Let's just say for the sake of this column that you have a secret. Deep down you don't mind when the press starts calling. Of course, you don't want fellow researchers to regard you as one of those ambitious, weaselly scientists who tries to build a reputation at press conferences. Nevertheless you find it enticing to consider, once in a while, an audience for your work larger than the one that attended your last seminar. (Perhaps that was the one when you saw the department chair conducting a lab-to-lab search for bodies to fill seats as you loaded your slides into the projector).

Previous Press Box articles have discussed strategies and suggestions for scientists who talk to reporters. Robert Finn's three-part series "Scientists and the News Media" ("Why It's Good to Talk," "How to Work With Reporters," and "How to Work With Institutional Public Relations People"), for example, discussed issues that might benefit scientists whose research has attracted an editor's attention. The National Association of Science Writers offers a useful primer for scientists who associate with media types, "Communicating Science News: A Guide for Public Information Officers, Scientists and Physicians," while Peter Gwynne tackles the weasel factor straight on in his piece "Can You Promote Science Without Losing Respect?"

But to gain even more understanding of those with whom you'll be dealing, you can visit the sites where science journalists hang out. In some cases, you may be able to check the credentials of the reporter requesting an interview. You might also get a sense of how seriously most science journalists view their craft.

Even if you don't consider it a case of "know your enemy," you might think of it as case of "know your collaborator." There are a lot of sites and groups to choose from: at least two dozen professional journalist organizations have Web sites. Ten of these are for professional science journalists. A few are national or international organizations, while others are regional groups.

If you live in or near Washington, D.C., for instance, you might be contacted by one of the 350 members of the District of Columbia Science Writers. This decade-old group meets monthly to discuss "somebody in the news, like David Kessler or Newt Gingrich, or some earnest scientist who should be in the news but isn't," among other things. Like most such groups, DCSWA (pronounced "duck-swa") offers occasional workshops.

The New England Science Writers and the Northern California Science Writers' Association also share information online.

On the national scene, the National Association of Science Writers is one of the most prestigious science-writing organizations in the United States. Established over 60 years ago, the group now claims 1,921 members, each of whom was sponsored before being allowed to join. Many of the most prominent science writers in the country belong to the NASW.

Commonwealth writers have their own organizations such as the Association of British Science Writers and the Canadian Science Writers' Association. The British group is now 50 years old and continues to promote science writing in Great Britain just as the NASW does in the United States. Its activities include organizing meetings between writers and senior scientists, government officials, and overseas science attachés. It also sponsors press seminars in conjunction with the Royal Society and other organizations. Its Canadian counterpart has more than 275 members. Like the other groups, its members include media professionals, communications officers, technical writers, and educators.

Some of the above groups are themselves members of larger science-writing professional organizations. The International Science Writers Association, for example, provides a networking system for 240 journalists from 37 different countries. It helps them make contacts and find assistance when they cover stories in foreign countries, an increasing common occurrence. The group, incidentally, can be a big help to science writers whose home countries do not have a national professional science writers organization.

The European Union of Science Journalists' Associations provides an interesting site. For scientists it offers a brief primer on going public called, appropriately, "Going Public," and for folks considering a career in science writing it offers "So You Want to Be a Science Writer?"

Many of the organizations offer scientific background information for writers as well as news of upcoming events and, often, discussions of news and controversies. These sometimes include debates on how well science writers do their jobs and how well scientists do theirs.