Gestione libera e Leadership Libri Il testo fornisce una panoramica della gestione del progetto e utilizza le definizioni standard del settore delle divisioni del sapere gestione del progetto, come descritto dal Project Management Institute (PMI) per fornire la messa a terra in concetti tradizionali di gestione del progetto. Gli argomenti trattati comprendono: Progetto Profiling, fasi del progetto e Organizzazione, la comprensione e le aspettative del cliente riunioni, lavorare con la gente su progetti, tecnologie della comunicazione, di iniziare un progetto, progetto di gestione del tempo, stima e la gestione dei costi, la gestione della qualità di progetto, la gestione del rischio di progetto, appalti Progetto e di chiusura. Progettazione, Analisi e Gestione Guru Jambheshwar Università di Scienza e tecnologia, Hisar - Haryana PDF 270 pagine in inglese Questo libro tratta i seguenti argomenti: significato, natura e l'importanza del progetto, la decisione Investimenti, mercato e la domanda di analisi, tecnica e analisi finanziaria, analisi di rischio del progetto, di mercato e di Studio, analisi costi-benefici, più progetti e vincoli, le tecniche di rete per Project Management, Project Financing in India, la valutazione dei progetti: la valutazione della pressione fiscale, Valutazione ambientale dei progetti. Il testo offre un approccio collaudato che ha raccolto l'apprezzamento degli studenti, un aumento IS iscrizione, e impegnati gli studenti a pensare più profondo e più praticamente sullo spazio dove il business e tecnologia si incontrano. Si rivolge la maggior parte delle principali aree coperte e corso di gestione della tecnologia informazioni introduttive. Lo stadio di preparazione: Tecnologia e l'impresa moderna, Strategia e Tecnologia: Concetti e quadri per capire ciò che separa i vincitori dai perdenti, Zara: Fast Fashion di Savvy Systems, Netflix: La realizzazione di un e-commerce gigante e il futuro incerto di atomi di Bits, legge di Moore: veloce, Computing e cosa significa per il Gestore, la comprensione degli effetti di rete, Peer Production, Social media e Web 2.0 a buon mercato. Questo libro tratta i seguenti argomenti: Leadership Introduzione ai Principi di gestione, di personalità, atteggiamenti e comportamenti lavoro, Storia, la globalizzazione, e basata sui valori, in via di sviluppo Mission, Vision e Valori, Strategizing, la struttura organizzativa e cambiamento, la cultura organizzativa, sociale Le reti, portando le persone e organizzazioni, il processo decisionale, la comunicazione nelle organizzazioni, motivare i dipendenti, Fondamenti di controllo e Strategic Human Resource Management. Questo libro offre i seguenti: 1: Diversi display grafici in ogni capitolo che riassume i concetti chiave in un formato visivamente accattivante 2: Rich, esempi illustrativi tratti da aziende che sono rilevanti per molti studenti. I principali argomenti trattati comprendono: Strategia Mastering: Arte e Scienza, leader Strategicamente, Valutare l'ambiente esterno, Amministratore Azienda Risorse, Selezione del business a livello di strategie, di sostegno alla strategia business-livello, in competizione sui mercati internazionali, selezione di strategie aziendali a livello, l'esecuzione di strategia mediante piani organizzativi, guidare un'organizzazione etico. Questo libro tratta i seguenti argomenti: Comprendere la natura dei servizi, allineando strategia di servizio e la competitività del servizio, design dei servizi, lo sviluppo e l'automazione, Gestione delle risorse umane nei servizi, qualità del servizio, progettazione delle strutture di servizio e la posizione impianto, gestione della domanda nel settore dei servizi, gestione della capacità o gestione fornitura di servizi, linee di gestione in attesa e modelli di code, servizio di inventario e gestione della supply chain. Modelli quantitativi nella gestione delle operazioni di servizio. Questo libro tratta i seguenti argomenti: linee generali della psicologia della gestione, Individualità, funzionalizzazione, di misura, analisi e sintesi, standardizzazione, dischi e programmi e incentivi. Questa nota tratta i seguenti argomenti: Leadership quadri, Comunicazione, Leadership situazionale, influenzare altri e il processo decisionale. L'obiettivo di questa guida è quello di dotare i manager del settore pubblico per valutare il valore che le nuove comunicazioni e la tecnologia informatica può portare alla loro interazioni con una serie di potenziali soggetti interessati. Gestione trasformazioni nel lavoro, organizzazioni e società Prof. Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Prof. Thomas A. Kochan e il Prof. Wanda Orlikowski linea NA inglese pagine La nota corso si concentra sulle competenze di manager devono adattarsi alle attuali cambiamenti radicali nella natura del lavoro e la forza lavoro, nelle organizzazioni aziendali e il loro ruolo nella società e nelle istituzioni che interagiscono con il lavoro, in particolare il mercato del lavoro, comunità e gruppi incentrati sulla famiglia. Questa nota presenta capacità di comunicazione orale e interpersonale interattive importanti ai dirigenti, tra cui la presentazione ad un pubblico ostile, correre incontri, di ascolto, e di contribuire al processo decisionale del gruppo. In questo libro, l'autore adottare un approccio basato sfida a trattare con i gruppi. Molti altri libri forniscono trattamenti concettuali e descrittive dei gruppi e squadre. Qui ci sarà un punto di vista normativo, uno che si concentra sul come di gestione di un gruppo o di una squadra. Questa prospettiva prescrittivo, tuttavia, sarà radicata nelle scienze sociali. Nei capitoli iniziali, abbiamo incorporare una prospettiva di gestione attiva per mostrare come leader e la leadership sono essenziali per l'efficacia personale e organizzativo ed efficace il cambiamento organizzativo. Inoltre, la sezione conclusiva di ogni capitolo è focalizzato sulla valutazione e lo sviluppo di particolari capacità di gestione. La scrittura e le competenze necessarie a parlare per una carriera nel management. Questa nota conferenza tratta i seguenti argomenti: strategia di comunicazione e di struttura, presentazioni orali: piramide Minto e supporti visivi, processo di scrittura, lo stile e il tono, presentazione dei dati e la comunicazione interculturale. Questa nota conferenza si concentra su esperienze pratiche che unisce teoria e pratica. Gli studenti riflettono sulle esperienze di leadership precedenti e quindi applicare le lezioni apprese per sviluppare ulteriormente la propria leadership di Ricercatore capabilities. Freelance, consulente Book Research, Fact Checker, Sceneggiatore, Montatore, correttore di bozze, Informazioni Scientist, Project Manager e Search Engine Optimization Advisor Incredibilmente, Moya passato via il 7 luglio 2012. era molto orgoglioso di questo sito a causa di tutte le persone che ha aiutato, e rimarrà e, auspicabilmente, aiutare in qualche modo. Si prega di notare: se si trova un Moya Mason su un sito di social networking, mi si mangia. Nel bene o nel male, non ho un profilo LinkedIn, un account di Facebook, un Twitter di log-in, né l'appartenenza a qualsiasi altra piattaforma di social media simile. Sono un consulente libero professionista di ricerca, infatti correttore, correttore di bozze, editore, scrittore e responsabile del progetto. A causa della mia vasta gamma di esperienze lavorando su una serie di progetti diversi con una base clienti globale, ho le conoscenze e le competenze per soddisfare le vostre esigenze di ricerca. Ho buone capacità di comunicazione e sono in grado di lavorare in modo indipendente e rispettare le scadenze. Ho anche l'accesso a una vasta gamma di risorse per la ricerca. articoli e studi accademici, presentazioni e business plan, le proposte del libro, la ricerca per i libri (fiction, accademico, della cultura pop, mainstream, e saggistica), la ricerca di valore aggiunto per le aziende, le proposte di contratto, il governo e le relazioni aziendali, presentazioni PowerPoint, discorsi, testi di conferenze e vari progetti di sviluppo contenuto del sito sono solo alcuni esempi del lavoro che faccio. ricerca efficace inizia con una conoscenza approfondita e l'apprezzamento delle esigenze dei clienti e di essere a conoscenza di impatto organizzativo. So che molte organizzazioni e le imprese hanno risorse limitate quando si tratta di fondi e di personale, e poco tempo per raccogliere le informazioni ricerca di fondo necessari per il conseguimento progetti e le scadenze si incontrano. Ecco dove ti posso aiutare. Sono in grado di fare una vasta gamma di progetti di ricerca, dopo aver completato la ricerca personalizzata che ha contribuito al successo di clienti piani e strategie. La ricerca è personalizzato per soddisfare le esigenze specifiche di una determinata azienda, organizzazione o individuo. La mia vasta esperienza e formazione in metodologie di ricerca qualitativa mi permette di offrire un ampio spettro di approcci per ottenere informazioni utili in modo da poter aiutare le persone e le organizzazioni nella loro