Two down, dissertation to go…..

Now the work really starts.....

Yep, finally, at long last I have completed my two option modules (Digital Discovery and Marketing of Services) and they are printed out sitting in envelopes waiting to be sent off.  It has been so long since I last sent any assignments off that I had almost forgotten how good it feels.  And it does feel good.  These option modules seem to have been loitering around on my desk for some time now….perhaps because I have been nervous about starting my dissertation.  But here I am, ready to embark on the final piece of the library studies jigsaw.  I thought the day would never come!

So, now I am indulging in a bit of light reading, trying to get an angle on my chosen topic that I can turn into an interesting piece of research.  My chosen topic?  Well, I have decided to examine the digital divide within the UK.  The digital divide is something that has always interested me, both globally and locally, and I felt that personal interest should be an important consideration when embarking on something that is going to be all-consuming over the coming year.

I’m actually really looking forward to the challenge that this next stage provides.  I hope that at the end of it I am going to be able to produce a piece of work that reflects my own passion and enthusiasm for the topic.  Failing that I hope I produce something that gets a reasonable mark!  I think I have got to the stage now where just having the qualification will be something.  I’ve long got past the idea of proving anything to myself, now I just want to get it under my belt and focus on the many other wonderful things that seem to occupy my time at the moment.  I think I am quite possibly suffering from study fatigue!  Possibly not a good way to embark on a dissertation!

Anyway, expect me to document some of my experiences and thoughts as I work towards completion of my dissertation (alongside my more general observations about libraries from time to time).  Hopefully they prove useful to someone, even if that someone is only me!

To [drafting] Infinity and Beyond…..

One of the things I struggle with as a writer (and by that I mean someone who has to write something from time to time, as opposed to some pompous claim about my artistic credentials) is self-doubt.  That sentence almost seems ironic.  Do I negate the irony by ignoring it or by highlighting it?  Er….where was I??

Anyway, I often find that, when writing assignments, I tend to get very bogged down.  I think this is partly down to something I may have referred to before, my own personal anxiety about being ‘found out’.  Exposed as a fraud.  That people will discover that I am just a kid from a state comprehensive who got lucky and bluffed his way to university.  Maybe it’s down to my working class roots, who knows?  Now I am pretty sure I have written something like this before.  Please don’t search my blog to laugh at me.

Whatever the root cause, it is a bit of a drag.  It takes me forever to decide if my written work is in any way complete.  So much so, that I can draft and re-draft until the cows come home.  I am currently in the process of working through my fourth draft of an assignment on Marketing Services.  This module is equal to the value of a princely 10 credits.  Yep, half as much as other modules.  And yet I still insist on tinkering around the edges.  I know it seems ridiculous but I tinker away regardless.  I’m not quite sure why I think this would help.  I’m pretty sure that I am not going to gain a whole batch of marks for just simply re-arranging the order of the text….or substituting a couple of words for one alternative.  It’s not as if someone is going to give an assignment a distinction for replacing the words ‘as a result’ with ‘therefore’.  Or maybe they will.  Maybe if I had changed them over I would have got 70% instead of 65%……..

I know this tinkering is pointless but still I do it.  Even after all this time on the course, I still haven’t got to grips with the idea of drawing a line under an assignment and sending it off.  If I’m like this with a 10 credit module, how on earth will I cope with the dissertation?  I could be re-drafting for months!  I’ll be heading towards the ultimate deadline (that sounds like a show starring Ross Kemp…) and still be redrafting my survey/questionnaire/whatever the hell I am going to do for my dissertation.

I’m sure I am not alone in this.  In fact, that is the main reason I wrote this post in the first place: to reassure others that you are not alone.  Of course, I could be wrong and it is just me that suffers from this.  In which case, may I apologise now for wasting your time reading a tedious post about my writing process.  Just think of the things you could have achieved instead of reading this.  You could have tinkered some more with your assignment….changed a ‘but’ to a ‘however’.  And instead of writing this, I could have finished off that fifth draft……

In the meantime, I’ll try to come up with a blog post a little less self-indulgent.  Maybe I could talk about the project I have been involved with.  Hmm, I haven’t done that yet have I?  Well, I’ll leave that for another blog post.  Although, if you are intrigued visit here and here.  I’ll tell you more about it at a later date.  Yeah, I know it’s a cheap attempt to keep your interest in this blog, but I’m not afraid to cheapen myself for spurious reasons.  Er..on that note…..

