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Introduction
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** NOTE: THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE, IT INCLUDES BROKEN LINKS, AND THERE ARE NO CURRENT PLANS TO UPDATE IT, OR ADD NEW RESOURCES. **
This
Links page contains a collection
of links to websites, and articles posted on the web, that
tend to be only indirectly related to astrosociology. As
of December 2003, not much material yet exists that is focused
specifically on astrosociology. However, the resources below
are helpful in familiarizing the burgeoning astrosociological
community with many of the space-related (i.e., astrosocial)
issues being discussed by astronomers and other non-sociologists. This
is important. Two major areas of emphasis for
astrosociologists, after all, are to study: (1) how
participants in the astrosocial sphere of society carry
out their work and (2) the connections and mutual influences
between phenomena in the astrosocial sector and the non-astrosocial
sector of society. The importance of this first
area of emphasis is that it provides the astrosociologist
with important hints about which priorities and developments
are receiving most attention. This is invaluable information
because once astrosociologists can identify the clear trends
that are occurring in spaceflight and the space sciences,
they can be studied in terms of their contributions to future
changes in a given society as a whole -- the second emphasis
of study. (The five central themes of
astrosociology are discussed in the Inaugural
Essay).
While
sociology remains at the core of astrosociology,
it must become a multidisciplinary perspective. Non-sociologists
from the other social sciences possess similar interests
from slightly different perspectives that are complementary
to sociological principles and concepts. Members
of the space community should be interested in issues related
to space in the context of society for several reasons,
including the fact that space exploration occurs in a social
environment. Through cooperation, we can all
construct a better understanding of issues related to space
and society. and thereby make space exploration more effective
in the future for the benefit of all of humanity.
Three Ways to Improve this Page and
Keep It Updated
(for the benefit of all in the astrosociological
community)
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First,
you are encouraged to submit links and articles that
you believe should be included on the Links page
or the Virtual Library page. |
Second,
you can link to Astrosociology.org
if your site's materials relate to the astrosociology
in a meaningful way. In taking this step,
you can help expose this multidisciplinary social
science field to the sociological community, as
well as space-related scholars and professionals,
who may otherwise not know of its existence.
This reality must be changed, so that astrosociology
is well established, for many reasons. For
example, the formulation of space policy will have
to rely to an increasingly significant extent on
the newly emerging astrosociological research findings
as astrosociology becomes more established (and
accepted). Your assistance is requested
to hasten this process of incorporating astrosociological
findings into the analysis of astrosocial phenomena
in addition to the traditional economic and political,
and even engineering, considerations currently influencing
the major decisions that go into formulating space
policy.
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Third, please contact Astrosociology.org if you find an invalid or broken link.
The email address is: links@astrosociology.org
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For
your convenience, many of the references below (and
elsewhere on this site) are made available as Adobe
PDF files. This makes it easier
for you to print them without the site's starscape
background. It is also a way to preserve
important pages that may disappear from the web at
some point in the future. For those who
do not yet possess the Adobe Acrobat Reader,
it can be downloaded free at the following URL:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html |
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