Info

Media Zoo online

gsmz: @tbirdcymru will take a look this afternoon! Was very impressed with @Screenr after your workshop on Wednesday.

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 25, 2012.

gsmz: @tbirdcymru will take a look this afternoon! Was very impressed with @Screenr after your workshop on Wednesday.

gsmz: RT @PhD2Published: Available already! The latest #acwri livechat summary all about academic #blogging http://t.co/FSRpPoIu @DrJeremySegrott

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 25, 2012.

gsmz: RT @PhD2Published: Available already! The latest #acwri livechat summary all about academic #blogging http://t.co/FSRpPoIu @DrJeremySegrott

gsmz: How to publish a book from your dissertation by Tanya Golash-Boza http://t.co/YkJFnxSt via @sharethis @PhD2Published #AcWri

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 24, 2012.

gsmz: How to publish a book from your dissertation by Tanya Golash-Boza http://t.co/YkJFnxSt via @sharethis @PhD2Published #AcWri

gsmz: @tbirdcymru yes, absolutely! I'll be in tomorrow afternoon or just let me know details by email.

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 24, 2012.

gsmz: @tbirdcymru yes, absolutely! I'll be in tomorrow afternoon or just let me know details by email.

gsmz: Looking forward to our Podcasts & Vodcasts workshop this afternoon, hosted by @BDMediaZoo and @tbirdcymru http://t.co/GtGHoFWE #gsmz12

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 23, 2012.

gsmz: Looking forward to our Podcasts & Vodcasts workshop this afternoon, hosted by @BDMediaZoo and @tbirdcymru http://t.co/GtGHoFWE #gsmz12

gsmz: RT @DrJeremySegrott: This Thursday 6pm #acwri live chat is looking at #blogging. Great chance to swap ideas or ask questions about usin ...

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 22, 2012.

gsmz: RT @DrJeremySegrott: This Thursday 6pm #acwri live chat is looking at #blogging. Great chance to swap ideas or ask questions about usin ...

gsmz: RT @thesiswhisperer: Dear Thesiswhisperer – support can uplift your #PhD experience http://t.co/J6R72ntO #phdchat - a post by @janetfult ...

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 22, 2012.

gsmz: RT @thesiswhisperer: Dear Thesiswhisperer – support can uplift your #PhD experience http://t.co/J6R72ntO #phdchat - a post by @janetfult ...

gsmz: RT @eleekirk: Procrastination, by John Kelly. A beautiful cautionary tale for all. Especially fellow students... http://t.co/SBUXj5em

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 21, 2012.

gsmz: RT @eleekirk: Procrastination, by John Kelly. A beautiful cautionary tale for all. Especially fellow students... http://t.co/SBUXj5em

gsmz: Our first thesis forum of the term got off to a great start: http://t.co/d6j7tyRA Next meeting is Tuesday 12th June! #phd #phdchat @uolpgrd

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 21, 2012.

gsmz: Our first thesis forum of the term got off to a great start: http://t.co/d6j7tyRA Next meeting is Tuesday 12th June! #phd #phdchat @uolpgrd

Thesis forum #1

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on May 18, 2012.

The first thesis forum of the term got off to a good start. It was great to see students in attendance from many different subjects and from both pre- and post-APG stages. Jeremy Bradley started the forum with a   highly engaging overview of his experience of publishing a monograph. Jeremy discussed his dealings with the publisher, the timescale involved in his project and the relationship between his book and his thesis. He also outlined the main options for publishing as a postgraduate student. Jeremy recommended the following web resources:

• List of CFPs for conferences, journals and book collections 
• List of academic publishers
• Brickfive (publishing blogs and articles by young professionals)

In addition to the options mentioned by Jeremy, keep an eye out for essay competitions run by societies or journals. There are often prizes involved and the valuable opportunity to turn your essay into a journal article. The website PhD2Published is also worth checking out for tips on publishing your work.

Duncan Stanley then introduced the support available from the Postgraduate Researcher Development Team in helping with the writing process. Further information on the workshops mentioned by Duncan can be found here. If you would like to book a one-to-one consultation, please use this booking form. Make sure to look out for confirmation of the first Cafe Research in early July. For those on Twitter, the latest #AcWri chat focused on 'Finding Motivation to Write' and you can find lots of useful tips within the summary.

