Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy

This text is the fourth volume under the title Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy (OSA). These OSA Books are intended to cover a large range of fields and themes. In practice, one could say that all aspects of astronomy-related life and environment are considered in the spirit of sharing specific expertise and lessons learned. This book offers a collection of chapters dealing with socio-dynamical aspects of the astronomy (and related space sciences) community: characteristics of organizations, society activities, strategies for development, operational techniques, observing practicalities, environmental constraints, educational policies, public outreach, journal and magazine profiles, publication studies, electronic-media problematics, research communication, evaluation and selection procedures, research indicators, national policies and specificities, expertise sharing, contemporary history and so on. The experts contributing to this book have done their best to write in a way understandable to readers not necessarily hyperspecialized in astronomy while providing specific detailed information and sometimes enlightening lessons learned sections. The book concludes with an updated bibliography of publications related to socio-astronomy and to the interactions of the astronomy community with the society at large.