SCI-FI 101.

This article looks at research on readers of science fiction. Despite the stereotype of the average reader as a young male engineer, probably white, sci-fi readers are male and female, straight, gay, trans, young, and old. They span the racial spectrum and have various education and employment backgrounds. A person is a sci-fi reader because he or she reads sci-fi. Look carefully at the differences between a reader and a fan, terms that are used almost interchangeably in much of the available work on sf reading. Generally, fans self-identify, and, as both Joyce Saricks and Patty Campbell have pointed out, they can be very demanding patrons yet have low expectations of libraries. Science fiction and fantasy are both fantastic, speculative genres, but the speculation in sci-fi is based on science and technology. In most fantasy, the speculation is based on myth, magic, and the supernatural. According to the study, the three strongest goals, or "purposeful reasons," for reading sci-fi are the exploration of ideas, the affirmation of worldview, and escape. To help a reader select sf, it is important to find out what the particular sf reader is looking for at the time. The reader may have goals that change from time to time, yet will still look for and be satisfied by science fiction.