May 26-29, 2002
Saltsjöbaden and Stockholm, Sweden
Organizers: Per Carlson, Sture Forsén, Gudrun Franzén,
Hans Mehlin and Nils Ringertz.
The purpose of the symposium was to explore how scientific and cultural institutions can use Internet and the new information technology to promote public understanding of science and culture. To this end the symposium brought together scientists, media representatives, web editors, publishers and museum curators for one and a half day of lectures and discussions at the Grand Hotel, Saltsjöbaden, a resort near Stockholm. The participants then travelled by boat through the archipelago to Stockholm, and visited the Nobel Museum. The symposium ended with an open half-day session at the National Museum. During this session a panel discussion took place.
The lectures focused on building and sustaining web sites, XML programming, information retrieval by the use of metadata, and knowledge of structuring tools. Technology and software are still in a dynamic state of development and problems may arise as currently used computer programs become obsolete. Internet governance, the use of the new top domain "museum", and the meaning of "virtual museum" were analyzed. The value of Internet in e-learning and the need for assessment of different educational programs were examined. Some contributions focused on physics education and the value of game-based interactivity in e-learning. Another major topic was electronic publishing. Internet offers the possibility of fast publishing but high quality journals still play an important role as gatekeepers. Different models for arranging peer review were discussed.
Some participants focused on information overflow and the problem of choosing information when hundreds of conventional and Internet TV-channels will be available everywhere and all the time. In the future agents may be of value in searching the web for information of specific interest to the individual reader. Computers can be used to generate "Your Journal" containing only information related to your specific interests. Another development mentioned was the possibility for "niche" cultures to develop. Those who collect stamps, love cats or have special interests can now use Internet to build their own virtual museums at minimal cost.
English is the dominating language in the natural sciences and on the Internet. A question was brought up to what extent educational sites should try to maintain other language versions.
The use of Internet by art museums and Internet specific art was the subject of a few short presentations. One contribution analyzed what virtual art museums can learn from what is known about the design of physical exhibitions.
There was also a lively debate on how to know what the visitor wants to know, how to attract the interest of the general public, and how to explain science. The definition of science was discussed and examples of pseudo-science and common misconceptions were mentioned.
| Program |
| (Click on the links to read the presentations in PDF-format.) |
| May 26 |
|
Alfred Nobel and his Prizes |
| May 27 |
| Session 1 Chair: Sture Forsén |
| TryScience: The Potential Synergy
of Multiple-Museum Web Sites » Alan J. Friedman, New York Hall of Science, New York |
| On the Origins of the Virtual
Museum » Erkki Huhtamo, University of California, Los Angeles |
|
The Particle Adventure: Sharing the Excitement
of Particle Physics » |
| Session 2 Chair: Per Carlson |
| Issues in Structuring Knowledge and
Services for Universal Access to Online Science and Culture
» David Bearman, Archives & Museums Informatics, Pittsburgh |
Cary Karp, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm |
| Learning through Collaborative
Visualization over the Internet » Roy Pea, Stanford University, Stanford |
| Session 3 Chair: Nils Ringertz |
| Electronic Environments and Museums
» Andrea Bandelli, Bionet, Amsterdam |
| A Picture of the Week is Worth a
Thousand Words: The CERN Outreach Project » Frank Close, Oxford University, Oxford |
| Is Science Dangerous?
» Lewis Wolpert, University College London, London |
| Session 4 Chair: Sture Forsén |
| Creating Cultural Content: AMICO's
Strategy for Sustainability Jennifer Trant, AMICO, Pittsburgh |
| Art Museums in a Wired Context
» Annika Hansson, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm |
| Information Retrieval
» Hans Mehlin, Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| May 28 |
| Session 5 Chair: Per Carlson |
| Paradigm Shifts in
Information Dissemination - from Print to the Web
» Ellis Rubinstein, Science, Washington DC |
| Electronic Publication (back) to
Communication Erik Sandewall, Linköping University, Linköping |
| All About Electronic
Scientific Publication » Hector Rubinstein, Stockholm University, Stockholm |
| Session 6 Chair: Nils Ringertz |
| Interactivity and a "Virtual
Biochemistry Laboratory" » Sture Forsén, Lund University, Lund and Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| Good Practice in Using the Internet
and Information Technology in Teaching and Learning Science
» Doris Jorde, University of Oslo, Oslo |
| Is Anybody Listening?
» David Filkin, Kingston upon Thames |
| May 29 |
| Open Session |
| Nobel on the Web » Nils Ringertz, Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| (The following talks at the open session were summaries of the presentations at the symposium.) |
| Internet and Scientific Communication.
Perspectives Ellis Rubinstein, Science, Washington DC |
| Collaborative Learning and Teaching in
Distributed Science Learning Communities Roy Pea, Stanford University, Stanford |
| Internet as an Artistic Medium Annika Hansson, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm |
| Recent Trends in Media Art Erkki Huhtamo, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Panel Discussion » |
| Participants |
| Speakers |
| Andrea Bandelli, Bionet, Amsterdam |
| Michael Barnett, University of California, Berkeley |
| David Bearman, Archives & Museum Informatics, Pittsburgh |
| Per Carlson, Stockholm Physics Centre, KTH, Stockholm |
| Frank Close, Theoretical Physics, Oxford University, Oxford |
| David Filkin, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey |
| Sture Forsén, Lund University & Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| Alan J. Friedman, New York Hall of Science, New York |
| Annika Hansson, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm |
| Erkki Huhtamo, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Doris Jorde, University of Oslo, Oslo |
| Cary Karp, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm |
| Svante Lindqvist, Nobel Museum, Stockholm |
| Hans Mehlin, Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| Roy Pea, Stanford University, Stanford |
| Nils Ringertz, Nobelprize.org, Stockholm |
| Ellis Rubinstein, Science, Washington DC |
| Hector Rubinstein, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, Stockholm |
| Erik Sandewall, Linköping University, Linköping |
| Michael Sohlman, Nobel Foundation, Stockholm |
| Jennifer Trant, AMICO, Pittsburgh |
| Lewis Wolpert, University College London, London |
| Discussants |
| Olov Amelin, Nobel Museum, Stockholm |
| Anders Bárány, Nobel Museum, Stockholm |
| Camilla Hyltén-Cavallius, Nobel Foundation, Stockholm |
| Grete Jarmund, Norwegian Peace Center, Oslo |
| Erik Johansson, KTH, Stockholm |
| Eva Krutmeijer, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm |
| Ulf Larsson, Nobel Museum, Stockholm |
| Olav Njølstad, Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo |
| Ralf Pettersson, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Stockholm |
| Joanna Rubinstein, Columbia University, New York |
| Susanna Rydén-Danckwardt, Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
| Agneta Wallin Levinovitz, Nobel e-Museum, Stockholm |
| Download Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. » |
Printer Friendly 
Comments & Questions
Tell a Friend 
