Being a graduate student in the all-but-dissertation (ABD) stage is stressful, but not without its joys, for I have time to listen and learn from other scholars presenting their research.
For instance, I really enjoyed connecting to KMDI’s live ePresence webcast of John Willinsky’s talk, The Access Principle: The New Economies of Knowledge as a Public Good as part of the Open Source|Open Access: Views from Across the Disciplines last week. There were no glitches with the ePresence technology, and I hope that this talk will be archived soon for others’ perusal.
Before I came to OISE, I went to talk to John to learn about his research and how I might work with him for my doctoral work. So, it was nice to get an update about the Public Knowledge Project. Also, he could really articulate ideas I’d been playing around with around scholarship, liberty, and economy, which I found helpful.
The other event I attended was the Faculty of Information Studies’ Research Day. It was free, offered refreshments, and gave me a chance to learn about student research in biometrics and digital identity, not related to my research perhaps, but interesting nonetheless because I worry about surveillance and security issues online.
Next week, I’m heading off to Montreal to check out AERA 2005, which should be exciting! Until then, though, I’m focusing on my own writing–conference proposals and papers with deadlines, and thesis work with no* deadlines. While I analyze data because I have to, I actually like to write. It really does help me think. At home, my husband is also writing–a thesis proposal and a paper–and despite being in different disciplines, it is still great to be able to be able to read each other’s works in progress, give and get critiques.
*no deadlines except completion of PhD within 6 years rule!!!!!
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