Dropbox

Throughout the duration of my course I have found that I have had to use several different computers in different locations to work on assignments.  Sometimes I would use my computers at home, other times when I am at work or, when we go away, using the computer at my in-laws’ place. Usually this has meant remembering to carry a USB stick (or some other portable device) around with me…not an easy task at the best of times…particularly when it means remembering to pack it on holiday with you!  Up until a few months back, my preferred option was to use Google Docs to make my documents accessible from any computer, as well as for handy back-up purposes.  That was until I discovered Dropbox.

Dropbox has a simple, clean web interface......

Much like Google Docs, Dropbox allows you to store documents online, enabling you to access them from any computer with an internet connection.  Once you sign up for an account, you are given 2GB of free space (with an option to upgrade to 100GB for a fee) which can be topped up to a limit of 8GB by sending invitations.

The real bonus with Dropbox, however, is that you can add a folder to your main computer’s hard drive and then just simply ‘drop’ files into it.  Once ‘dropped’ into the folder, it is then synced with both to the web and to any other PC on which you have installed Dropbox….pretty neat eh?  Of course, you can still access your documents via the web interface, but the ability to just access them via a folder on your hard drive is quite a handy little bonus.

...and it installs a folder onto your computer

Once your documents are uploaded and stored on Dropbox‘s servers, you can manipulate them in a variety of ways.  You can rename them, sort them into a variety of folders or share whole folders with other Dropbox users.  The last feature is particularly useful if you are into collaborative working – making it easy to work on a shared document without having to email around vast files.

There is, of course, an iPhone app for Dropbox too which enables you to access your documents, photos etc on the move.   Whilst it is not possible to edit text on the iPhone app, I find it useful for reading documents I’ve saved on the servers.  Other than simply accessing your files, the app also allows you to mark favourites and upload photos from your iPhone into your Dropbox.  Again, not the most complex of tools, but it does pretty much what I would want from a mobile device (I’m really not that bothered about being able to edit my assignment on my phone).

Overall, I think Dropbox is an excellent alternative file storage option, particularly as a student who cannot always work from his own computer and doesn’t want to carry a storage device around all the time.  Like all the best web tools, it is hassle free and simple to use, with a clean web interface.   Will it kill off the USB stick?  Probably not, but you do have to ask yourself, why bother buying one when this is a  far better option?  Especially if, like me, you tend to lose USB sticks like socks (especially those teeny tiny ones).  Of course there are issues around storing data on somebody else’s servers (and I don’t want to underplay that issue, it is a major concern with any cloud computing application), but as long as you are happy with that I would definitely recommend giving Dropbox a whirl.

There’s a list of Dropbox‘s features on their website….and if you want to sign up, drop me an email (my Yahoo! ID is in my sidebar) and I’ll send an invite whilst increasing my own storage capacity!

Plodding Along, Singing a Song, Walking in a Aber Wonderland

Well, as I have said before, studying has been a bit hard going since the birth of our daughter six months ago (the fastest six months of my life!).  I have found it particularly hard to strike the right balance between studying for my course, and fulfilling my responsibilities as a parent.  This has become increasingly difficult over recent weeks as my daughter has started to slip into a regular sleeping pattern.  Until recently, she usually went to sleep quite late and would normally be awake to greet me when I got in from work.  Just recently, however, she has started going to bed much earlier and there have been many occasions when I don’t see her at all when I get in from work.  As a result of this, I tend to try and spend as much time as possible with her on my days off.  Unfortunately, these were the days that I used to do the large bulk of my studying.  I find it quite hard to study in the evening when I get in from work, it’s very hard to concentrate on studying after a busy day in the library.  I try to do at least an hour in the evening whenever I can, but it is not the same as dedicating a day to some serious study.