After the guest speakers, students split into pre-APG and post-APG groups to share their thoughts on the writing process. Pre-APG students discussed how early you should start writing. Can it be too early? Is it helpful to write and revise from the very beginning? Some students felt this approach helped to form their thoughts and really pushed them to develop an academic writing style. It was acknowledged that a lot depended on the guidance of your supervisor. The importance of setting up systems for referencing and style at the start of the PhD was also discussed; this saves a lot of time and hassle at the end! Differences between disciplines were also acknowledged.

The post-APG group discussed different strategies for thinking and writing, whether linear or genitive. The pros and cons of writing and editing by hand or on screen were also mentioned. Difficulties faced were often linked to the nature of research material, particularly concerning the issues of material in translation.

The next session will welcome a number of guest speakers from different stages of the PhD process who will share their opinions and experience with you. If any current PhD students or early career researchers would like to get more involved with the thesis forum, your contributions would be very welcome. Please email Helen or pop in to the Reading Room on weekdays from 2-5pm.

Hope to see you on Tuesday 12th June!

gsmz: From the CAHL Training Day, 8.5 RT @stephenharlow Web 2.0 Tools for Researchers http://t.co/8kxAzhUJ by @tbirdcymru (via @SlideShare) #gsmz

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 18, 2012.

gsmz: From the CAHL Training Day, 8.5 RT @stephenharlow Web 2.0 Tools for Researchers http://t.co/8kxAzhUJ by @tbirdcymru (via @SlideShare) #gsmz

gsmz: Inspiring talk by @maggiephilbin at the Festival of Postgraduate Research. Value what you are doing and value telling other people about it!

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 17, 2012.

gsmz: Inspiring talk by @maggiephilbin at the Festival of Postgraduate Research. Value what you are doing and value telling other people about it!

gsmz: RT @mwashcroft: judging at university of leicester festival of postgraduate research - hurrah for everyone involved http://t.co/A4IHgcg4

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 17, 2012.

gsmz: RT @mwashcroft: judging at university of leicester festival of postgraduate research - hurrah for everyone involved http://t.co/A4IHgcg4

gsmz: Finding Motivation to Write. A summary of the latest #acwri live chat with Jeremy Segrott http://t.co/Isd1UrNK via @sharethis

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 16, 2012.

gsmz: Finding Motivation to Write. A summary of the latest #acwri live chat with Jeremy Segrott http://t.co/Isd1UrNK via @sharethis

gsmz: Looking forward to the first thesis forum of the term! Open to all research postgrads @uniofleicester Library Seminar Room, 3.30-5pm #phd

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 15, 2012.

gsmz: Looking forward to the first thesis forum of the term! Open to all research postgrads @uniofleicester Library Seminar Room, 3.30-5pm #phd

gsmz: RT @uolcs: If you're not at the Summer Careers Fair already, then make your way to the Percy Gee Building now! So many opportunities -Do ...

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 15, 2012.

gsmz: RT @uolcs: If you're not at the Summer Careers Fair already, then make your way to the Percy Gee Building now! So many opportunities -Do ...

gsmz: RT @LSEImpactBlog: The road to academic success is paved with stylish academic writing http://t.co/HonImiPB

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 14, 2012.

gsmz: RT @LSEImpactBlog: The road to academic success is paved with stylish academic writing http://t.co/HonImiPB

gsmz: Graduate School Reading Room: Festival of Postgraduate Research 2012 http://t.co/8Y7fAyRm

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 11, 2012.

gsmz: Graduate School Reading Room: Festival of Postgraduate Research 2012 http://t.co/8Y7fAyRm

Festival of Postgraduate Research 2012

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on May 11, 2012.

The eighth annual Festival of Postgraduate Research takes place on Thursday 17th May in the Charles Wilson Building. Fifty postgraduates have been chosen to exhibit their research as a poster presentation.

Come along to see what your fellow students are working on!

The Festival is open to all members of the University community and members of the public from 11:00-13:00. Admission is free - but visitors and guests must book a place in advance.

gsmz: #gsmz12 Prezi workshop attendees, take a look... RT @hopkinsdavid Thoughts on using Prezi as a teaching/learning tool http://t.co/yuBpymwT

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 11, 2012.

gsmz: #gsmz12 Prezi workshop attendees, take a look... RT @hopkinsdavid Thoughts on using Prezi as a teaching/learning tool http://t.co/yuBpymwT

gsmz: RT @DrJeremySegrott: #Acwri chat on academic writing starts at 6pm tonight. Choose what we'll discuss by voting at http://t.co/UNOHkDgb ...