ricerca di successo. Mi vedo come un risolutore di problemi. Quando avete bisogno di ricerca o servizi correlati, scrivetemi al mio lavoro ha incluso il compimento di ricerche di: diversi dipartimenti governativi e le agenzie, strutture di ricerca nazionali, autori, case editrici, associazioni, consulenti di tecnologia, associazioni educative, università, non-profit, Internet start-up, società di marketing, giornalisti, registi, bibliotecari, professori, start-up, studi legali, società di consulenza sanitaria, accademici, consulenti senior, piccole imprese, gruppi policystrategy, varie aziende, dirigenti e tecnici reclutatori, dottorandi, avvocati, le compagnie di assicurazione, think tank, artisti, associazioni internazionali, società di software, architetti, programmatori web, e siti e-commerce. Ho lavorato come ricercatore libro per una vasta gamma di argomenti, tra cui la sicurezza nazionale, genitori, tecnologia e cultura, il branding, le città, l'evoluzione, la convergenza, negozi di lusso, il jazz, le questioni idriche, le donne leader politici, gli inventori, i parchi nazionali, etica vivente, memetica, la privacy, gli animali in via di estinzione, immobiliare, bibliotecari di riferimento, le comunicazioni mobili, le tecnologie di collaborazione, del terzo mondo le ONG, la valutazione discreta di servizio di reference, comunità virtuali, la diffusione di documenti governativi, bibliotecari e le loro abitudini di lettura, homeschooling, e lo shopping di qualità. Ho anche lavorato su alcuni romanzi. Ben sviluppato ricerca e capacità organizzative di sviluppo intensivo, riflessivo, e propositivo di strategie di ricerca forti capacità relazionali e di comunicazione La capacità di lavorare in modo indipendente e di consegnare in tempo Particolare orientato e preciso. Proattivo e creativo. Discreta Vasta esperienza con Internet ricerca Esperienza nell'utilizzo di un gran numero di banche dati on-line commerciale strategico e la modifica sostanziale compiuta di fatto completa il controllo di eccellenti capacità di correzione di bozze Alto livello di computer e tecnologia dell'informazione alfabetizzazione progetto competente efficacia organizzazione gestione competenza dati analisi intelligente dei dati di informazioni unico per la creazione di design efficiente progettazione di database on-line e la presentazione efficace progettazione sondaggio on-line e la realizzazione Praticata in multi-disciplinare di formazione consulenza e esperienza con (membro di lunga data dei Brainstorms privati comunità virtuale) conferenza virtuale sviluppo seminario online e hosting master of Library and Information Science (MLIS ) Programma accreditato dalla American Library Association enfasi sulla ricerca elettronica utilizzando banche dati on-line e di Internet, sistemi informativi, recupero delle informazioni, analisi di ricerca e di ricerca documenti governativi. Master in studi classici accento sulla evoluzione di Ulisse. Bachelor of Arts Degree (onori di prima classe) enfasi sulla ricerca studi classici, la lingua degli antichi greci, Storia e Sociologia. Grazie a Moya K. Mason, fondatore di MKM Reserch, che ha fornito assistenza alla ricerca superba. Non potevo aver fatto questo libro senza tutto il vostro duro lavoro e costante cura premurosa, Moya. - Toronto Moya massoni competenze di ricerca, la conoscenza estesa, ed eccezionali capacità organizzative e di database sono stati fondamentali per lo sviluppo e il coordinamento di un database di ricerca massiccia, informazioni userò a scrivere il mio nuovo libro. Moya possiede la straordinaria capacità di essere creativo e preciso, trasformando gli alberi e cespugli () in un bosco, e portando ordine intelligente dal caos. Spero di lavorare di nuovo con lei. - New York è stato estremamente fortunato a connettersi con Moya per completare la correzione di bozze, controllo infatti, l'editing e la disposizione generale per garantire un flusso libero di leggere il mio libro. Ha anche fatto una discreta quantità di ulteriori ricerche per me. Moya ha messo il suo cuore, il suo tempo e la lunga esperienza professionale nel chiarire il messaggio che sto cercando di esprimere in questo volume. Un grazie è solo una pallida espressione della gratitudine che ho per Moyas impegno per il mio lavoro. - British Columbia, Canada Il mio ricercatore straordinariamente intelligente e articolato, Moya Mason, mi ha tenuto sulla retta via con il materiale tempestiva e approfondita. - Washington Gli autori desiderano esprimere il loro grazie a Moya Mason per