Due to the studying I need to do, and the decreased time in which to do it, I have had to cut some things out of my personal life for the short-term.  For example, I used to play football every Tuesday night without fail for the best part of 16 years.  I have temporarily stopped going now whilst I use the extra time this gives me to catch up on my studies and get some serious work done.  Sadly this has had an impact on my rapidly expanding waistline…by the time I get back to playing football I could well be subject to ‘who ate all the pies?’ type chants.  Not good for the old self-esteem!  Depressing though this is (it’s amazing what kicking a ball around can do for your stress levels!), it was a necessary move to give me just a little more time.

My progress has not been helped by the two modules I have been working on: Collection Management and Research in the Profession.  Yep, I thought Information Retrieval was a tricky module to plough through.  I think I can safely file these on the shelf marked ‘irksome’ (there’s an underused word!).  To be fair, I don’t know if that is down to the content of the modules, or just my state of mind whilst trying to complete them.  In fact I should find the Collection Management module very interesting as I have been doing a lot of work related to this module in recent months.  Maybe it is my state of mind. Anyway, I think the end of the tunnel may be within sight.  After some fairly arduous drafting (I’m sure it wasn’t this difficult on previous assignments!), I think I am almost at a point where I can stuff my assignment in an envelope and pass it onto the Royal Mail.  Here’s hoping anyway.

Once the Collection Management module has been sent off, I just have the Research in the Profession module to complete before moving on to the optional modules.  Easier said than done, but I aim to get both complete by the end of the month.  I’ve just got to the point now where maybe it won’t hurt to send-off a couple of duff assignments.  After all, I understand that getting good marks in the coursework is not as important as getting a good mark on the dissertation so maybe that should be my priority.  I am fortunate enough to be in quite a good position at the moment in terms of marks so surely a few sub-60s aren’t going to hurt are they??  I think I have been saddled with this ‘must maintain good scores’ mentality when what I should really be doing is getting the assignments done and focus my energies on researching for a good, solid dissertation.  It all seems so easy when you written down.  If only putting that into practice was as easy!

A Hard Lesson in Information Storage

Just when things were starting to look up…..something comes along and kicks you in the teeth.  I sat down at my computer last night to start drafting my assignment, when suddenly it whirred to a halt and the power went.  Desperate, I hoped that the old ‘switch it off/switch it back on’ routine might work.  Sadly, it didn’t.  I now have one dead PC with all my files for the course completely inaccessible (not to mention all the other stuff I have stored on there - baby photos, ebooks, music).  The stupid thing is, I had been thinking that I really ought to back-up my work soon.  I have a  portable hard drive that I use for occasional back-ups and for transferring stuff to our laptop (an essential piece of kit if every there was one – provided you use it of course!).  Unfortunately, I haven’t backed up my stuff for some time now, so I know there will be a large number of files that are not backed up.  Dammit.

Anyway, I am really hoping it will get fixed today as I don’t know what we are going to do if it is completely kaput.  With my wife on maternity leave at the moment, a new PC is not exactly something we would want to splash out on (especially after buying a new digital camera).  This is not exactly great timing.  Although it is truly typical how these things happen at the most inconvenient moment.

I guess one important lesson has been learnt from this though: make a point to back-up all your data on a regular basis.  If not, you run the risk of doing what I did last night: moping the sweat from my brow whilst frantically pulling cables, flicking switches, poking around the interior of the base unit and trying to overcome the overwhelming urge to give the computer a good kicking.  And we wouldn’t want that, would we?

The Diversions of Life

I’ve not been able to post on here quite as frequently as I would have liked for the past few weeks.  The birth of my daughter has meant that my time has been squeezed in all manner of ways.  Unfortunately, my daughter had to be delivered by caesarian section and, consequently, my wife was made to rest for six weeks whilst she recovered from the operation.  Obviously, this meant that I needed to up my share of the daily chores to allow my wife to get the necessary recuperation time. 

As well as impacting on my social time (which isn’t really that important in the grand scheme of things), it has hsad a massive impact on my studies.  I knew a while back that the baby was due in April, so I should have been well prepared for the impact that would have on my life and studies.  Sadly, I underestimated by quite some way.  I foolishly believed that I could take a couple of weeks out to spend time with my family, before burrowing my head back in the books and cracking on with my studying.  What an idiot.

