# Presentation: 013952

## THE NEED FOR HARMONIC HORN TOOTINGA NASA Earth Sciences OutreachAssessmentbyKendall HavenAuthor/Master Storyteller1155 Hart LaneFulton, CA  95439www.KendallHaven.comKendallHaven@sbcglobal.net

## Need: • The NASA Earth Science Outreach message points are not 	being heard. • They are worthy and important. •  Revise outreach oversight, management, production, and 	coordination to ensure that the message is heard.

## Harmonic:• Too many voices write and speak under the NASA Earth Sciences banner.• The result is cacophony—noise. It produces confusion. • There is a need for a symphony director to enforce some harmony in the individual voices.

## • You don’t toot your own horn enough.

- • You don’t toot your own horn enough.
-  • NASA Earth Science Outreach writers are far too modest and understated.
-  • Become advocates for your message.
- • Make sure the world not only hears, but understands how good and how unique that work is.
- • Show off. You have plenty to show off about.

## The Central Thesis:A Need for Harmonic Horn Tooting

## A  Word on “OUTREACH” Many thinkThe Mission is the message.Information = message.

**A  Word on “OUTREACH” **Many thinkThe Mission is the message.Information = message.

## 			NO!!!Outreach requires the commitment to a goal, what you want to accomplish with those messages.No nonfiction writing effort will succeed if its only goal is to provide information, to inform.

## Wrong: “What do I want to say?” (the scientist’s 		   perspective) Right: “How will this make a difference, a change, in 		  the reader’s life?”Work that produces no change is wasted.

## Intermediate Questions:  1. What can you promise the reader in this writing (besides just 		information)?  2. How will you get the reader to personally invest? What do you want 	the reader to do? 3.  How will you create suitable context for the reader to create 		meaning? How will you make it relevant to the reader? 4. What do you want the reader to take away from this story and how 	do you want them to internalize that take-away content?

## An effective Outreach writeraccepts responsibilitybothfor the informationandfor the reader.

## MY ASSIGNED TARGET AUDIENCE “Informal Education”Includes: science interested public, science attentive public, amateur scientists, after school programs and community-based programs, museums, and science centers/groups/clubs.

## Informal Education includes:Those seeking science DATA. Those seeking INFORMATION. Those seeking ACTIVITY.

## Characteristics of their searches: • For personal satisfaction. • Check own files first. • Go straight to Google. • Few check more than 6 sites. • Turn next to published print (books and 		periodicals). • Long-term research through personal contacts.

## SEARCH PLANIn accordance with this profile, I decided to:	1st: Search on-line for 15 topics of science interest. 	2nd: Search on-line through NASA Earth Science 			outreach sites and products. 	3rd: Search off-line through popular science journals 		(Discover, Scientific American, Smithsonian, 			Science, and Nature)

## My 15 Search Topics: • Global Carbon Cycle			• Global Warming • Global Carbon Dioxide/Carbon Monoxide Pollution • Atmospheric Pollution			• Forest Burning  • Atmospheric Ozone Depletion		• Deforestation  • Global Aerosol Emissions		• Global Water Cycle  • Human Contribution to Global Warming • Changes in Oceanic Ice and Glaciers • Heat Budget for Oceans		• Global Land Use Changes  • Earth’s Energy Budget		• Ocean Surface Temp. 	 

## My three NASA search wordings: NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Sciences Earth Science

- My three NASA search wordings: NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Sciences Earth Science

## Major Evaluation Questions.1. Do I readily find NASA Earth Science Outreach Products (ESOP’s) when I search?2. Do I recognize that it is NASA Earth Science data I am finding?3. Do the NASA Earth Science Outreach Products I find accomplish the NASA Earth Science outreach mission?

## Do I readily find NASA ESOP’s when I search?A. Are they prominent in the results I find?B. Do they provide the data/information I seek? Do they answer my questions?

## 2. Do I recognize that it is NASA Earth Science data I am finding?A. Am I guided to other ESOP’s outreach products? Do they lead me to additional Earth Science info and data?B. Are NASA supported ESOP’s clearly marked as NASA supported/written?

