In these times of uncertainty, it is common to experience confusion, seek knowledge, and wish for better days ahead, but as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.”

This week’s collection of articles from around the web includes information on copyright and creative commons, online methods of research, social media streaming, finding a flow in a COVID infected world, building an academic community, and collecting qualitative data online. Perhaps one or more of these have been things you knew about or wished to learn more about.

But knowing and wishing is not enough. What you do with these and other ideas in our changing world is what determines the future you will create. Happy writing!

Copyright, creative commons, and confusion

In this article, I want to revisit the history of copyright, steering into Creative Commons Licensing, and weigh the value of protection and reuse in light of an inexorable push towards global openness. There is value in publishing in an open setting, but do we fully understand how openness will stimulate or hinder creation and expression of ideas?

Participant observation: How does it work online?

Many researchers who have little or no experience with online methods are now trying to figure out how to move studies they planned to conduct in-person. This set of questions reflects their curiosity about the qualitative data collection methods involving observation.

Streaming for science

Social media has really been a force for change within STEM, and the ability to hop on my phone, go live, and talk about science feels real and personal in a way that typical scientific meetings, networking sessions, and poster presentations don’t. Twitch, Instagram, Facebook Live, and YouTube offer us platforms that can diversify what science looks like.

The valley of deep (COVID) shit

The conversation in my academic circles has moved from the great online teaching pivot, to the messy realities of teaching from our homes, to speculation about the scale and extent of job losses already suffered – and those still to come. So how do you get your head back in the research game? How do we find our flow in a Covid infected world?

Working toward generous scholarship – during and after COVID-19

The pandemic is bringing about radical changes in the way we work and the way we lead our lives. The impact of these changes will be long lasting. We should take this time of radical change to build towards an academic community that values different career trajectories. For those of us who’ve made it through tenure and are now ‘guarding the gates’, we should take this time to reflect on the path to these gates, the gates themselves, and the path beyond. We can build towards generous scholarship.

Online questionnaires and surveys

One question was posted about questionnaires as potential tools for collecting qualitative data online. I have expanded my response to include resources about surveys as well as questionnaires, used in qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods studies. These selected open-access resources include sample chapters in SAGE texts, and journal articles.