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 10, 2012.

gsmz: RT @DrJeremySegrott: #Acwri chat on academic writing starts at 6pm tonight. Choose what we'll discuss by voting at http://t.co/UNOHkDgb ...

gsmz: @tbirdcymru one of the students in the workshop attended precisely because they had seen @johnnyunger present at the conference :)

From Twitter / gsmz. Published on May 10, 2012.

gsmz: @tbirdcymru one of the students in the workshop attended precisely because they had seen @johnnyunger present at the conference :)

Thesis Forum: 15th May

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on May 04, 2012.

Plans for the first thesis forum are shaping up nicely. Jeremy C Bradley will be our first guest speaker and will share his experience of preparing a monograph for publication. There will also be a chance to hear from Dr Duncan Stanley (Research Skills Developer) about the support and training provided by the Postgraduate Researcher Development Team. If you would like to contribute to future forum sessions, please email me or pop in to the GSRR on weekday afternoons, 2-5pm.

New Vitae Guide – The Informed Researcher

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Apr 27, 2012.

The thesis forum returns!

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Apr 25, 2012.

New addition to the bookshelf

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Apr 13, 2012.

Joan Bolker's Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day is the latest addition to the GSRR bookshelf. This book is designed to guide PhD students through the entire thesis-writing process, from first draft to final submission. Bolker quickly admits that the title was designed to be attention grabbing, but explains that the main point is that you do some work on your thesis every day. According to Bolker, '"Every day" is more important than how much time you spend, or how many pages you produce, or what quality of work you produce.' She introduces a number of short-term techniques and methods which can kickstart your writing and help with self-discipline. I've come across many students who are Bolker-devotees, while others find her advice doesn't work for them. As with the other thesis guides on the bookshelf (Dunleavy, Brewer) it is up to you to take a look and pick and choose from the advice on offer. Different stages of your thesis will call for different methods and ways of working. The key piece of advice I took from Bolker was 'Write First'. She advises beginning each day by writing rather than letting yourself get distracted by the numerous other tasks awaiting you. I pinned this mantra to my noticeboard and it certainly helped my focus during a particularly difficult stage of writing-up.

So, make sure you take a look at the bookshelf next time you're in the reading room!
For online advice about writing, The Thesis Whisperer and The Three Month Thesis both have a wealth of resources.

Summer workshops

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Apr 06, 2012.

EMU Conference 2012: Call for papers!

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Apr 02, 2012.

On 5^th July the University of Nottingham is hosting a Postgraduate Research Conference open to all postgraduate researchers from the East Midlands universities.

Attending conferences is a key part of postgraduate life. Whether as a delegate or a speaker, conferences are a way to raise your profile and meet others working in your discipline. Often participation in a conference can lead to publication or to offers of collaborative work. Therefore it is a good idea to get experience in a friendly and interdisciplinary environment. The Postgraduate Researcher Conference offers you a chance to practice your presentation skills in a supportive environment.

It also provides an opportunity to hone your networking skills and meet other students from across the region. For all the benefits that virtual networks can bring, it is important to remember that face-to-face networking with your peers is also valuable.

The day will run in a conference format and cover a wide range of topics. There are opportunities for postgraduates from Leicester to present a paper or chair a conference sessions. You can also just attend as a delegate.

The conference topics are:

Energy, Waste Management, and the Environment

Heritage, Conservation and Tourism

Health and Well-Being in Society

The Natural Sciences: New Discoveries and New Ideas

Creating Technology for the Future

Religion and its place in Society

Identity and Conflict Resolution

Global Food Security

Design and Creativity

The deadline for abstracts and chair applications is: Monday 30^th April 2012.

More information on how to apply and register can be found here.

Beyond the PhD

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 23, 2012.

It can be difficult as a busy postgraduate student to think beyond your upgrade or final submission of your thesis. However, giving your post-Phd career some thought is time well spent and will help you plan ahead as much as possible. Perhaps you have changed your mind about the career you would like to pursue and are unsure how to make the transition. Maybe you are unsure which skills are important to your future employability. The Academic Practice Unit at Leicester offers a number of careers workshops tailored specifically to postgraduate students. The courses listed below are open to postgraduate students of all colleges. The full list of workshops offered can be found here.

Dates for your diary!

