Day 26 - Effectively shared

One of my plans for the summer is to start uploading my research a lot more to my institution's research repository.

'What' I hear you cry 'is a research repository?'

The Repository@Napier is intended to be an Open Access showcase for the published research output of the university. Whenever possible, refereed documents accepted for publication, or finished artistic compositions presented in public, will be made available here in full digital format, and hyperlinks to standard published versions will be provided.
Edinburgh Napier University staff and research students are required to place in the repository, post-refereed, accepted texts of documents being published, together with texts of papers given at conferences; but data sets, programs, images, scores, music, and exhibition catalogues should also be lodged in digital format.

For many composers, there can often be a lot of research which is never effectively shared (to use REF speak). We may present a final score with a recording, but the nature of the research questions that went into the process may be left to wide interpretation. Why is there so little research published about technical or aesthetic details of composers' work? I suspect it may arise in part from the fact that composers spend their time writing music, not words, but I think that we should be looking to engage a bit more with looking at how we present composition at research. I'll touch on this more another day - it is too late and I am too tired - but for today, I want to get back to the respository.

I like the fact that I will be able to deposit conference presentations, or even sketch material (if relevant), and other forms of presentation of my research questions on the repository. I've already started linking (on my website) to the PDFs of some of the scores that I have uploaded, but I want to take this much further, and encourage my PhD students to do the same.

I'm a big fan of open access, although I am keenly aware of the usefulness of peer-reviewed journals to establish your name in a field. It might be interesting, if anyone has the time, or if it is even possible, to do a quick review of the journal articles published by academics in the 2014 REF (once it is completed) and see whether the higher rated articles are still in the higher rated journals. Although the regulations say that location of publication is irrelevant, with that number of outputs to be reviewed and with the small length of time allowed for the process, I'm not confident that there will be much difference. The rating of a journal is still apparently considered as criteria for notability of research within my own institution, and I suspect that may be the same across the sector.

I'm quite excited to be preparing presentations for INTIME 2014 on notation (and which will also feature a performance by me), and for Music and shared imaginaries: nationalisms, communities, and choral singing at University of Aveiro, Portugal on the Scratch Orchestra's Nature Study Notes. Once I've finished these presentations, they will be available on the repository and I will link to them from here.

Day 9: Silence in the Library

I had high minded hopes to write something substantial today, tackling one of the topics that I had identified as aiming to address. But instead, I find myself at the end of the day, watching the light disappear with an empty mind.

I was working again in the library. Less productive, although I found some interesting books to look through, and drew up a reading list that might help me draw up some resources for 'critical thinking' in the future. At the moment, it's just a reading list I can disseminate to the students, but, because I know how much the idea of reading about study skills motivates students (I remember it well...), I'm intending to create some videos illustrating the content as much as I can (if they're any good, these may go up on iTunes U or something). Why not run a class? Just remember, that teaching time is at a premium 'in the current economic climate'. You only have so many classes (you only have so much time), so isn't it better to deal with this sort of thing as an online course? Probably more on this topic at a later date.

Why am I looking at critical thinking? Well it seems to be something that students struggle with (as I think I've mentioned at some point over the last week or so in this blog), and I want to give them the confidence to tackle it (and to understand what it means).

I actually think that this is a really good way to accomplish a quick literature review when it's attached to some teaching. I would normally take out a whole load of books, take them home, attempt to read one of them, and see where I went from there. This way, I grabbed three books, skimmed through them to get an idea of content, target audience, and style, made a few notes, and then returned them. When I have time to deal with this issue properly, I'll know where to go and what I'm looking at. At least that's the plan...

I didn't mean to even think about this today, but I was looking for a book on consciousness (trying to find out if I knew what it was - I'm serious about this by the way; it sounds like a joke but it isn't) to work out if I have a topic for this conference in April of next year. In many ways, it seems to touch on a number of areas that interest me, but I don't want to be in the deep end of the pool with my water wings on. Tomorrow, I'll be going to Edinburgh University Library with my Sconul email in my hand like the Oriflamme in order to look at the book which emerged from the previous conference on the same topic, just to confirm I know what I'm talking about.

I think I'll talk more about conferences and flexible research tomorrow, but today, I'll return us to the library.

So, I found the book I was looking for, but my eye was caught by other books on critical thinking. This is where the library is a bit like a Tar-Baby for me. As I've said before, I love books. I like being surrounded by them, and I love reading them. My natural inclination is to read everything that interests me, which, in a university library, is quite a lot. I returned a couple of books today, but walked away from the library with the same number of new books (including The Kristeva Reader).

Obviously, I have a problem.

What I have resolved to do though, to address at least my library problem, is to collect together all the books I have out at the moment, and categorise why I have them. I have books on loan for specific projects, to support specific teaching that I do, and for general reading (in the hopes of discovering new projects and new teaching) but I haven't quite worked out what I have, what I have them for, and when I intend to read them. Time to sort that out.

When that's done, I'll start on the academic books I have in the flat that I've been meaning to tackle for some time.

Supplemented with new books from the library, of course...

Day 5: Looking ahead

Today, I've been thinking about proposals for conferences and working out how they might fit into my teaching and researching schedule for the next year. I want to talk more about conferences another day, but for the time being I'd like to go on the record as saying that they are a Good Thing.

Conferences get you out of where you are now and into the company of people who are thinking about the same subject areas that you are. Different people (normally). You may have wonderful supportive colleagues, but it does you good to see different people and talk about different things. I often think about how little time there is to reflect on what I teach, and on how I teach, let alone on what I research and how I research, and conferences give you the opportunity, divorced from the usual distractions of office banter and student cries for help, to look at what you're doing and think outside the box.

Right now, I've got a few examples of opportunities for reflection that are related if not similar. At the moment, the windows of our office are being replaced, so for at least some of next week, I won't be allowed in my office and I have cleared my desk (literally) in preparation for this. I would usually be working from home for most of the week during the summer anyway, but I had planned to be in on Monday and Friday. If the office is accessible on Monday, I'm planning to file away a lot of student work so that I have some spare shelf space. I also want to clear my desk. Again, office space is something I want to talk about, particularly the perils of sharing a communal office, but for today, I just want to say that space is valuable, and I have allowed myself to get too cluttered. It's time to change that.

I also have been asked to take all my holiday before September. This is a bit of a new experience for me, as, previously in the summer, I tend to do a little bit less work and don't officially take my holiday (so that I can come in as and when I'm required). This year I have taken as much holiday as I think I can take without causing problems for meetings and marking. I still have nearly two weeks left over. I think I'm going to spend my time writing music and writing a book proposal, and I'm rationing my email checking. Strictly speaking, that's still work, not holiday at all, but it's a holiday from the requirements and necessities of work and focusing on my own work priorities which take second place during term time.

I've been looking over a list of proposed topics for these blogs as well (in no particular order):

1. Powerpoint slides (good/bad practice)
2. The National Student Survey (NSS)
3. Hearts & Minds
4. University politics
5. Research (what is)
6. Disposable practice
7. Methodology
8. Essay structure
9. Discipline/self-discipline
10. Programmes
11. University as a Business
12. Teaching synthesis & induction
13. How to recognise good teaching in HE
14. Holidays
15. Email
16. Office space
17. Conferences
18. Strikes/unions

If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know. I'm not going to methodically work through this, and the subject of my posts will normally depend upon what I've been talking about or thinking about or doing during the day.