tutto il suo aiuto nel processo di ricerca e di scrivere questo articolo. Le sue capacità di editing reso il nostro lavoro pubblicabile. - Hong Kong Moya, veramente buono lavoro con voi. Grazie per tutto il lavoro creativo che hai fatto per me. Mi piace il modo in cui tutto si è rivelato e sarà in contatto presto per il prossimo progetto. - Westport, CT L'autore ringrazia Moya Mason per condurre l'indagine e l'assistenza nella struttura e la modifica di questo articolo. Il suo aiuto è stato fondamentale. - New York Vorremmo ringraziare Moya K. Mason, che ha fornito servizi di assistenza alla ricerca e di gestione di database per questo progetto. I suoi suggerimenti creativi sono stati molto apprezzati. - Londra vorrei ringraziare il mio ricercatore, Moya Mason, per lavorare con me sulla ricerca e lo sviluppo di un business plan. Moya anche fornito informazioni e le aggiunte eccellente per il mio recente proposta del libro. - Messico Moya Mason, ricercatore straordinario, è stato intelligente, incisivo, meticolosa, creativo, perfezionista, e sicuro di sé. Questo è il nostro secondo libro insieme Spero che voleva essere l'ultimo. - San Francisco Moya K. Mason servito come assistente di ricerca per tutte le parti di questo libro. La sua battuta pronta, energia illimitata, etica del lavoro infaticabile, e infinita pazienza ha contribuito immensamente al completamento di questo progetto. - Toronto nuove persone e una nuova comunità virtuale devono essere riconosciuti per quanto riguarda il materiale aggiuntivo. In primo luogo, Moya Mason, ricercatore bibliografica straordinario, mi ha aiutato a compilare una vasta nuova bibliografia che è destinata a servire da guida per ulteriori ricerche per coloro che sono di partire per mappare le vaste nuove cyberspazi sociali. - California nostro assistente di ricerca, Moya Mason, era il modello stesso di duro lavoro, determinazione, e l'organizzazione. - New York Gli autori offrono un grazie speciale a loro assistente di ricerca, Moya Mason, per il suo lavoro dedicato, disinteressato, e responsabile nella raccolta di dati per questo studio. - Toronto Il tuo aiuto è stato molto importante per me negli ultimi tre anni. So che mi ha aiutato il mio mandato. Grazie di tutto. - New York Vorremmo riconoscere Moya K. Mason, che ha fornito assistenza alla ricerca e alla scrittura per questo progetto. L'abbiamo consigliamo a chiunque, ma soprattutto a quelli con l'inglese come seconda lingua. - Hong Kong Grazie per il vostro grande lavoro negli ultimi anni. Oltre sessanta progetti successivi, la qualità del vostro lavoro continua a migliorare. In attesa di molti altri progetti con voi. - New Jersey Come per qualsiasi progetto di ricerca, questo studio non avrebbe potuto essere completato senza l'assistenza di molti individui. Ci sarebbe, in primo luogo, desidero ringraziare il nostro assistente di ricerca, la signora Moya Mason, che ha fornito aiuto persistente e paziente. - New York Il tuo sito web mostra un incredibile serie di progetti che avete fatto. Sono impressionato. Spero che potremo lavorare di nuovo insieme. Grazie mille per tutto il vostro duro lavoro. Im davvero contento che ho trovato. - Oregon Moya Mason è stato portato in come stratega, ricercatore e scrittore per la mia start-up. Il suo approccio professionale e innovativo è stato inestimabile. - California voglio ringraziare Moya Mason per essere un buon pensatore, riparatore creativo, e redattore. - Ancora una volta Philadelphia Grazie per il vostro esempio, la competenza, il supporto, e aiutandomi per iniziare. Grazie di tutto, Moya. - New York Grazie Il tuo professionalità e etica del lavoro sono fantastici. Ho davvero apprezzato l'impegno e Capisco perfettamente la difficoltà devi avere avuto nella ricerca di questo tipo di informazioni. Io sicuramente tenere a mente per il lavoro futuro. - Modesto, CA I aggiornerà il mio curriculum molto presto, Febbraio 2012 Ricercatore, Giugno - Ottobre 2011 Indipendenza e movimenti separatisti può essere trovato in quasi tutti i paesi del mondo. Alcuni di loro sono ben noti. Per esempio, i Tamil in Sri Lanka, il movimento della Corsica in Francia, e le baschi e catalani in Spagna. Questi sono tutti ben documentati e studiati. In Colombia, c'è le Forze Armate Rivoluzionarie della Colombia o Forze armate rivoluzionarie della Colombia (FARC), e in Indonesia ci sono i movimenti Aceh e delle Molucche. In Nord America, il movimento Cascadia richiede una nazione indipendente composta da Columbia Britannica, Oregon e Washington. Anche Kansas