REPORT - WORLD-WIDE-WEB SITES FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF SCIENCE TO THEPUBLIC A CLASSIFICATION INTO 3 TYPES

This report examines various World Wide Web sires that am intended to disseminate scientific information to the public, and classifies these sires into three general types: those sites that were originally inte nded specifically for an audience with a strong science background but have evolved into sites that include the general public in their over all focus; those sites intended from the outset for a general audience ; and those intended from the outset for children. Using descriptions of representative sites, this report discusses some of the characteris tics of each category and how well such efforts meet the goal of commu nicating about science to a populace with increasing access to compute rs, but not always with the baric or in-depth scientific background to use these sites to their full potential.