## 3. Do the NASA ESOP’s accomplish their mission?A. Clearly and consistently promote Outreach messages?B.Make me realize I depend upon NASA Earth Science?C. Do ESOP’s stimulate my curiosity and excitement?D. Explain why Earth Science is an important part of NASA?E. Lead me to other ESOP’s and to an understanding of NASA Earth Science directorate?F. Is there apparent coordination (harmony) between ESOP’s?G. Do I detect feedback/assessment mechanisms?H. Is the target audience for individual ESOP’s clear and appropriate?I. Are ESOP’s compelling? Well-written? Will they captivate the intended audience and support the Outreach mission?

## 	    FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS1.  We ordinary citizens don’t understand NASA’s structure. It’s complex and convoluted.2.  I was amazed by the amount of, quality of, and variety of, information I found when I examined NASA sites (particularly the Earth Observatory).

##  3.  NASA Earth Science Outreach information is excellent but the writing of these products typically doesn’t make me appreciate, or become excited by, the critical roll of NASA in its preparation. The science is better and more consistent than the writing.4.  The total number of NASA sites I found in this search represented less than 2% of the total. (Both too small and often the wrong sites.)5.  EO showed up eight times in my searches, but at an average listing rank of #29.

## 6. Current NASA work is badly under-represented in on-line search results.7. I found too many out of date NASA pieces in this search.8. 14,400 sites list themselves under “NASA Earth Sciences.” Way too many.

## 9. I found no pattern, no consistency, no hierarchy to the order of NASA site listings.10. Far too many of the top 30 listed NASA sites appear to be independent.11. The major NASA Earth Science sites (EO especially) carry a mountain of information. It quickly becomes intimidating, even overwhelming.

## 12. Coordination between sites is spotty at best.13. There appears to be no central “NASA Earth Science site” that others all link to and refer to. But there needs to be.14. Too many of the sites tried to reach all audiences with single articles.15. I did not detect any mechanism (feedback loop, detailed visitor tracking, etc.) to test the effectiveness of each listed piece on the target audiences and revise accordingly.Active feedback is essential to successful outreach.

##  16. NASA Earth Science sites I examined:DESTINATION EARTH.  SCIENCE@ NASA.  VISIBLE EARTH.  EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM.  EARTH OBSERVATORY. Earth (System) Science Data & Services Directory, Goddard Earth Sciences Data And Information Services Center, NASA Earth Sciences Division,  NASA Sciences Directorate, NASA Earth Sciences Enterprise,  The Committee For Education And Pubic Outreach, The Earth Science Educator, Earth-Sun Technology Office,  Federation Of Earth Science Information Partners, Earth-Sun Exploration Division.

## 17. Earth Observatory:

## 18.   Magazine writers were often far more complementary to 	NASA Earth Sciences and seemingly more excited about 	the success of and importance of NASA spaced-based 	data than were in-house NASA writers.

## 19. OBSERVATIONS ON NASA SCIENCE OUTREACH WRITING. • Read like topical fact sheets (that could be text book or science encyclopedia entries) • Combined with press-release style presentation of information. • None of the seven focused on the scientists and on their process (goals, hopes, problems, struggles, challenges, etc.). • Few create reader-oriented context and relevance for their information and data presentations. • Virtually all under-emphasize the centrality and glorious wonder of NASA space-based data collection and satellite data sets to earth science work. On average, these articles reached NASA scientists and space-based data sets on page three of the typically 4- or 5-page format.

##   The style of presentation in these seven articles does not support the core Outreach Message Points or Outreach Mission I discussed earlier.

## Memory, recall, and subsequent action require:• Personal relevance for the information (The receiver must understand how the new information is and will be relevant to them and to their lives.)• Informational context within the framework of the reader’s existing experience,• Emotional context. Research confirms that it is unlikely that new information will have meaning for a reader without these elements.

## Outreach writer must assume the burden of helping to create context and relevance so that their information will have meaning for the target reader and will create change.

## The universality of human struggle. Characters struggle to overcome obstacles in pursuit of important goals.Places new information within a framework of character struggle (risks, dangers, potential, and significance).

## Successful nonfiction writing:Set the scene.Create the need (what’s at risk?).Introduce the NASA scientist and create a goal.Introduce major obstacles.Pick up background information (if essential).Present temporal chronology leading to the development 		that spurred this article. 

## “Put a face on it.”Create context and relevance through human struggle. Focus on actual people doing real and important work that leads to vital advances that make a real difference in the reader’s life.