occidentale vuole separare, per non parlare di Quebec, Canada. In Somalia, ci sono movimenti di indipendenza in Puntland e Somaliland. Relativamente tranquilla paesi africani come il Senegal hanno conflitto a bassa qualità. La regione Casamance del paese è la patria di persone Jola che hanno una lunga tradizione di manifestazioni pacifiche di indipendenza. Il mio lavoro è alla ricerca più di duecento movimenti indipendentisti e separatisti, dividendoli in due parti: movimenti gravi (che è la maggior parte di loro), e quelli non-così-gravi. Mi aspettavo di fornire informazioni di background storico per ciascuna, un conto del motivo per cui un particolare movimento vuole l'indipendenza, e una fotografia della loro presenza sul web. Che tipo di informazioni fanno questi movimenti hanno postato su Internet Quali sono le altre organizzazioni, paesi e governi dire su di loro sul fatto di Internet Checker e ricercatore per una New York Casa Editrice, Maggio - giugno 2011 L'enciclopedia cui sto lavorando è un due volumi di lavoro di riferimento AZ che esaminerà gli eventi drammatici, le questioni nazionali ed esteri, le politiche pubbliche e preoccupazioni quotidiane che hanno plasmato l'evoluzione e la natura delle politiche Americhe sulla sicurezza nazionale, la difesa nazionale, i diritti costituzionali, e la sicurezza pubblica. Interdisciplinare di approccio, gli articoli esaminare numerosi aspetti della storia recente, al fine di dotare i lettori e ricercatori con un lavoro e un vocabolario preciso per esaminare i problemi attuali e capire discussioni in corso di futuro riguardano. Questo è stato scritto principalmente per l'uso da parte degli studenti e lettori generali. Io sono uno di un team di ricercatori e scrittori, che stanno lavorando insieme per scrivere e verificare infatti il manoscritto. Abbiamo accesso a più database e anche utilizzare Internet per una parte del lavoro. Ricercatore, scrittore e redattore, Maggio - giugno 2011 Un ricercatore medico mi ha assunto per aiutarlo ricerca, scrivere e modificare un ampio documento sulla ormone della crescita umano (HGH) e come e perché promuove la perdita di grasso negli adulti. Fact Checker e Ricercatore per un prossimo libro su Inspirational Citazioni maggio - giugno 2011 Il mio lavoro è stato quello di validare e correggere centinaia di citazioni e di eliminare tutti quelli ridondanti. Ho dovuto confermare la lingua e fare in modo che la punteggiatura è stata accurata. Ho anche dovuto trovare un contextsource per ogni preventivo. Questo è un esempio di un lavoro che richiede molto più tempo di quanto si pensi che lo farà. Ad esempio, la cosa che temi di più e la morte della paura che è certo è una citazione che è stato attribuito a Mark Twain. Mi sono imbattuto in un sacco di problemi con quello. Infine, ho parlato con uno degli archivisti che lavorano al progetto Mark Twain Papers a Berkeley e lei mi ha detto che non era una delle Twains dopo tutto. Molte delle citazioni erano molto problematico. Per questo progetto, ho usato fonti multiple per fatto controllare le quotazioni, tra cui Google Libri. Ricercatore per un Engineering Solutions Innovative Company, Maggio 2011 è stato assunto per fare qualche ricerca esplorativa sui seguenti tre concetti per scoprire se hanno il pregio tecnico Andor sono le tecnologie possibili per perseguire: l'utilizzo di marketing sociale per diffondere portatile equilibrio intervento energetico evidence-based strumenti di e-tecnologiche per la ricerca in tempo reale bilancio energetico e tecnologie innovative per la funzione di migliorare per le persone con disabilità. Mi è stato chiesto anche a venire con un suggerimento per come ciascuno di questi concetti li avrebbe resi commercialmente valido. Ricercatore per una carità americano, Maggio 2011 è stato assunto per creare profili di ricerca prospettiva individuali sia per i donatori attuali e potenziali. Il lavoro continuerà su base trimestrale per tutto il prossimo anno. Quando i profili vengono caricati in banche dati specializzate, i miei clienti saranno in grado di identificare quali prospettive dovrebbero essere invitati a loro eventi annuali e che i donatori devono contattare per partecipare a tour sponsor speciali e progetti, invece di contattare tutti per ogni evento. Per esempio, una persona che ha donato solo quando un disastro naturale ha avuto luogo probabilmente wouldnt essere interessati ad essere continuamente contattato per donare ad altri tipi di campagne. Tu non vuole sopraffare i donatori. Piuttosto, si desidera creare