The Futurity.org Research News Channel

There has been some concern expressed in science communities that the coverage of science news has also been reduced as newspaper publishers have had to reduce the size of their issues to adapt to changing economic climate and information seeking patterns.

In an effort to keep news about new research discoveries flowing, about three dozen North America's Association of American Universities (AAU) research universities began a news research channel in March '09 named Futurity. The channel includes news and discoveries in the categories of earth & environment, health & medicine, science & design, society & culture.

From a University of Rochester press release:

"Futurity is a direct link to the research pipeline. If you want a glimpse of where research is today and where it's headed tomorrow, Futurity offers that in a very accessible way," said Lisa Lapin, one of Futurity's cofounders and assistant vice president for communications at Stanford University. "Today's online environment is perfectly suited for this type of direct communication. There's something very natural about universities working together to share knowledge."

"In light of the shifting news landscape, universities are looking for new ways to share important breakthroughs with the public. Futurity gives our partners an opportunity to communicate in a novel and direct way—and to remind the public why research matters," Murphy said.

"It's not often you see high-powered universities working to communicate together in such a collaborative way," says Schoenfeld, a Futurity cofounder. "That fact alone indicates the project's significance. Universities are the world's laboratories. They host the brightest minds working to answer some of today's most urgent questions. The breadth and caliber—and the collective force—of the research featured on Futurity is truly extraordinary.

Hmmm. Why didn't academic libraries think of this? The release could have / should have read:

"XXXX is a direct link to the academic librarianship. If you want a glimpse of where academic libraries are today and where it's headed tomorrow, XXXX offers that in a very accessible way.....Today's online environment is perfectly suited for this type of direct communication. There's something very natural about academic libraries working together to share knowledge."

"In light of the shifting landscape, academic libraries are looking for new ways to share important breakthroughs with the public. XXXX gives our partners an opportunity to communicate in a novel and direct way—and to remind the public why academic libraries matter"

"It's not often you see high-powered academic libraries working to communicate together in such a collaborative way. That fact alone indicates the project's significance. Academic Libraries are the world's laboratories. They host the brightest minds working to answer some of today's most urgent questions. The breadth and caliber—and the collective force—of the activities featured on XXXX is truly extraordinary."

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