APPENDIX I: Workshop Announcement, Premeeting Reading Material and Workshop Agenda

Making USGS Information Effective in the Electronic Age

In this workshop, staff of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program will be joined by experts in the fields of political science, philosophy, and communication science, to aid us in considering the role of government and the historical development of the USGS, in defining key communication purposes and audiences, and in understanding effective communication strategies. Building on these fundamental considerations, the workshop will develop strategic plans for program information products that effectively apply our scientific expertise in the service of the nation.

Who should attend:

(1) Staff of the Coastal and Marine Geology program who are involved in the management and delivery of information, especially those working with the Knowledge Bank, National and Regional Assessments, and Web Sites.

(2) All who wish to have a clearer sense of mission as government scientists in the electronic age.

To Register, contact Joanne Sedlock, (jsedlock@usgs.gov or 508-457-2286). Program questions can be forwarded to Fran Hotchkiss, (fhotchkiss@usgs.gov, or 508-457-2242).

The Workshop will be held in the Swope Center of the Marine Biological Laboratory, in Woods Hole, and housing accommodations have been arranged there.

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Presenters' Précis:

Part One: The Challenge of Vision

How is it that our highest ideals, both of scientific truth and of public service, can be served by publications for a non-scientific audience? By taking a fresh look at why our nation needs earth scientists within its government, we will clarify our purpose in communicating scientific knowledge and our standards for successful communication.

Part One: The Challenge of Vision - Jene M. Porter

          Government and Citizen: The Role of the Public Scientist

Homo Sapiens are curious animals. We are social animals in certain obvious respects: we need a degree of social organization to raise the young, and we provide for food, clothing, and shelter through joint activity. Yet, paradoxically, we have found it extremely difficult to organize ourselves with any degree of stability. Thus, for most of our history we survived in quite small groups. These groups had a kind of balance between themselves, nature, and their enemies. But, they were--and some are still in existence--rather primitive in that they were small and had limited purposes. Still they have been most successful, and some have lasted as long as recorded history. On the other hand, when we humans organized ourselves into empires, these grander structure were always short-lived. Great empires in the past were lucky to last one century. Rome lasted a turbulent four. No one made it into double digits, and the relation between government and citizen were turbulent.

Something quite extraordinary happened at the beginning of modernity (16th to 17th centuries): we developed a new understanding of political systems. To use modern language, we saw the birth of the state, the bureaucracy, the executive branch, and sovereignty. Along with fostering new developments in agriculture, health, communications, and transportation, we humans have been able to organize ourselves into large groups and to provide for the necessities of life. As far as human population is concerned, there has been an epidemic of our species: it has become a litany to note that in the 18th century humans numbered 300 million and today we are 6 billion or that in the last 50 years we have grown from 2.5 billion to 6 billion.

We have been able to deliver on the material necessities of life--thus the population explosion. Yet, who would, after the experience of the twentieth century, call our political institutions stable or argue that we have solved the task of relating government to citizens? It has become a commonplace among political philosophers of all stripes to question the materialism and the spiritual or moral vacuity of our political societies and to worry about the consequences for the future. Further, the growth of the executive branch and its focus on delivering the material conditions of our existence have combined to blind political and bureaucratic leaders as well as citizens to a host of long-term but pressing problems for humanity. One would be hard-pressed to find a better place to discuss such problems than Woods Hole.

What can be done? How can science--academic, public, and private--and citizens relate? What is the role of the public scientists? How can independence and competence be maintained? Without these two attributes an institution will have little success in persuading the public about long-term issues. Further, the great issues of the day do not come packaged in neat boxes labeled engineering, political science, biology, geology, economics, and so forth. Yet, without a blending of perspectives the problems will be neither seen nor addressed clearly. The experience of commonwealth countries--and some of it is quite dismal--may provide some examples of the interdisciplinary scope of public science and may show us what does not work as well as what may work in persuading citizens and politicians. It is simply indisputable that the institutions of public science will be critical in providing the moral leadership required in the twenty-first century.

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Part Two: The Challenge of Skill - Robert Frodeman

          Philosophies of Government Science, Our Historic and Present Roles

There are two themes to my remarks:

Part 1: A Philosophical History of the USGS

Part 2: The Role of USGS Scientific Information

1. "History is the medium of thinking" (Merleau-Ponty). For the USGS to envision a future where it fulfills its promise within the body politic, it needs a firm grasp of its history, and more generally the history of public science in America. We will therefore review both the history of the USGS (with a particular focus on the USGS's own sense of its role in society), and the history of public science (including the debates over the use, nature, and scope of the public production of knowledge). Developing these themes will involve some conceptual analysis of the terms "politics" and "science." We will find over the history of the Survey a variety of implicit philosophies underlying the survey's relation to the nation.