30 March Changing Your Career

8 May The Skills Employers Want

1 June Employability Skills Boot Camp

20 June Preparing for Job Applications & Interviews

25 June Planning your post-PhD career

6 July Building a Portfolio of Career Skills

The latest PGR Tips from Vitae contains some useful extracts from the Wilson review of ‘Business-University collaboration’. As noted by Vitae, gaining work experience through internships can be particularly beneficial to future employment. Leicester students interested in PhD internships should contact Martin Coffey (Careers Management Skills Developer).

See also: An academic career?

Blogging for researchers: follow up

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 16, 2012.

Following the recent GSMZ workshop, here are a few posts which might be of help to attendees and other would-be bloggers:

Posting your work in progress on research blogs (Vitae)

Writing for blogs (Andy Coverdale)

On collaborative blogging as a scholarly activity (Ernesto Priego)

'Social Media: Friend or Foe?' (Leicester) provides plenty of advice on copyright issues.

The blogroll (right-hand side) has recently been updated, but I would welcome your own suggestions in the comments below. If any of you have started blogging since the workshop, let me know! It would be good to put together a list of Leicester postgraduate bloggers.

Finding writing support online

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

The writing process can sometimes be lonely for postgraduates. You might be spending more time working from home and having less contact with fellow students. Or you might feel like the only person struggling with a problem over writing methods and techniques. A supportive online community has emerged on Twitter under the hashtag #AcWri. Dr Jeremy Segrott describes how #AcWri aimed ‘to bring together people who were engaged in academic writing to discuss some of key challenges, techniques/strategies that can help get published, and to generally provide a forum and way of connecting people engaged in the common - yet often fairly isolated business of writing for publication.’ #AcWri is the legacy of the #AcBoWriMo community which was initiated last November by Dr Charlotte Frost. #AcBoWriMo stood for ‘Academic book writing month’, but it was adopted by postgraduate students and academics engaged in all types of writing: journal articles, thesis chapters, and research proposals.

I found #AcWri helped with my motivation as my own thesis deadline loomed. Stating my daily goals for writing and editing helped to organise my thoughts and it was always reassuring to know others were in the same boat.

You can find more discussion of the original #AcBoWriMo initiative at PhD2Published. There’s also plenty of writing tips and techniques on The Thesis Whisperer.

#AcWri live chats take place every Thursday at 6pm (GMT). More information on the community and summaries of past discussions can be found here and here.

The hashtag in use on Twitter

Scoop.it!

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

Last week I was looking at Scoop.it, thanks to a hearty recommendation by Terese Bird of Beyond Distance Research Alliance (@BDMediaZoo @tbirdcymru) Scoop.it is a relatively new startup which gives you the opportunity to curate your own topic. Being a ‘curator’ is instantly attractive to a history geek like me and I think this aspect of Scoop.it is very appealing. The layout is also a plus point. Once you set up your topic and start ‘scooping’, your page is arranged like a magazine: nice big photos, headlines, and excerpts from longer articles. This is also how the topics that you ‘follow’ appear.

In essence, Scoop.it trawls the internet so you don’t have to! It is easy to browse and discard your scooped material. If you’re not yet ready to curate your own topic then you can simply follow others. Try searching for your research topic and see what comes up. Scoop it can also disseminate weekly findings via your Twitter or Facebook account, which would work particularly well for advertising research projects.

Here are two curated topics which will give you an idea of the way Scoop.it arranges material:

Future of Learning

Social media & academia

A good example of a research project on Scoop.it: Manufacturing Pasts

Other thoughts on Scoop.it : TNW Quick Look and Forty2

Using Scoop.it as an online portfolio for your career: Dr. Sarah-Louise Quinnell

Digital Researcher 2012

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

Vitae recently ran their third Digital Researcher day. This annual event introduces researchers to new technologies and social media tools which can be used to enhance research. The event focused on different stages of the research process, from identifying knowledge to disseminating research findings.

The Digital Researcher day was hugely successful and was fully booked well in advance. However, Vitae offered the chance for people to participate remotely by live streaming the keynote speeches and using an event hashtag. This was the first conference I have ‘attended’ via Twitter and following #dr12vitae enabled me to keep up to date with discussions, to interact with participants, and to find summaries and reports after the event. You could even pose questions to the keynote speaker.

For those unable to attend in person or follow along on Twitter, Vitae have compiled a wealth of resources from the day on the Digital Researcher web page. There are four sets of slides from the workshops complete with audio commentary, plus a post-event podcast. The hashtag is still going strong and signposting further discussion from the conference and useful resources.