## 20. Children’s site: What On Earth? For Kids Only.Read like articles written for an adult, general-public audience.Bring in writers who understand children’s mental processes and write to their understanding.

## RECOMMENDATIONS

## 1. ON-LINE FOCUS. Consider on-line site(s) as your primary outreach vehicles.2. EARTH SCIENCE “HOME” SITE(S). Designate one site as the “Home” NASA Earth Sciences outreach site. Guide readers from any entry point as directly as possible to a central point where they will have the best overviews and access to the full breadth and depth of NASA Earth Science material.

## 3. TOP LISTING. Ensure that Earth Observatory (and/or other prime NASA Earth Science outreach sites) shows up in top ten hits on topics of central interest to NASA Earth Sciences.4. ORGANIZATIONAL ROADMAP. Create a descriptive “Roadmap” of NASA Earth Science organizations, and physical sites.5. REGULAR WEEDING. Develop a policy and mechanism/methodology to update or remove outdated pieces.

## 6. EARTH OBSERVATORY. Earth Observatory is quite possibly the NASA Earth Sciences Outreach home site. I recommend a revised hierarchical organization to: •  Make it more user friendly •  Accommodate needs of a variety of users.

## Five kinds of information:	Background,	Overview, 	Human activity (the story),	New results and findings, 	Available data sets and their application.Emphasizes your outreach message points. 			“Tiers of Outreach” 

## At the Site Level:  1. A one to two paragraph overview of NASA’s role in Earth 		Science.  2. NASA Earth Sciences organizational roadmap 3. A quick “what’s here” statement. 4. Direct, descriptive links to four target audience specific home 	sites (education, children’s, media, and decision makers). 5. Breakouts for Missions, News, Data Images, and Features are 		also appropriate.  6. Reference needs rethinking and revision. 7. Experiments section is better suited for Educational or 		Children’s Site.

##  The Features part of EO is now organized intosix main categories:atmosphere, land, oceans, life, remote sensing, and heat and energy. Use four geographical realms (atmosphere, land, oceans, and global) or from broad-brush major topics of concern that are appropriate to the site content (including heat budget and remote sensing). 

##   For each subdivision: • An overview paragraph to create context • Add one more level or organization to accommodate an ever-		expanding variety of users and number of article entries.• Shift historical reviews, fact sheets, and background material 		to Reference• Feature articles focus on descriptions of important recent 		developments and NASA scientists and NASA data. • Toot the NASA horn, loud and long. Make readers impressed by the Herculean efforts of your scientists and of the importance of their work. Write passion!

## Link each feature to: Earth images that demonstrate or expand on article concepts. Specific data sets.  The appropriate mission. All published NASA Earth Science technical articles (in any form or venue) 	on that topic. Descriptions of on-going or planned work. Reference articles for background reading. Other feature articles that address the same topic. Non-print and non-web out reach products and programs.

## 8. IMPROVED CROSS-LINKING. Build in time and labor to actively cross-link and cross-reference new products to other outreach products (both on- and off-line).9. FEEDBACK MECHANISMS. Active, regular feedback is a critical component of a successful outreach mission.10. SHOWCASE NEW PUBLICATIONS. NASA Earth Scientists and scientists working cooperatively with NASA create 800 to 900 new documents every year.

## 11. REVISE OUTREACH WRITING.Focus on the change you want to create.Focus on what you’re promising readers beyond new scientific information.Focus on creating relevance and context.Write the characters, chronology, and information around those concepts.Focus far more on character-based writing. (Put a face on it!)Focus on the goals and struggles of people.Show us what it looks like, smells like, and feels like to do the workStrengthen feature introductions. Grab us into a scene of significance; 		present key study question(s); establish relevance; and get us inside 	the central character and their goal.

## _x0001_And.....In the lead, tell “what’s the point?” for READERS and why it had to be 		NASA that did this work.Emphasize the advantages of, benefits of, and innovation of space-based 		data collection for Earth Science.When readers watch real characters strive and struggle, they gain 		context and begin to invest in the information.Avoid passive voice.Focus on core elements of story.Pull readers into the immediacy of close third.Tighten the final version of all entries.

## 12. CHILDREN’S SITES: Use reviewers and/or writers trained for writing for specific age groups. Effective vocabulary, sentence structure, inference, imagery, article structure and organization, repetition rates, etc., differ with the age of the target audience.