It is now around eight weeks since the birth of our lovely little girl, and still I am struggling.  The first six weeks were obviously a write-off (for the reasons outlined above), but the past couple of weeks have been tricky too.  I don’t think it helps that my current module (Research in the Profession) is particularly heavy going.  I have been reading core texts,  journal articles and the module pack time and time again and, for whatever reason, it is getting very difficult to make the information stick.  Every time I feel like I have had a eureka moment, I realise that there was something else I misunderstood.  To be honest, it is easy to see why I have been struggling.  Let’s face it what would you rather do?  Spend some time with your newborn child, or read up on qualitative and quantitative research?  Bit of a no-brainer, don’t you think?

And yet, study I must.  I desperately want to complete the course so that I can delete the square brackets from the blog’s title.  This means that I have to get some focus and get on with the outstanding assignments.  The sooner I can get the modules done, the sooner I can spend quality time with my daughter.  It seems so easy when you write it down.  Get focus.  Complete assignments. Simples (as that irritating meerkat advert might say).  Maybe it is that easy.  I’ll let you know after the week-end.

Cataloguing – The Fear Fades

For about five months I had been working on the cataloguing module for my course.  It was, without doubt, the single most difficult module that I have done to date.  Both the assignments filled me with dread when I first saw the outlined requirements.  The first of the two assignments in particular had caused me a great deal of stress and fretting.  Even the advice of colleagues had failed to relieve the stress I was feeling about completing this module.  It was, in short, a nightmare.

One of the main reasons for finding this topic so daunting was that I am not currently involved in cataloguing in any way, shape or form.  Consequently, the subject was a bit of a mystery to me. Much of the reading made little sense to me (although I am sure it did to those who have more experience of the subject) and, quite frankly, I was dreading working on the assignments as I feared that I would be found out at last.  A fraud amongst librarians. An impostor attempting to muscle his way in to an exclusive club populated by people who understand Library of Congress Subject Headings and suchlike.

The assignment that had me particularly vexed required the analysis of a number of different types of records.  One from an OPAC, one from a printed catalogue and one example from a full-text search (eg via an internet search).  It was then necessary to create our own record and suggest a suitable retrieval system that could be used in conjunction with it.  Having only ever used Dewey Decimal (and with only a rudimentary understanding of that), the thought of trying to comprehend another system caused palpitations.  How on earth was I even going to attempt to do this one??

As is now the norm, I finally went for it and made my way through at least six different drafts.  At each re-drafting I found myself analysing what I had written so much, that I began to lose sight of what was actually required.  I had begun to over-complicate the assignment itself and was tying myself in knots.  Heaven knows how many emails I fired off to the module coordinator – no doubt enough to have her tearing her hair out!  I don’t know why I always end up doing the same.  Maybe because at the back of mind I am thinking that as it is a Masters, the answer must be more complex than my initial gut reaction suggests.  Still, nothing wrong with a healthy bout of self-doubt.

Eventually I got to the point where I just needed to send it off and keep my fingers crossed.  Otherwise I could see myself re-drafting for all eternity.  Chipping away at a little bit here, a little bit there, (foolishly) hoping for perfection.  I never took such an approach when studying for my undergraduate degree.  I simply handed in first drafts time and time again.  This perhaps explains my new found dedication.  I still feel I underachieved first time around, so here is my chance to prove that that degree was no mere fluke…I actually might just have been worthy of it (just).

So anyway, I received my marks the other day and was quite frankly shocked to see that not only did I score over 70%, I scored over 70% for the whole module.  Needless to say I opened a (very small) beer to celebrate.  What is particularly pleasing on a personal level is that I never scored above 68% on my first degree (and I only achieved that twice).  So far on this course, I have hit over 70% on at least six assignments – something I never could have imagined when I started the course as although I always wanted to go on and complete a post-grad, I always had the nagging doubt that I was not capable.  As I have said before, I have always felt that at some point someone is going to turn around and call my bluff.  That eventually someone is going to ask the question: how did I slip the net?  Maybe one day they will.

