The AAAS 2012 Annual Meeting: flattening the world: building a global knowledge society

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on six Symposia offered at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), held 16‐20 February 2012, in Vancouver, Canada. The theme of this 178th Meeting was: “Flattening the world: building a global knowledge society.”

Design/methodology/approach

This report includes summaries of the salient points in each panelist's presentation for the selected Symposia, and it provides internet links to further support the content of the presenters' comments.

Findings

The AAAS 2012 Annual Meeting aimed at exploring a broad range of recent discoveries and looming global challenges. The program focused on the current complex, interconnected challenges of the twenty‐first century and on pathways to global solutions through international, multidisciplinary efforts.

Originality/value

This report provides insights on the current research themes such as interdisciplinary collaboration, community‐engaged scholarship, global outreach by sharing science and research data with the public, building collaboratories for research on a global scale, and reducing international knowledge isolation of the “Global South” (the nations of Africa, Central and Latin America, and most of Asia).

Citation

Mihram, D. and Arthur Mihram, G. (2012), "The AAAS 2012 Annual Meeting: flattening the world: building a global knowledge society", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1108/07419051211277922