In my first year as a Department Chair in 1992, I was in a meeting with the other chairs in my school when one of them informed me that he had sent me an email. “Email!” I replied. “What on Earth is an email?” (Those may not have been my exact words, but I did say something to that effect.) I left the meeting thinking I was busy enough and did not need yet another imposition on my time, which something called email seemed like it promised to be. While I was proven right, I think, that email has certainly come to occupy a fair portion of our time (those of a younger generation than mine are wondering, I am sure, what we ever did without it), I was definitely wrong in thinking that I could somehow avoid it and simply refuse to use it (though I know one of my colleagues who took exactly that approach until she sadly passed away a few years ago)
TAA Featured in New Book on Teaching Research Methods
The Textbook & Academic Authors Association was featured in a new book on research methods published by Edward Elgar Publishing, entitled Handbook of Teaching and Learning Social Research Methods.
TAA member and Research Community Manager for SAGE Publications Dr. Janet Salmons co-authored Chapter 23, “Teaching research methods online: informal or semi-formal professional development,” which featured TAA’s webinar program and facilitated writing groups, including the TAA Writing Gym and the Month of Motivation.
Busy TAA People: Dr. Janet Salmons Authors Chapter in New Book on Research Methods
TAA member Dr. Janet Salmons, Research Community Manager for SAGE Publications, recently published a chapter in a new book, Handbook of Teaching and Learning Social Research Methods (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023). The book “illustrates the wide range of approaches to teaching and learning social research methods in the classroom, online, in the field and in informal contexts.” Salmons co-authored Chapter 23, “Teaching research methods online: informal or semi-formal professional development.”
Register for 2/8 Sage Research Methods Community Learning Methods Webinar on Learning Resources Available for Researchers
Sage Research Methods Community is offering a free webinar on Thursday, February 8 from 2 to 3 p.m. SAST, entitled, Learning Methods Out of School: Blogs, Webinars, and Courses for Practising Researchers.
Panelists Dr. Janet Salmons, SAGE Publications (US); Dr. Nicola Pallitt, Rhodes University (South Africa); Andy Nobes, INASP (UK); and Tony Carr, e/merge Africa / University of Cape Town (South Africa) will discuss the kinds of opportunities and resources available for new and experienced researchers who want to sharpen skills and develop new ones. This webinar will be valuable to researchers, as well as to those who want to offer information, consultation, or learning opportunities to others. Register
Do Side Writing Projects Sideline Your Book Project?
By John Bond
Journal articles. Grant proposals. Book chapters. White papers. Blog posts for a friend. Contributions to the university newsletter. Alumni magazine articles.
There are lots of “opportunities” or requests from colleagues and friends to write. As you develop in your career, the number will increase, especially if you can deliver. On time and with the expected results. But there may come a day when you will have a contract for your own textbook or monograph. Then things will all be on your shoulders.
And the other writing request will keep on coming. Is this a good thing? Do they help or hinder the book project? As with most questions, the answer is that it depends.
Write to Your Passion
When I completed my doctoral journey in 2007, I had the opportunity to write for publication. And soon, I realized that there was a unique interest from readers in my sharing ‘from the heart’ about my field of discipline, educational leadership. I began what has become a long series of books on the fascinating world of school leadership—and through the eyes of principals and other educators down in the trenches. Many of these projects have been co-authored or co-edited, as I have found others who have lived the work have such interesting stories and insights to share.