Anyway, as time is progressing I am giving more and more serious thought about the possibility of a doctorate at some point in the future.  Given my background, it would be a dream to be in a position to do so.  I certainly don’t want to get to the end of my studies and then come to an abrupt halt.  I am seriously interested in working on some studies and conducting some research when I do complete the course.  Maybe I need to get out more, but I do actually quite enjoy studying.  Now I know there is definitely something wrong with me!  I really must get out more………

Time To Up The Pace

Well, here I am, the wrong side of Christmas and the realisation hits me that I need to up my pace pretty radically.  I have been working on the same module since the middle of September and it feels like I am never going to get it finished.  Although I have pretty much maintained the same pace as last year, it is really not fast enough.  To attend the study school in April I needed to complete three modules (only needed to get two done last year) and I haven’t even done two yet.  This further complicated by the fact that I am going to be a father in April, so I won’t be going to the study school in April anyway.  Unfortunately, this has had the psychological impact of making me think I have more time than I really have and meaning I have taken my foot off the peddle a bit. Problem is I need to get those three modules done by June if I am to go to study school in September, which is an absolute necessity.  With a baby due in April, the next few months are going to be very stressful.

But I guess I am not alone and, so long as I spend as much time as possible on my studies, I should be ok.  The main problem is the fact that I have ‘the fear’.  The fear of sending off those assignments when they aren’t quite right yet.  The fear of sending off those assignments and failing.  The fear that I will be found out.  The fear that I am not really cut out for this librarian malarky.  But I guess the fear is just that.  Fear.  Sometimes you need to bite the bullet, face down your fears and get those assignments sent off.  I mean, they can’t really be that bad, can they?

 

Anyways, here’s a little ditty on Web 2.0 and the iPhone.  Enjoy.

 

Christmas Study and E-Book Readers

Christmas.  A time for worrying about just how you are going to get any assignments done amongst all the revelry (note to self – you’re not so deal with it).  Just the thought of doing the xmas shop, writing out the obligatory cards, wrapping presents, arranging the whole family thing etc etc, brings me out in a cold sweat.  How can I cope with all this and still get any studying done?  I have visions of spending Boxing Day sitting at my desk reading yet another journal article about ‘controlled vocabularies’ and what a depressing vision that is.  But still, ’tis the season to be jolly and all that, so best get festive and get on with it.

Of course, there are the inevitable benefits to the xmas period.  Gifts mainly (yes, I am that shallow).  One of the things that I have been looking at is the new Sony e-book reader (the Sony Reader Digital Book PRS505S).  I have been quite positive about ebooks for sometime now.  Although I am not convinced that they will make the old fashioned paperback obsolete (they won’t), I think they will become a useful alternative.  Certainly the technology seems to be improving all the time and it is a matter of when, not if, they produce a popular piece of kit that will really fly off the shelves (the Amazon Kindle seems to have had that reaction in the US – when is a UK release likely?).

Luckily, I had a chance to have a look at one in my nearest Waterstones (which used to be an Ottakar’s – ah the good old days) and I was quite impressed.   Although there was a bit of a delay between page turns, it was relatively easy to read (it isn’t backlit, the main cause of eye strain when reading from electrical devices) and was simple to navigate.  The biggest drawback?  No wi-fi connection.  Consequently, you need to hook it up to your PC and then transfer the files across.  A bit of a shame in these wi-fi times, but not entirely inconvenient.  However, wi-fi functionality will surely become standard.  The ability to download books direct to your e-reader (as well as the ability to add RSS feeds) would surely make any e-reader a desirable piece of kit.  As the Sony reader does not have this capability, I think it is likely to be obsolete relatively quickly.  This does not mean that it is not worth purchasing.

For me, an e-reader would be a very useful piece of equipment.  I frequently travel (my wife is Spanish) and this creates a number of problems with my studies.  It is simply not practical for me to take my module pack, plus my core texts, plus any useful e-journals I have found, on a plane.  I would barely have enough room for my clothes!  An e-book reader, however, would eliminate that problem.  With the ability to download hundreds of titles onto one machine, I could simply send any e-journals to the reader and take it away with me.  Thus ensuring that, even when I am away on holiday, I can still read those articles that would otherwise be waiting for me on my return (causing me no end of stress by forcing me to confront the amount of study time I have lost).  Whether this is entirely a good thing is, I guess, a bit of a moot point.  After all, shouldn’t I be relaxing on holiday?