2. The information that the USGS produces has -- must have - a wide range of uses in a variety of cultural, political, and economic contexts. We will explore these contexts, with a particular focus on the political and cultural dimensions of scientific information within our nation. This will involve an account of the difference between scientific explanation and narrative understanding in the presentation of scientific information. We will also review the effect of recent political developments (e.g., the rise of stakeholders' movements, and more generally of libertarian political philosophies). Finally, we will consider the relationship between government, knowledge, and democracy.

Part Three: The Challenge of Strategy - Mike McDermott and Gail Wendt

          Analyze This . . . and then Communicate

An interactive session on audience analysis and communication tactics prepared for the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program workshop on "Making Information Effective in the Electronic Age"

The intent of the audience analysis session is to provide a model and techniques for determining what groups you want to communicate with, particularly in terms of the Knowledge Bank and the National Assessment products of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program. We see the session as a practical exercise where the theories and philosophy discussed in the previous sessions are incorporated into actual use. About half of the session will be exercises and discussion as you work through the audience analysis model, think about appropriate messages, and determine the communication vehicles that will have greatest impact in reaching your audience and achieving your communication goal.

Simple audience typology models will be discussed with a focus on a model that looks at the spectrum of audiences - ranging from the general public to the intentional partner. A sample inventory of various audience types for the Coastal and Marine Geology Program will be developed. Next steps in the group's work will focus on developing messages and choosing the communication vehicle that best fits the audience.

In preparing for the session, think about existing communication vehicles and information products in the Coastal and Marine Geology Program and then ask yourself these questions (try to come with a rough list of your answers):

About your audience
Who do you think are the audiences for your science?
What are your assumptions about your various audiences?
What do you want to say? To whom? About what?
Who needs to know (what you are communicating)? Why?
Who should know? Why?
Who would like to know? Why?

About your communication vehicle
How do you address audience needs in a communication vehicle?
Is a passive product appropriate? Active? What is your sense of how passive or active products work for an intended audience? Print, online, interaction?
How will you disseminate and maintain your communication? Gather feedback?

About the public audience in communication
As a government science agency, what responsibility do you feel you have - or do you want to take - in communicating with non-scientific audiences?
What communication works best for the general public?
How can you enlist other customers in serving public needs?
Communication can be one of the most effective allies of science, but it requires a commitment of resources and energy to be done right. What you say, how you say it, to whom you say it, and why you say it are all crucial steps in the communications process. Communications needs to be part of the overall Program plan. Whether it is a news release to the public, a fact sheet targeted to the marine community, a one-page briefing sheet for a Congressional staffer, or a listening session with your customers, your communication, if effectively crafted and targeted to an appropriate audience, will help to promote the interests of your program and support the mission of the USGS. We look forward to seeing you.

Workshop Agenda

Part One: The Challenge of Vision
How is it that our highest ideals, both of scientific truth and of public service, can be served by publications for a non-scientific audience? By taking a fresh look at why our nation needs earth scientists within its government, we will clarify our purpose in communicating scientific knowledge and our standards for successful communication.

Part Two: The Challenge of Skill
How can we match our publications and online services to the abilities and interests of their audiences? By learning basic skills of marketing and communication, we can use these tools in presenting and delivering knowledge so that it achieves its purpose.

Part Three: The Challenge of Strategy - Building a CMGP Knowledge Bank
As the world enters the 21st century in a transition from an "industrial" economy to a "knowledge" economy, one of the biggest ironies for USGS researchers is that USGS is not universally viewed or valued as a knowledge-generating organization . Perhaps the most painful signs that we, as government scientists, have not been using our knowledge effectively is the goal of the original Contract with America to abolish the USGS. How often have we (scientists) also asked "why don't others appreciate the importance of my work?" With the background of the workshop in examining the role of a federal scientist (day 1) and the critical audiences (day 2), the focus of day 3 will be to apply this understanding to develop the principal goals and objectives of a long-range plan for Knowledge Management (KM) in CMGP. The development of a robust KM strategic plan should serve to improve the quality, delivery, and impact of CMGP science.

Day 3 will comprise a mixture of the entire group discussing issues, and smaller break-out brainstorming sessions. The break-out groups will be tasked with developing goals, objectives, and actions required for CMGP to handle and communicate its knowledge more effectively. The main focus of the break-out sessions will be on the principal knowledge products of the Program (projects and assessments) and on identifying the critical components of a Knowledge Bank. These categories may change depending on the discussions of days 1 and 2 of the workshop and the consensus of participants.