relazioni a lungo termine con loro. I profili andrà un lungo cammino per rendere questo accada. Ricercatore per un Management Consultancy, Victoria, Australia, Aprile - Maggio 2011 L'azienda che assunto mi stava progettando un programma di leadership per un ente governativo con i principi di una organizzazione che apprende. L'agenzia stava affrontando una serie di sfide organizzative e operative a seguito di un mercato sempre più competitivo e un cambiamento di obiettivi di business. Di conseguenza, hanno riconosciuto che, al fine di raggiungere i suoi obiettivi a breve e lungo termine e di superare le sue sfide, che avrebbero bisogno di rafforzare la sua capacità di leadership e di creare un ambiente di lavoro molto più sano attraverso la progettazione di ambienti di lavoro che sono aperti al pensiero creativo abbattendo gerarchie e spostando dal tradizionale luogo di lavoro autoritario. Il mio ruolo era quello di fornire le parti interessate con informazioni sulle organizzazioni di apprendimento e riassumere la mia ricerca in uno strumento di relazione e di insegnamento completo. Survey Writer per un Berkeley, CA Group Research, April 2011 Una consulenza di ricerca mi ha assunto per aiutarli a scrivere un sondaggio che si è concentrato sullo stato di imprenditorialità in Africa e in Europa occidentale. In ultima analisi, i miei clienti erano alla ricerca di comprensione del futuro economico di regioni particolarmente importanti nella zona. Un gran numero di indagini sono stati inviati a una varietà di organizzazioni di base. Abbiamo ricevuto una risposta molto buona. Ricercatore per un Lifestyle Television società con sede a Montreal, aprile 2011 Il mio ruolo era quello di aiutare un membro del team di produzione con la ricerca di un piano strategico. Infatti Checker per un editore educativo in Carolina del Sud, April 2011 un editore di libri di saggistica per i lettori delle scuole medie e superiori mi ha contattato per verificare infatti una biografia di Alessandro Magno per la precisione. Ricercatore di Washington Tecnologia Consulenza, Marzo - Maggio 2011 mi è stato chiesto di aiutare con la ricerca di un libro bianco per l'uso del cloud computing nelle agenzie del governo federale. Molte agenzie federali stanno valutando e l'attuazione di cloud computing. Come le agenzie prendono su questa tecnologia di trasformazione, che trovano la transizione al cloud impatti di elaborazione molti aspetti del loro ambiente IT, inclusi i sistemi legacy, la sostenibilità delle infrastrutture, la sicurezza e la privacy. Il cloud computing può avere un elevato ritorno sugli investimenti, ma non portare rischi aggiuntivi che devono essere gestiti. L'Istituto Nazionale di Standard e Tecnologie (NIST) trova le soluzioni di cloud computing condividono cinque caratteristiche: on-demand self-service di risorse ampio accesso di rete mettono in comune un rapido elasticità e servizio misurato. fornitori di cloud sono in grado di fornire scalabilità on-demand a costi ridotti perché la loro infrastruttura è snella e sfruttare enormi economie di scala. Per molte organizzazioni, il cloud computing è molto più efficace che fornire le funzionalità stesse, ma se il governo prevede di utilizzare per le informazioni sensibili Dovrebbero essere caricamento delle informazioni personali su server di terze parti di sicurezza è citato come una preoccupazione principale per chi considera il cloud computing . Uno dei problemi principali è che le agenzie non riescono a trovare facilmente fuori chi ha avuto accesso ai dati o anche scoprire come viene archiviato. Se il cambio di governo in-house sistemi di vendor sviluppato gestito off-site sistemi e piattaforme software Molti critici sostengono che a causa delle incertezze coinvolte con il cloud computing, i rischi superano i benefici, soprattutto perché i costi complessivi ei fattori di affidabilità sono difficili da determinare . Indagine scrittore e ricercatore per un Educational Association, Marzo - Maggio 2011 ho contribuito a creare un questionario e uno studio sondaggio che è stato progettato per aiutare ad analizzare come gli studenti universitari visualizzare il plagio e la disonestà accademica. Gli studenti provenienti da 77 università americane selezionate erano una parte dello studio. pressione accademica è stato il numero uno dei motivi data da studenti che copiano materiale per saggi da Internet. Gli studenti sono stati anche chiesto se il personale della biblioteca incluso il concetto di plagio da parte di informazione dei suoi corsi di