Away from the virtual world, the Vitae Midlands hub has two forthcoming events which might be of interest to final year postgraduates:

Finish Up and Move On: 29^th-30^th March, Nottingham Trent University

Collaborative Researcher, 31st May and 11th June, University of Warwick

New thesis forum/workshop

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

The GSMZ is keen to start some form of thesis forum/workshop for PhD students. In previous years there was a regular group which met to exchange tips and discuss PhD related topics in an informal setting. In order to gauge demand for such a group, I would be grateful if you could fill in this short survey (only six questions) Feel free to email me your thoughts (gsmz@le.ac.uk) or pop in to the reading room on weekday afternoons.

Watch this space!

Helen

Drop in sessions are back!

By Helen Steele (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

The Graduate School Media Zoo is back in the GSRR. Drop in sessions are available on weekday afternoons from 2-5pm. Come and explore the technologies available to help with every stage of the research process.

There are four GSMZ workshops still to come this term:

Social networking for researchers

Blogging for researchers

eBooks and eReaders

Using the cloud for research

Reminders about upcoming events will also be posted on the Facebook page and the GSRR noticeboard. We're also on Twitter! Please get in touch if you have any questions about how the GSMZ can help you.

I look forward to meeting some of you soon,

Helen

Research data management

By Keith Nockels (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Feb 27, 2012.

I attended a meeting recently on this topic. And I am interested to know: have you had any training on managing your research data? I am thinking of things like:

• what to backup and how;



• what to delete and when;



• what counts as "research data";



• who will be able to access your data once your research is complete;



• Data Protection and Freedom of Information;



• sharing any software or code that you have written as part of your research.

If you have, who organised it and who provided it?

If not, do you think it would be useful?

Comments are welcome - to this post or by email. I blogged about the meeting on the Library's blog.

PS - Latest Nature has interesting and timely column on data sharing in psychology - http://www.nature.com/news/psychology-must-learn-a-lesson-from-fraud-case-1.9513 (don't know if you all be able to see this in full but I can read it all on the UoL campus)

Could you be Graduate School Researcher Network Facilitator?

By Keith Nockels (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Dec 01, 2011.

Applications are invited for this part time post (18.75 hours a week) based in the Graduate School Reading Room. The post is fixed term until the end of July 2012.

Do you have a background in research coupled with a keen interest in using social media and other Web tools to increase personal productivity and networking?

Based in the David Wilson Library’s Graduate School Reading Room, you will facilitate a virtual and physical support network of research students and early career researchers at the University of Leicester using widely available Web 2.0 tools and focussing on the development of research skills.

As well as promoting the wide range of research training available at the University, you will organise and deliver workshops of interest to the community on topics such as blogging, using RSS feeds for current awareness and using Web 2.0 tools in presentations. You will also provide a face to face enquiry service on the use of such tools and personal electronic devices for academic purposes.

More details can be found on the University's job vacancies site - go to http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/jobs and search for reference LIB00082.

Research Practices 2.0: Social and Participatory Media in Academic Life

By Keith Nockels (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

The Graduate School, University of Nottingham, have asked us to pass on details of this event, on 29th of October 2011.

Research Practices 2.0: Social and Participatory Media in Academic Life is free of charge and open to all PhD students and Early Career Researchers across the disciplines.

Attendees from outside the University of Nottingham are welcome and there are details at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/events/social-media-launch-event.aspx. Places are going fast, so don't delay!

Change of zookeeper

By Keith Nockels (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Sep 21, 2011.

Emma Kimberley has moved on to pastures new, and while we wait for a new zookeeper to arrive, Keith Nockels from the University Library will be keeping this blog and the Graduate School Reading Room web presence up to date. Unfortunately, drop in appointments in the Graduate School Media Zoo are temporarily unavailable, but emails will still be answered and this term there is a programme of workshops. The workshop programme is elsewhere on this blog, and also on the GSMZ website.

eBooks in the Library

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Sep 07, 2011.

Interested in reading digitally?
Have a look at the new Library webpage on eBook collections available in the Library.

21st century reading habits

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

I've had my kindle for nearly a year now, and during that time it's been amazing to see how reading habits have changed in general. E-readers now seem to be the norm on public trainsport and in waiting rooms across the country, and they're increasingly being used in educational contexts. E-readers are now considered a requirement for some university courses, and many students report that they prefer e-ink or pixels to paper (read more on this).

I'm finding that my preferences are also shifting. I've been known to wish that I could increase the font size or improve the contrast on a paperback. I'm used to having everything I might want to read over the course of a long journey - from the newspaper, to journal articles, poetry and novels - on one small, light device, when I would have needed a suitcase to have that amount of choice before. Walking to the shop or the library now seems like a fairly difficult way of getting my hands on a book when I can download one in under a minute!

