EDITORIAL -- BRITISH ASTRONOMY -- ASTRONOMY, ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE PHYSICS IN GREECE -- ASTRONOMY IN UKRAINE -- FOCUSSING EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY – ESO’S IN THE ‘COMEBACK’ OF EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY -- THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (ISSI) - AN INTERVIEW WITH ROGER M. BONNET -- THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE UNIVERSITY (ISU) -- EUROPLANET: EUROPEAN PLANETOLOGY NETWORK -- RADIONET: ADVANCED RADIO ASTRONOMY ACROSS EUROPE -- SELECTING AND SCHEDULING OBSERVING PROPOSALS AT NRAO TELESCOPES -- SELECTING AND SCHEDULING OBSERVATIONS AT THE IRAM OBSERVATORIES -- SELECTING, SCHEDULING AND CARRYING OUT OBSERVING PROGRAMMES AT CFHT -- THE SCHOLARLY JOURNALS OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY -- MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY -- ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS - A JOURNAL OF ASTRONOMERS FOR ASTRONOMERS -- LISA – THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES IN ASTRONOMY CONFERENCES -- THE ADS SUCCESS STORY – AN INTERVIEW WITH GUNTHER EICHHORNÜ -- THE PROGRESSIVE WORLD PENETRATION OF THE STRASBOURG ASTRONOMICAL DATA CENTER (1970-1990) -- THE GENESIS OF THE IAU WORKING GROUP ON ASTRONOMICAL DATA -- BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES FOR ASTRONOMERS -- GERMAN ASTRONOMY IN THE THIRD REICH -- THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE -- THINKING LIKE AN ASTRONOMER -- MERCURY MAGAZINE: THE INCARNATION OF A SOCIETY -- STERNE UND WELTRAUM - A POPULAR MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO SCIENCE AND ITS USE IN SCHOOL TEACHING -- COMMUNICATING ASTRONOMY WITH THE PUBLIC AND THE WASHINGTON CHARTER -- COMMUNICATING X-RAY ASTRONOMY -- ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH PROGRAM AT GEMINI OBSERVATORY – A CASE STUDY -- PUBLIC OUTREACH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MCDONALD OBSERVATORY – A BRIEF HISTORY AND CURRENT OVERVIEW -- THE EUROPLANETARIUM GENK – THE STORY OF A PLANETARIUM -- THE INSAP V EXPERIENCE ON ART AND ASTRONOMY -- WHAT DOES THE NEW CLIMATE FOR DIALOGUE AND DEBATE MEAN FOR COMMUNICATING ASTRONOMY? -- COMMUNICATING ASTRONOMY – SUCCESSES AND LIMITS.

This book is the seventh volume under the title Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy (OSA). The OSA series covers 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. The chapters of this book are dealing with socio-dynamical aspects of the astronomy (and related space sciences) community: characteristics of organizations, strategies for development, operational techniques, observing practicalities, journal and magazine profiles, public outreach, publication studies, relationships with the media, research communication, series of conferences, evaluation and selection procedures, research indicators, national specificities, contemporary history, and so on. The experts contributing to this volume 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. This volume will be most usefully read by researchers, editors, publishers, librarians, sociologists of science, research planners and strategists, project managers, public-relations officers, plus those in charge of astronomy-related organizations, as well as by students aiming at a career in astronomy or related space sciences.