alfabetizzazione. I miei clienti sperano di poter tracciare i profili di studenti che possono plagiare e portare più consapevolezza del problema. I risultati preliminari saranno resi disponibili non appena la relazione di sintesi è stato compilato. Ricercatore per un Regno Unito carità, Marzo 2011 ho lavorato con una piccola beneficenza a Oxford per la ricerca e scrivere casi di studio per la supplementazione di piano di lezione che verrà utilizzato per educare gli studenti universitari sui grandi temi globali come i cambiamenti climatici, la schiavitù moderna, la sicurezza alimentare , i diritti umani, e la privatizzazione dell'acqua. Il progetto è stato sviluppato per coinvolgere difficili da raggiungere i giovani in questioni globali. Ricercatore per un Advocacy Institute, Marzo 2011 La storia degli aiuti umanitari internazionali prima del 20 ° secolo è stato al centro di questo progetto. erano tenuti L'incorporazione di realismo, liberale, e le prospettive constructivionist. Ho letto un paio di libri, ma per lo più usato articoli di riviste peer-reviewed per trovare le informazioni necessarie mio cliente. Ho letto anche numerosi white paper e relazioni scritte da operatori umanitari e organizzazioni. Storicamente, la definizione di assistenza umanitaria è cambiato e ha coperto una vasta gamma di questioni, ambiguità e contraddizioni. Identificare i collegamenti in continua evoluzione e le differenziazioni tra le diverse forme di aiuti umanitari formata una gran parte del mio lavoro. Violazioni dei diritti umani, la povertà, la fame, intervento delle forze armate, calamità naturali, in caso di catastrofe di emergenza e aiuto offerto nei conflitti zone sono state coperti anche nel mio rapporto. Ricercatore, Febbraio - Marzo 2011 (NDA in Place) sono stato assunto da un autore a scrivere un libro sulla genitorialità. Il libro era un'intensa attività di ricerca. Si tratta di un follow-up ad un altro libro di successo dello stesso autore. Ho anche aiutato a sviluppare la bibliografia. Ricercatore e Scrittore per uno studio di danza a Londra, Febbraio 2011 Questo progetto coinvolti trovare istruttori di danza con le credenziali eccezionali in sala da ballo e ballo latino nella zona del Regno Unito. Ho anche fatto un po 'di PR di base di scrittura per i prossimi eventi. Ho poi presentato i comunicati stampa ai vari giornali della zona, e le arti e gli editori di intrattenimento che avevo identificato. Ricercatore per una consulenza con sede a Washington,, Febbraio 2011 mi è stato chiesto di trovare le recenti vendite e numeri di marketing per pillole di caffeina. numeri di vendita annuali e all'ingrosso per il caffè sono stati anche richiesti. Inoltre, i dati di vendita per le sementi di erba, sia all'ingrosso e al dettaglio, per un certo numero di paesi, sono stati una parte della mia ricerca. Ricercatore e redattore per un regista canadese, Febbraio 2011 Il mio lavoro è stato quello di fare ricerca su otto paesi e anche fornire le storie delle loro situazioni politiche. L'informazione è stata usata come parte di una proposta di finanziamento del governo. Ho anche aiutato modificare il documento. Ricercatore e redattore per un avvocato canadese, gennaio 2011 Il mio ruolo in questo progetto è stato quello di fungere da assistente di ricerca per il mio cliente. Era sotto un sacco di pressione per avere un articolo finito per una rivista giuridica. Il documento esplora la natura del settore del venture capital in Canada. Ho fatto la ricerca di base per l'articolo pagina di venticinque anni, mentre il mio cliente ha gestito gli aspetti legali. Ho anche aiutato con la redazione e la bibliografia. Ricercatore per una nuova rivista di lusso, gennaio 2011 sono stato assunto per fatto controllare una serie di articoli che sono stati scritti per il rilascio premier di una nuova rivista che offrirà articoli di interesse per le donne benestanti con un patrimonio netto di più di dieci milioni di dollari. Ricercatore, gennaio 2011 Il mio cliente è attualmente in vendita libri ad un distributore asiatico, ma isnt sicuro che se lo sconto che stanno ottenendo è giusto o tipici. Voleva che scoprire che cosa gli sconti tipici per le vendite delle case editrici ai distributori si trovano in diverse parti dell'Asia ciò che gli sconti tipici per le vendite dai distributori ai rivenditori (librerie) sono ciò che gli sconti tipici per la vendita diretta da parte degli editori ai rivenditori (librerie) sono e se la maggior parte degli editori di vendere attraverso distributori o fanno molte librerie acquistare