A note to those developing websites based on databases of scientific information aimed at engaging the public: enough with the acronyms.
Unless the acronym spells out something easily recalled AND directly related to the topic at hand – even if the acronym spells a commonly-used (but unrelated) word – it will likely be viewed as jargon.
As an example, a database containing information about marine organisms
- can be found at http://www.marinespecies.org/
- the “name” appears to be “WoRMS”
- the full title is the “World Register of Marine Species” (not all of which, by the way, are nemotodes, pognophorans, or other organisms that would commonly be referred to as worms that live underwater).
What problems does this lead to? Labeling the site with a term which really has a divergent meaning from the content of the site:
- Requires more cognitive effort on the part of the user to perceive and understand why the site .
- Decreases the user’s ability to directly relate the url to the site’s identity, making it more difficult for them to return later or refer others to the site.
- Distracts the user from their intent: they must process a name which diverges from the url they have just entered or selected, determine if they have really reached the right place, then process why the site is called “Worms” when they think it’s ’supposed’ to be about fish, corals, octopi, etc.
This is particularly true when all three terms are used interchangeably throughout the site – especially when the multiple terms are incorporated in the copy.
In toto, when these web-accessible ‘databases’ are in the early stages of development, every effort should be made to make the information not simply accessible to the public, but the information should be comprehensible by the public as well. Ideally, applications for funding used to develop databases which could be used by the public should consider including resources for consulting with an interaction/user experience designer to ensure that the resource is made as useful and accessible to as wide an audience as possible.
Why care about making your resources accessible to a wider audience? Nah, there’s no need to make your bioinformatics database to third graders… but there is a need to make the landing page useful. The website is one place where you control your message – no peer review, no words twisted by the media. A carefully crafted message will get across exactly what you want to say. And to understand what you do, the public needs to know not simply what you do, but why you do it. Your website is where you can tell them.
Science doesn’t exist in a vacuum – and if it continues to be practiced in a vacuum outside the reach of society, it will continue to diminish in relevance to the lives of those who ultimately foot the bill.
But the more people understand about science, the more they care. And the more they care, the more likely they are to support the sciences. Increased public support means more funding… and we all know that more funding means more knowledge you can derive… and the more good you can do.
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