Elizabeth's Questions

In response to my last post, Elizabeth had a few things about which she thought folks might wonder before wondering about how I keep my fish alive. She thought folks would first be curious as to how I handle the "20 lbs of papers," the "hundred books" it takes to do research (you only needed a hundred, Beth?), and doing presentations.

1) Papers. I make a stack of articles to read with the help of a personal care attendant (PCA) if I'm reading at home or with the help of the department secretary or one of my officemates if I'm reading at the office. As I read an article, I start a new stack on the other side of the desk. I make notes on 3x5 index cards as I go (the reason for which I will explain later). This all gives the impression that I am terribly organized, and I am -- mostly. My desk, however, has many MANY papers on it, so I look like I'm messy. I make notes on the index cards for two main reasons: (a) it was a method taught to me by my high school junior English teacher, and it really does help you write the paper; (b) it's easier for me to have the cards next to my computer instead of a huge (20 lbs) stack of research articles. The method is to write whatever you need for the parenthetical reference at the top (in my case, author and year) and one piece of information per card. Yes, you use a lot of cards (I have three card boxes that each hold about 300 cards for ONE manuscript), but when you get those babies in topic/supporting point order, your paper practically writes itself.

2) Books. If there are any gimps out there thinking about going into ANY course of study for which you will have to use a library, I give you this advice -- be prepared, and utilize the staff. Know what books/journals you want, and make a list of titles, authors, and call numbers. Putting the list in order by call number and alphabetizing within a call number (or getting volumes in sequential order for journals) will save you time in the library AND score you valuable points with the library staff. Yes, it's a bit anal retentive/OCD (so am I), but it really will save you time going back and forth from shelf to shelf. Don't know how to find what you're needing? Ask the staff. Helping patrons is what they get paid for, so help them earn their paychecks. Because most journals are heavier than I can lift, I take my lovely list up to the circulation desk, smile, and say politely, "Is there someone who can help me get some books?" I'm telling you, you won't believe how stress-free your life can be once you start utilizing the staff. Then just ask those helpful staffers to put the books in your bag (if you need that kind of help) or in their handy plastic bags they keep on hand. Oh, and your library doesn't have what you need? Interlibrary loan is a heaven-send, and most libraries have their request forms on their webpages, so no pesky bits of paper and searching for a pen/pencil.

3) Presentations. Well, so far in my Ph.D. career, I've only done one professional presentation and one guest lecture (with another pending this semester). During my masters, I did three conferences -- two in Texas, and one in California. The Texas ones were driving distance from Wichita, KS (though that Houston trip was loooooooong, in more ways than one). For the first, my advisor volunteered to help me with personal care, and that worked out well, except for the part where she and I ended up dog-piled on one of my male lab-mates in the bed -- but that's a story for another time. For the second, I took one of my PCAs, and that was a disaster, but only because she was one of those power-trippers who really thinks she's in charge. For the San Francisco trip, I took my mom for two reasons -- (a) like the Houston trip, the only PCA I had who could take the time from other obligations was the power-tripper, and I wasn't making THAT mistake twice; (b) most importantly, my mom and I get along really well, the trip was very near her birthday, and I thought it would be fun to take a trip with my mom. We had a blast.

All three of those presentations were posters, but my presentations here in NO have been PowerPoints. Those are so gimp friendly -- but what to do if you can't reach the comp to change the slides during the actual presentation? You get yourself a laser pointer with slide changer built in. This is the model I purchased, and I love it. It's not skinny like a writing pen, so it's easy to grip. There's no software to install to make it work; rather, it has a piece resembling a flash/jump/thumb drive hidden in the back that you snap out and plug in to a USB port on the presenting comp (check out the additional images to see what I mean). The forward and back slide buttons and the laser pointer button are all close together, so you only have to move your thumb just a tiny bit. And you can set a five- and/or two-minute warning for your presentation's end, and the presenter will vibrate at the designated moment. Pretty darned nifty.

And that brings us to the end of tonight's edition of "Road Hog's Guide to Surviving Graduate School." To recap:

-- There is no shame in asking for a little help where you need it, as long as you do what you can as well.

-- Seemingly silly techniques and fabulous technology can be quite helpful.

-- If all else fails, pin your lab-mate to a bed with your advisor in a motel room hundreds of miles from home. It's a stress reliever -- and who says a gimp can't pin a guy to the bed once in a while?



(RH's note: I'll be getting a call from one of the parental units about that last one, you can bet!)