I will try and answer this as I was on the ALISE Board at the time we moved in this direction. The poster competition become increasingly unwieldy to manage due to the number of students applying to participate. This was a great sign of growing research in doctoral programs. However, it became difficult for the doctoral student group to administrate, the judges to handle in a reasonable amount of time, and the ability to find one room to accommodate the demand. So, we moved to having only those at dissertation phase apply and compete in the doctoral poster session since they would be nearer to the process of job-seeking. Earlier phase doctoral student researchers could engage in the research-in-progress poster session allowing them feedback at an early stage but not be competing with more advanced students.
I think that sums it up but I call on my former Board colleagues and SIG representatives to fill in blanks or clarify.
Laurie
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Laurie J. Bonnici, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Alabama
College of Communication and Information Sciences
School of Library and Information Studies
Tuscaloosa, AL
Phone: 205-348-8824
Fax: 205-348-3746
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From: Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum [
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Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 3:11 PM
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Subject: ALISE doc student poster competition--what gives?!
When did the ALISE doc student poster competition become exclusively about presenting dissertation research?
As a doc student I presented posters 3 years in a row and not one was my dissertation research. The description states that the competition "offers doctoral students an opportunity to share information about their research projects" --there is nothing that says it has to be dissertation research. The eligibility guidelines state that only students who have "completed or are near completion of their doctoral dissertation research" can submit an abstract.
The spirit of the whole event was to allow students to interact with professors from across the board, get feedback about their ideas, ideas about research, research questions, different methodologies, etc. It also allowed students to network and find potential future employers. This is in line with "Professor Sutcliffe's dedication to the education of information professions" (
http://alisedocsig.wordpress.com/ )
My first experience with the presenting was tremendously helpful. I presented a poster based on some theoretical work resulting from Elfreda Chatman's theory development class. The next year it was a poster on some content analysis methodology and coding scheme resulting from a faculty-led research project. Not only did the experience force me to learn how to present my ideas, but I received great deal of feedback from a variety of profs with different backgrounds and expertise. I got ideas on what to read, how to ask a better research question, how to present data, etc. I don't see the same opportunities happening under this "eligibility" nonsense. It should be open to all doc students.
I just found out one of my students was turned down because she didn't have her data absolutely or completely analyzed. Bulldada. She will be meeting with interested schools at ALISE, but she can't present any of the research she has done over the past few years. Some of this research, by the way, has already been presented on a reviewed panel at a significant annual conference. Something is wrong with this picture.
Don't tell me it about the number of entries either because I've seen to from 10-20 posters to over 100 and still be manageable. I believe at one point they did two sessions--one for dissertation research and another for just research.
What gives?
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Shawne D. Miksa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
College of Information
University of North Texas
email:
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http://courses.unt.edu/smiksa/index.htm
office 940-565-3560 fax 940-565-3101
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