Hello Folks,
This week in the Messaging Internship I spent my time working on a one-liner (i.e., broad audience statement) for describing DataONE, clarifying internal jargon, and interviews with some of the DataONE stakeholders.
The challenge in developing a one-liner to describe a company is clearly going to be in getting everyone to agree that the broad umbrella statement is clear enough that everyone who reads it, from environmental scientists to repository managers, understands the main focus of DataONE’s work. Words common and internal to DataONE may be understood in our conversations and postings but on first glimpse are not necessarily understood by people who haven’t heard of DataONE.
What are these jargon words, you say?
Here are a few I have run in to:
-member node,
-coordinating node
-repository (yes, even this can be jargon for some)
-federated
-cyberinfrastructure,
-distributed framework
To work through some of these terms and develop language that can be understood across the board I have integrated questions about semantics into my stakeholder interviews. Stakeholder reps I have talked with have some great ideas, I will be running them by all of you as this language gets further worked out.
Interacting with some of our audience members has gone a long way in clarifying the specific needs in each of these groups. During my internship advisor meeting yesterday we discussed taking their needs (rather than focusing on the positives of DataONE first) and developing them into a pitch that demonstrates how DataONE fulfills those needs, to draw in their interest. This will be used in promotional materials as we target more funding, additional repositories, and uptake by environmental scientists and interested librarians.
Next week I will be developing a messaging platform and four drafts of language used in these promotional materials.
Thanks for your time and have a great week,
Megan Mach