends of the beginning twentieth century, it is significant that exactly the involvement of non-academic members led to the transformation of OBS into one of the most prominent centers of popularization of Ukrainian culture in Odessa, that was most clearly reflected in the reports of L. O. Chizhikov, S. P. Shelukhin, N. M. Lazurskaya, O. O. Smirnitsky, A. P. Milskaya and others. Thus, we have an example of successful activity of a scientific society, primarily due to the expansion of its social base and the involvement of the public. Popularization of science, blurring the line between “heavy” science for science and public science is quite modern, relevant trend that has both pros and cons. Historical experience should contribute to the development of the most successful approaches.

Experts, influencers, and amplifiers — Exploring climate movements' hyperlinking practices

While research shows different links between activism and science, little is known about activists engaging in science communication online. Demanding that decision-makers should “listen to the scientists”, the climate movements Fridays for Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) emphasize the role of scientific knowledge in democratic decision-making. Exploring the two movements' hyperlinking practices reveals a difference in the extent and selection of hyperlinks on their websites, pointing to influencer-based communication and focus on popularization of science by FFF and expert-based communication leaning on academic publications by XR, with both movements acting as amplifiers of existing science communication efforts.

Information-Communication Platform of Library as a Tool for Formation of the Knowledge Space

The article discusses the issues of popularization of scientific knowledge on the basis of public libraries. The author substantiates the importance of library and information institutions in the process of spreading scientific knowledge among wider population. The article considers the problematic aspects and tasks of libraries in the direction of improving the scientific literacy of users.The author characterizes the project “Information-Communication Platform for the popularization of Science”, developed by specialists of the Mikhail Lermontov Interdistrict Centralized Library System (St. Petersburg), which covers a wide range of scientific areas providing a general overview of topics and more specific information for those who wish to obtain in-depth sight into a particular subject area. Special attention is paid to the organizational issues of the implementation of platform: the purpose of creation, the target audience, the basic principles, the main objectives of the project. The article considers the forms of mutually beneficial cooperation in the popularization of scientific knowledge within the framework of the project with partner organizations. The author describes the requirements for the operation of interface. The platform contains three major types of information resources: documentary full-text data bases, bibliographic resources and media resources. The platform anticipates interactive communication of library users — students and representatives of pedagogical community — with well-known scientists for discussing technical developments and achievements of humankind with particular attention to subjects of current interest: pandemic, coronavirus, vaccination. The information-communication platform allows monitoring the interest of young people in various scientific areas. Participation in the project motivates young people to scientific activity, which is one of the basic factors of reproduction of scientific personnel potential.

Public understanding of and participation in ethical events relating to science and technology: Comparing China with other countries

With the rapid development of science and technology (S&T), which has a profound impact on human society and the environment, the tension between S&T and ethics has attracted increasing attention. Ethical events occur from time to time in S&T domains, and related issues have aroused heated discussion. In China, the participants in S&T ethical events are mainly professionals in their respective fields. By comparing China with other countries, we can see that public understanding of and participation in S&T ethical events in China still need to be strengthened. This can be accomplished from two perspectives: the promotion of ethical consciousness and the popularization of science.

Anatol Eremia – a “guardian” of toponymy

This year, 2021, on July 3, the researcher Anatol Eremia turns 90 years old. He is the personality who remained faithful during his entire scientific career to the Institute of Romanian Philology “Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu“, in its various forms of existence so far. He dedicated his life to onomastics research, demonstrating a special predilection for the phenomena of toponymy. Evolving in his career at all levels of the academic hierarchy, from laboratory in the field of Onomastics to scientific coordinator and scientific consultant, he managed to gather scientific information and make relevant analyzes by publishing 25 monographs, dictionaries, guides and 465 scientific articles and popularization of science. Among the most famous works signed by Anatol Eremia are: Names of localities. Toponymy study, 1970; The secrets of geographical names, 1986; The unity of the Romanian onomastic patrimony, 2001; Cahul in time and space, 2007; Chisinau. History and current affairs, 2012; The Romanian toponymic treasure. Republic of Moldova. Cantemir area, 2016; Leova. Localities, people, traditions, 2018 etc. His contribution is not limited to actual research or training of qualified staff in the field. He has had and continues to work in several commissions, councils, editorial boards dealing with issues of onomastics (toponymy, anthroponymy): UN Expert Group for Standardization of Geographical Names of International Circulation, Scientific Council of the Institute of Romanian Philology, Interdepartmental Commission for Study the state and development of the Romanian language, the Republican Commission for the regulation and protection of national onomastics, the Commission for the regulation of urbanism of Chisinau, the Editorial Board of the dedicated journal. Anatol Eremia is a patrimonial personality for onomastic and toponymic research, who became, in time, a “guardian” of toponymy, as he had once been a “guardian” in the Romanian school of Cahul.

Communicating disciplinary knowledge to a wide audience in 3MT presentations: How students engage with popularization of science

3MT (Three-minute thesis) presentations, in which students communicate their theses to non-specialist audiences within three minutes, have emerged as an important academic genre, echoing current practices in scientific communication where researchers report their research work to a heterogeneous audience. Although increasing attention has been paid to 3MT presentations, we still lack sufficient knowledge of how presenters should communicate disciplinary knowledge to a wide audience. To address this gap, this corpus-based study investigates the rhetorical organization of moves (i.e. discoursal units serving various coherent communicative functions in text) in 80 3MT presentations from six disciplines. It is found that orientation, rationale, purpose, methods and results are five obligatory moves, among which the results move comprises more than one-fifth of the total length. The rationale and results moves are more often applied in hard sciences than in soft knowledge fields. The findings shed light on advanced academic literacy and how students communicate disciplinary knowledge to a wide audience.

Skin Barrier Damage due to Prolonged Mask Use among Healthcare Workers and the General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Survey in China

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resurged in localized areas in China. Individuals wear masks to prevent the spread of droplets. However, skin barrier damage occurs because of the prolonged use of masks. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors of skin injuries among healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general population during the COVID-19 outbreak. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A multicenter cross-sectional study of skin barrier damage caused by wearing masks was conducted using an online questionnaire between December 10 and December 31, 2020. Data regarding demographics, characteristics of facial skin damage, and information on masks were registered. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze factors associated with skin barrier damage, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to establish correlation strength. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 1,538 responses were retrieved from 1,700 questionnaires (response rate, 90.47%), and 1,409 questionnaires were valid (effective response rate, 91.61%). The respondents comprised 567 HCWs (40.24%) and 842 individuals from the general population (59.76%). The prevalence of skin injuries was 46.03% among HCWs and 46.20% among the general population. History of chronic skin disease (OR, 6.01; 95% CI, 4.75–7.75), type of mask used (OR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.95–3.93), daily wearing time (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.36–1.82), and mask replacement cycle (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.68–0.86) were associated with skin barrier damage. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> There was a high incidence of skin barrier damage due to prolonged mask use among HCWs and the general population, and treatment and prevention were inadequate. Attention needs to be given to strengthening comprehensive health education and popularization of science.

FORMS OF NATURAL SCIENCE MUSEUMS AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTES COLLABORATION (BY THE CASE OF THE EXHIBITION "TRAUMAS OF THE PAST")

The article examines the potential of natural science museums in the popularization of science and scientific activity, the opportunity of a museum and a scientific institute joint work to satisfy the request of visitors that cannot be realized only through the museum collection. The variety of formats for joint activities of the museum and the scientific research institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in educational and educational activities are also considered here. Special attention is paid to the successful experience of exhibiting items from the funds of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the State Darwin Museum and high attention level and involvement of visitors in such projects.