Research and Grants @ PSCCUNY
This was also an panel where it was packed with speakers within CUNY who has all received grants, and was giving a bit of their experience and answering questions. Read the rest of this entry »
Junior Faculty meeting @ PSCCuny
This happened to be my first Union meeting, so I ended up taking a lot of notes, since I found it relevant to my career. I am only listing down the notes I jotted down, and while this may or may not be relevant, Also as I sat in the attendees, listening to a panel of 2 to four faculty, many of the notes I wrote down have overlapped, so I’ll be editing consciously. I’ll be posting a read more tag.
Publishing Rollercoaster ACRL Webinar
Yesterday I was able to attend an ACRL webinar about publishing ups and downs over at Queensboro Community College. These are my notes as I took it down. They are incomplete and by no means is meant to tell your publishing journey. Statement in parenthesis are my own notes/observations.
Panelists
Chris Hollister , Buffalo, NY
Angela Courtney, Bloomington, IL
Barbara Fister, St. Peter, MN
Melinda Dermody, Syracuse University
What general advice about writing can you impart?
- Rejection is to be expected. (Still you can learn from rejections)
- Select publication that is relevant for the paper that you are writing about.
- Keep an eye on calls for paper from professional org
What do you find difficulty about writing? Strategies with research and writing.
- Encountering ideas that are interesting and useful
- Having time and energy
- Practice practice practice.
- Emulate styles of people who write well.
- Partner with people who edit and write well.
- Research partner doesn’t have to be colleague.. Partner either with faculty or partner up with a lot of people.
- Getting first paragraph down is hard.
- Drifting away from outlining, and better to outline.
- Get in writing groups.
What are weakness recognize in LIS manuscripts? (709 papers) Suggest ways of addressing these weakness
- Weakness in writing skills. Uncertainty.
- Not caring…about the subject that they write about.. Consider the reader.
- No original content? (Regurgitation)
- Have to be careful with broad generalization… More important to back it up with facts. Ex. Ref lib are frustrated with virtual ref… and that’s it… no other things to back it up.
-What do you see as most important qualities of great professional writing?
- Be sure that you’re not hiding behind common phrases..
- Good organization.
- Be able to emulate in a voice that is appropriate for that genre of publication.
- Clarity and precision
- Avoid multiple words
- Logical and consistent flow
- Development of personal style
- Have to care and be connected with what you’re writing about. Dedication to research.
-How can librarian find support… Financial time value for writing and pub endeavors
- Depends on where you work… Institution and dept.
- Make time.. and it is what it is mentality… Often outside of 9-5 time period.
- Grants
- Perseverance.. Push through… Librarians are a social bunch.
- Choose something of personal interest
- Surround yourself with a group of like minded people.
- Manage your own calender..make it your job.
-What are useful ways to find venue for writing? What are best ways of matching a writing ideas to appropriate LIS publishers or publications?
- Professional organizations, discussion lists
- Take a look at organizations of the content you want to write for..
- Poster sessions.. Helps you test waters.
- Scholarship
- Hang out where librarians hang out/talk to people/ twitter..webinars..discussion lists.. Find niches.. Open access journals.
- Directory/publisher opportunities/subject wikis
- Read journals of pub interests..looks at editorial boards..look at writing styles…consider how does journals treat their library…consider what your content is?
-What value do you see in nontraditional pub venues such as bloggging and online journals? Does this kind of writing have value for our professional?
- Put things out in the world..
- Library blogs.
- Be sure to be distinctive in online publication.. Online or open access… Be something noteworthy for scholarship.
- Be sure to be allow to know what is noteworthy and authoritative.. Not just in it for an agenda. … Warning about distractionwatch.tumblr.com as a predatory print.
-Do you think librarians should be writing for general public or for scholarly publications in other academic disciplines?
- Depends on library and type of work.. Academic libraries should be writing scholarly pub.. And yes to publications in other academic publications.
- Depends on librarian’s own choice.. Tho warning to not just focusing on that.. Writing should be a constant practice.
- Depends on what you want to write. Agree for more writing either way. Researcher has to be able to write for a public and not just being a scholar..
-As librarian authors..how can we support open access publications? What if the best journal for your research aren’t OA? How about if you are invited to pub in a journal not oa friendly?
- Awareness that publishers are changing.
- Cant fit a square peg into a round one. Have to seek journals.
Questions to panel
-How did Chris begin an open access journal?
- Google Online journal system… Ojs.. Downloadable platform.
- Make sure it has the right editorial board to properly watch, attract submissions and show authenticity.
How would you become an editor, would you have to be invited?
- Very easy to write to existing editorial panels to volunteer about joining to be an editor.
- Start off as a manuscript reviewer.. And with work.. Be promoted from within?
Recommended websites to check out for publication leads.
Open Access Workflows in Academic Libraries
A Library Writer’s Blog
