Crowdsourcing

I think there is no chance of me benefiting from crowdsourcing in my research.

However, I would like to share a past experience. As a non-native speaker, I have problems with terminology, prepositions or sometimes sentence structures. There is a high possibility that a word I use is in use in a different sense by the native speakers. And, it leads to confusions.

In my undergraduate, I had the chance to be taught by different academics from different academic cultures. I had a non-native speaker professor who was part of an Australian university (sorry for my memory because I don’t remember which one). She taught us to use Google to search for the correct usages of language. While this is not something extraordinary, her technique was. She used to search different word connotations, and look at the search results. She used to take the term with the highest number in search as the right usage of the term of clause because it was used in more sources than the rest.

When I saw this crowdsourcing thing, I remembered her and her technique. I am still sure there is no way I would use literal crowdsourcing, but I think this is also an example of crowdsourcing. Or is it not?

Thing 16

Considering I am not a published academic, I chose a journal article [AlJahdali, Samar H., ‘Venturing into a Vanishing Space: The Chronotope in Representing Palestinian Postcoloniality’, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 50 (2014), 216-229] and a book [Moore, Lindsey, Arab, Muslim, Women: Voice and Vision in Postcolonial Literature and Film (London: Routledge, 2008)] for this thing. I specifically chose both of them from recent publications.

The journal article appears in all three databases. It appears to be cited by 1 in Web of Science, 2 in Scopus and 3 in Google Scholar. This is a quite recent work and highly specific in its content, it does not have a high citation. Nonetheless, I found the regular increase in the citation number quite interesting. Google Scholar gives the highest number for this publication.

The monograph also appears in all databases. It appears to be cited by 6 in Web of Science, none in Scopus, and 38 in Google Scholar. There is a high discrepancy between the citation numbers in different sources. While Google Scholar also displays the highest number in citation in this case, I am surprised by the 0 citation in Scopus.

Although I think Web of Science and Scopus are more respectable in academic sense, I am confused about the choice of database.

 

Thing 11

One of the most helpful things for my research has been Thing 11. I personally would not look for podcasts, online courses or slides specifically for research if it was not reminded.

Although I have had a Coursera membership for 4 years, I am not particularly interested in the courses. When I was looking for their courses for this thing’s purpose, I saw a course on Modernism which might help with my general background on theory. This is quite good, considering we have access to many world-known university courses with one click.

Although I like using podcasts on my iPhone, I can’t say I have the time to indulge in. However, I have subscriptions to many resourceful podcasts including iProcrastinate, TEDTalks (both audio and video), book clubs or history. I can say I very much like the book clubs, which had broadcasts on the authors that I deal with in my research. And, especially a TEDTalk by Elif Shafak, who is one of my main authors seemed to interesting to miss.

Last but not least, I was not expecting anything by slide search. However, the things proved me wrong. I found detailed slides on the theories that I work on. Apart from that, it was also helpful how others articulated my theory in their research with different writers.

Reference management tools

They are, I believe, life-saver tools for us researchers. I found RefWorks available for use when I was still MA student once upon a time. I knew how it worked and how it is easy to reference with it using write and cite tool for Word. I began to use RefWorks as a PhD merely because of my familiarity with the tool. I would recommend it and happy to help with anyone with questions.

RefWorks is not a free referencing programme, however, we can have our accounts as The University of Surrey students. When you sign up to the programme, you have two basic options to do your referencing. The first one is manually. It would be relatively difficult of course to write each reference one by one. However, the second one is much easier one, the option to import referencing. The University library webpage and every other research database provides you with ‘import your reference’ button, which almost always has the link to RefWorks. If you import your reference online, you could see that you do not have to do all the work with your references.It is also possible to use with Google Scholar and Google Books.

As I am familiar and comfortable with it (and of course I have all my references there now!), I did not think of trying new tools.

Procrastination

procrastination

prə(ʊ)ˌkrastɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

 the action of delaying or postponing something.

“your first tip is to avoid procrastination”

synonyms:dithering, delaying tactics, dilatoriness, stalling, temporizing, hesitation, vacillation

Well, I looked in my mirror and have just recently realised that I am a procrastinator. It feels sort of an addiction. An addiction of feeling good at that moment rather than dealing with my studies. Even now, writing this post I am procrastinating. Is it that simple, or is it just delaying, I am confused?

When I confessed to myself that I procrastinate, I took immediate action. I mean, I tweeted about it and asked for suggestions from peer procrastinators. Then, I realised that I am not alone in this. Everyone procrastinates in one way or another.

There were some helpful suggestions. The best one working for the majority is Pomodoro technique. For this technique, you time yourself, and have 30-min sets of studying to keep you focused. And, of course you give breaks to reward yourself.

Another suggestion  was a YouTube video on procrastination delivered by a professor. (Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhFQA998WiA ) He also gives some useful help. Having short-term plans and being clear for your plans might work. Saying ‘I will read this article and take some notes’ is more clear and guiding for your mind than saying ‘I will work on my thesis today’.

I hope it will help my procrastination habits. And, I hope it helps you too if you are a procrastinator. And using twitter to connect with other academics on their habits and their solutions work, too!

So, here I am

Thinking, struggling with my first blog post. What if I am struggling with my studies? What if I am struggling with my life? Is it even possible to deposit your life baggage somewhere and run? No, we are here and we are all fighting through our days.

What does it mean for me to look in my mirror?

it is for me to take a step back and look at myself. I see mostly my negatives. It that all I am, though? No, it is best to do a self-critique weighing your strengths as much as your weaknesses. It is best to be aware of your weaknesses and at the same time concentrate on your strength and what you can do about it. So, here I am, looking in my mirror. I see some sadness, disappointment, and ugliness. At the same time, I see myself fighting through my life regardless of weaknesses. Balance!