"Citizen science online gaming: Work or play?"" or ""Some of the values in the design of web-based citizen science games: The case of Phylo"

Beaton, Brian

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/42529 Copy

Description

Title

"Citizen science online gaming: Work or play?"" or ""Some of the values in the design of web-based citizen science games: The case of Phylo"

Author(s)

Beaton, Brian

Issue Date

2013-02

Keyword(s)

• science
• data
• gaming
• education
• history and philosophy of information
• research methods
• social and community informatics

Abstract

This paper traces the rise of citizen science online gaming and situates citizen science games within larger debates about public culture, gaming culture, and information literacy. It argues that citizen science games are part of broader shifts in the culture, politics, and economics of scientific research. On the one hand, these games can offer a lively contact zone, introducing ordinary people to the idea of “Big Data” and democratizing the research cultures within the professional sciences. Yet on the other hand, such games enroll thousands of people into performing unpaid scientific work without offering any explanation as to why this type of data collection and analysis is distinct from salaried iterations of similar tasks. This paper outlines the theoretical stakes of both interpretations and thus contributes to ongoing scholarly conversations about scientific communication, information work and workplaces, gaming culture, and information literacy.

Publisher

iSchools

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/42529

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9776/13122

Copyright and License Information

Copyright © 2013 is held by the authors. Copyright permissions, when appropriate, must be obtained directly from the authors.

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