Pew Internet and American Life Project just issued a new report: The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science (pdf). It states that:
Fully 87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept and 40 million adults use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science.
The report is chockful of statistics of great importance to us science bloggers. For instance:
Each respondent to this survey received questions on one of three specific scientific topics: stem cell research, climate change, and origins of life on Earth. When asked what source they would use first if they needed to learn more about the topic, here is what they said:67% of those receiving questions about stem cell research said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 11% said the library.
59% of respondents receiving questions about climate change said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 12% said the library.
42% of those answering questions about the origins of life on Earth said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 19% said the library, and 11% said the Bible or church.
Our blogs are indexed with Google and other search engines and will show up on top of searches for scientific information, especially if it is related to recent science news, so these data are important to keep in mind:
87% of stem cell respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.93% of climate change respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.
91% of origin of life respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.
There is much, much more about the use of online resources, as well as attitudes of internet users toward science. David Warlick and his commenters also look at the data from an educational perspective.
I urge you to dig through the information and post your own thoughts on whatever set of numbers or conclusions you find curious or important.
Update: David Warlick has more.
Comments
Although it doesn't discuss just scientific information, this report from the Online Computer Library Center is also worth a look on this topic. (There's also a link on that page to another report that breaks out the data on college students.) Its results are similar to those of this one.
And honestly, I can't say that I'm surprised. I'm an academic librarian supporting undergraduate research in the sciences (among other things; it's a small library and we all wear many hats) and it doesn't surprise me at all that people look on the Internet first. Accessibility, speed, and ease of use are critical factors in choosing an information resource, and anyone with access to Google has all three in spades. Libraries, wired as we are, are still trickier and slower.
It doesn't bother me as much as some of my professional colleagues, though, because there's a surprising amount of good information available out there for free for people who know how to look for it. Also, when people are starting to look for information, they're less interested in the end result than in an entry point, especially if it's something they know absolutely nothing about. The Internet is great for this.
Where I become concerned is if people's research stops there, because all of human knowledge isn't online (yet). If people are really curious and motivated, though (even if the motivation is that the professor requires ten sources and only one of these can be a website), they'll be thorough. And they'll go to the library.
I've referred students to ScienceBlogs before, both as a source for ideas for their papers, and also so they stop thinking of scientists as unapproachable. Keep up the good work, guys.
Posted by: Genevieve Williams | November 24, 2006 11:59 PM
I have the impression (largely from the choosen subjects), that this survey's target audience was members of the general public, who were seeking to learn basic knowledge about topical subjects. Scientists seeking information about their own -or related fileds of study have need for greater detail. Usually you can find this information, but oftentimes it requires payment of a fee -or membership in a professional society to access. So a lot of detailed knowledge does not conform to the open source model.
Posted by: bigTom | November 26, 2006 11:21 PM