Despite the convenience of digital reading devices, I'm still not completely converted. A book is a pleasing object. It is also a shared object. I like the freedom to lend books I have enjoyed to friends and family. So in some ways e-readers, even though some allow you to tweet passages or post favourite lines on facebook, make reading more of a solitary than a social pursuit. When I can share the books I've bought I'll be more interested in buying a book on a device.
Like all digital habits, I think that reading habits in the 21st century will continue to be flexible and changeable. Have your reading habits changed?
Find out how you can try out an e-reader in the Library.

Watching on the web?

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Jul 20, 2011.

According to Cisco, by 2015 most internet traffic will be video. Here's a breakdown of what the internet might look like by then.
But you don't have to wait until 2015 to find loads of video resources that support research and academic activities - the web is already full of information and advice caught on camera. YouTube is increasingly the go-to place for searches on any topic, and online videos and webinars are rapidly taking the place of events that require attendance in person. For the cash-strapped researcher, this is all good news. Face to face interaction might be your ideal, but the increasing volume of video on the web allows researchers to attend lectures and workshops from home, saving on time and money. So how can you use online videos to develop your writing, your time management and your career?

Want to beat writer's block, or write your thesis in record time? The Three Month Thesis videos have the answer, as well as some great suggestions for time management skills.

If you're more interested in what to do when the writing's over, have a look at the videos about academic careers on the Manchester Academic Career website, or get the advice of careers advisers and skills developers with the Beyond the PhD videos.

For finding out about social media and some clear and concise 'how-to' videos, Commoncraft's plain english videos are a useful introduction to a wide range of topics.
Video tutorials are often available as an alternative to written introductions or guides to online tools. Have a look at some popular examples such as Dropbox,Scrivener and Evernote.

On the University of Leicester's Youtube channel you can watch videos on topics from How to Record an Oral History Interview to Making an Agarose Gel.

I use online videos for watching my favourite poet read from his study thousands of miles away, lectures on iTunes U, and TED talks on almost everything.

Happy watching!

An academic career?

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

If you're thinking of a career in academia (and with the competitive job market it's never too early to start thinking) there are some excellent resources on the web to give you the inside scoop about what you need to be doing to prepare.

Whether you're a PhD newbie or an early-career researcher there will be something to help you on these sites:

* An Academic career
* Beyond the PhD
* Postgraduate Career Advice
* Academic career paths
* Working in Higher Education

Shelving assistant vacancies

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Jun 02, 2011.

Vacancies - Casual Staff
Student Shelving Assistants
(David Wilson Library)
Must be able to work from the 20 June until 22 July 2011


The David Wilson Library is recruiting students of the University to assist with book moves at the David Wilson Library. The duties involve moving books on the shelves, collecting books onto trolleys, moving trolleys and reshelving books at new locations in the correct sequences. Other duties will include relabeling books, using lists to locate books, general shelving, shelf-tidying and packing books into boxes. The work is physical and involves the lifting and carrying of irregular loads, manoeuvring trolleys and the use of kick steps and stepladders. You may also be required to work at the External Store at Nixon Court and the Clinical Sciences Library.

We will employ a small team of student shelvers to cover the following shifts on a rota basis.

The hours of work will be Mondays to Fridays 10.00 am to 12 noon and 1pm to 3.00 pm for a 5 week period 20 June 2011 until the 22 July 2011.

Pay will be at the casual rate of £7.02 per hour.

You must be available for interview during the week beginning 13 June.

You must be able to work with alphabetical and numerical sequences, have excellent attention to detail, be able to undertake hard physical work, be able to work both independently and as part of a team, and have good communication skills. You must also be available for training at an agreed time during office hours.

To apply for this post please complete the application form available from the David Wilson Library

Completed application forms should be addressed to the Collections Manager, Public Services (David Wilson Library) and returned to the Reception or Service Desk at the David Wilson (NOT TO THE PERSONNEL OFFICE) by 12 noon on Thursday 9 June 2011. Candidates chosen for interview will be notified by email. Applications must include your email contact address and the name and contact details of a referee from within the University.

Please note, if you have not been contacted by 20 June 2011 your application has not been successful. 

By Emma (noreply@blogger.com) from Graduate School Reading Room. Published on Mar 14, 2012.

Look at the GSMZ events diary