Conferences offer opportunities to develop professionally, build networks, find potential collaborators, and stay up-to-date with emerging research. As presenters, conferences offer us the opportunity to try out new ideas and get input from attendees. If we use our presentation time to talk at the audience, and don’t create an environment where attendees are invited to think and contribute, we haven’t made the best use of our time. When attendees are straining to read small print from the back of a conference ballroom or trying to stay awake while you talk fast to fit every detain in during the allotted time, the usefulness of the event is diminished.
How to avoid the need to secure permission
Maybe it was something you saw in a magazine or at a bookstore. Maybe it was something you saw online. Maybe it was something that caught your eye in a grant application or proposal…a good idea in poorly skilled hands seemingly not up to the task. In any event, wherever you first saw it, it inspired you to develop and publish your own article or book on the subject.
Anyone who has worked in an intellectual or creative endeavor knows that many new works build to one degree or another on the earlier work of others. But getting a head start by leveraging the intellectual work product of another is potentially problematic. When does inspiration cross over into infringement or a breach of scholarly integrity? The lawyer’s answer is: it depends.
Welcome new members to TAA: April 2018
With membership in TAA, you are not alone. You become part of a diverse community of textbook and academic authors with similar interests and goals. We are pleased to announce the addition of 98 new TAA members who joined us in April 2018.
Your writing accountability partner this summer: The TAA Writing Gym
Flex your writing muscles in the TAA Writing Gym. This 6-week work-out-on-your-own gym time will serve as your writing accountability partner as you work to achieve your writing goals. The gym is free with your TAA membership, and is open to those writing textbooks, scholarly journal articles, and dissertations.
The gym will be open 24 hours from July 16-August 26, 2018. The deadline for signing up is July 9.
#AcWriChat TweetChat: Not on Twitter? Watch live here on 5/4 at 11 a.m. ET
Join TAA on Twitter on Friday, May 4 at 11 a.m. ET using the hashtag #AcWriChat for our latest TweetChat focused on presenting your work.
Not on Twitter? Not sure what a “Tweet Chat” is? Follow us here (you won’t be able to actively participate, but you will be able to follow the chat live).
The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: May 4, 2018
A.D. Posey once said, “Sometimes writing is like playing with fire…like trying to tame an uncontrollable beast.” Each year as May arrives, bringing with it the end of an academic school year for many, things can often feel out of control. This week’s collection of articles addresses some of the common issues faced by academics and authors.
For starters, concerns of overwhelm, contribution, speed, soft skills, and academic behavior are highlighted in the posts. We then found articles that discussed relationships both with other researchers, and with family during times of research.