I think there is some reluctance in public libraries to take the plunge and make ebooks available to the public (understandable given the fact that it would rely on tax payers money), but I think the time is drawing nearer for e-books to really take-off.  We are edging ever closer to affordable, practical, readable e-book readers and it is essential that public libraries are ready to meet the demand.  Public libraries are already facing challenges in a digital world, the failure to prepare for the inevitable will see their relevance challenged to an ever greater degree.

Days of Study

I am fortunate enough to get one day of study leave every fortnight whilst completing my course.  This is a really big help as trying to balance a full-time job and studying an MSc is no easy task.  Initially I thought I would prefer to have my fees covered by my employer, but over time I have to admit I actually prefer to get the time instead.  As well as studying throughout the week, it is a massive help to have a whole day with which I can focus on my studies.  It has certainly has paid off as I have been fortunate enough to have received marks for my assignments that I never would have expected.  I certainly believe that these study days have played an important role in my achievements on the course so far.

Having said that, sometimes study days can be a bit of a drag.  I tend to start and end my day as if I was at work, so I start at 9am and finish at 5pm (although recently I have been working right through to 6pm – glutton for punishment or what!?).  The entire day is spent indoors ploughing through the module pack or doing research for assignments.  It can get a little draining.  I keep telling myself that I should break my day up into little chunks to make the workload more manageable (this would seem to be a very sound idea when studying Information Retrieval!).  But, despite my better judgement, I end up having very few breaks throughout the day, mainly for fear that my mind will wonder and never return (there are just too many distractions out there – particularly when your course revolves around the internet, perhaps the biggest distraction ever invented). 

Despite the hard slog, I do tend to break for lunch and tea breaks across the day.  During one of these breaks I tend to take a short walk to my local shop to buy my newspaper and a few supplies.  I say supplies, they normally consist of a packet of pickled onion Monster Munch (prefer the Flamin’ Hot ones personally, but hey), a bar of chocolate and, the brain food to end all brain foods, a Pot Noodle (curry flavour).  There is nothing better to get the mind going than a good old fashioned Pot Noodle.  I know some people say it is best to eat healthy when studying as the vitamins and minerals help the mind to conentrate.  Well, for me, it’s a Pot Noodle every time (although sometimes tea and crumpets is a big help!).  Having bought my supplies I settle back into the routine and make time for a break later in the day.

Despite my best laid plans, every now and then you just have a bad day studying.  Take today for example.  I spent the best part of the morning thinking of ways to approach my assignment.  The real bugger was that the opening I had come up with was exactly the same as an article I had found.  Try as I might, I couldn’t get it out of my head.  And I knew I had to as, well, the author of said article just so happens to be the very person to mark it.  Plagiarism is frowned on at the best of times, let alone when you have plagiarised the person who is marking your work.  Very poor form.

So anyway, I wrote one draft.  Stopped.  Paced around my house reading through other articles that I had found.  Started writing again.  Stopped.  This was getting me nowhere.  Don’t you just hate first drafts?  Whenever you read them back, they always cause you to think you are losing it.  Did I really write that?  But it’s so bad.  Am I a fraud?  Will I get found out?  Will someone turn around and say that I have been rumbled and I never had the capability in the first place?  So many doubts.  So many worries.  So few words written on the page.  Don’t you just hate writer’s block?  Not even a curry Pot Noodle can help me now.

And then, after hours of ‘freewriting’, tearing out hair and chowing down on some comfort food, you get that ‘eureka!’ moment.  Suddenly, you find an article that really hits the spot.  Inspires you.  Urges you on.  Suddenly you feel energised.  Determined.  You’re back in the game.  You don’t want to stop.  It feels so good you just want to keep typing and typing until you get that first draft finished.  Then you have something to play with.  Then you have something to mould.  Then you have…….something.  And boy does that feel good.  And then you look up and see that it is 6pm and you have to be somewhere.  Just when you thought it was going to be the longest study day of your life, it’s over.  Study days eh?  Where would I be without them?  A lot more stressed but about a stone lighter.  It’s amazing what those Pot Noodles do to your waistline you know.