direttamente dagli editori in quel particolare mercato. Questo progetto è stato un anno difficile per me. Ci sono voluti un sacco di ricerca primaria da parte mia, con l'aiuto di alcune banche dati specializzate e un certo numero di associazioni editoriali per trovare le risposte. Ricercatore Internet per una Radio Online Visualizza, dicembre 2010 - aprile 2011 sono stato assunto per trovare articoli interessanti per un giornale radio spettacolo online per trovare informazioni di base sui clienti e potenziali clienti e fare un po 'di scrittura e la modifica. Ho lavorato per questa azienda per cinque mesi come freelance ricercatore part-time. Ricercatore per un produttore britannico, dicembre 2010 Trovare le informazioni di contatto per i principali produttori di filtri per l'acqua domestici e di depurazione prodotti e le loro informazioni di contatto nel Regno Unito è stato il punto di partenza per questo progetto. In primo luogo, ho dovuto stabilire quali aziende sono stati i migliori nel loro campo. La seconda parte era determinare quale di essi aveva migliori sistemi di specifica disponibili. Ad esempio, quali filtri sono stati i più efficaci su una scala mobile Infine, ho dovuto fornire le informazioni di ricerca e prodotto su tre specifici tipi di filtri: sistemi di osmosi, i sistemi a base di carbonio inverso, e in linea di sistemi di carbonio, in particolare per lo stile americano frigoriferi. Editor sostanziale, Novembre - Dicembre 2010 Il mio cliente ha scritto un libro che si spera si rivelerà il materiale giusto per un film familiare positiva. Sono stato assunto di rivedere il libro, apportare modifiche, suggerire riscritture, e strategie sulla trama generale del libro. Grande progetto. Ricercatore, novembre 2010 Il mio compito era quello di aiutare uno studente di storia dell'arte, facendo un master, trovare informazioni e fotografie circa sia il fregio del Partenone e l'Ara Pacis Augustae. Il mio cliente vive in Cina e ha detto che era in grado di individuare i materiali di riferimento adeguati o risorse tra le biblioteche locali, non erano i suoi professori in grado di aiutare con la ricerca in quanto sono specializzati in storia dell'arte cinese e non occidentali storia dell'arte. I found a number of good articles and full-text digital books that she was able to use to complete her thesis. Researcher, November 2010 A first time author contacted me for help with research for a non-fiction book she was writing for Penguin about on-demand Internet streaming video companies in the United States and Canada. I was asked to find news stories, quarterly financial conference call transcripts, and other corporateSEC type documents on a few companies from 1997-present. I checked all the business databases I had access to and was able to find some of the information, but the rest was not easily accessible and would cost a lot of money to obtain. Business research is always difficult to do because the information a client would like may not exist, may be proprietary, or may be very costly. Researcher for an Educational Publishing Company in Boston, October 2010 I was hired to fact check two middle school social studies books. Very little was true fact checking and was more checking the source that was already noted. Each chapter had approximately sixty digital assets to check. Researcher for a Consumer Insights Company, October 2010 This contract involved researching the cultural and economic differences that exist between the provinces and territories of Canada. I then wrote both individual summaries of the information and also a comprehensive report that gave an overview of the differences. The information was used as part of a global pharmaceutical companys marketing campaign. Researcher for an Asian Design Consultancy, October 2010 - February 2011 This multi-pronged project was very challenging. It required me to investigate the economic factors that may impact or influence the bathroom products and accessories markets in Asia. A thorough analysis (both qualitative and quantitative) of the Asian industry and the key market factorsdrivers of bathroom products and accessories was also needed. The identification of the market gaps for bathroom products and accessories and the apparent opportunities within the Asian industry were compiled, along with a series of recommendations and proposals of business models to capitalize on the Asian market were uncovered from the findings. Countries of interest: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, and Dubai. Asian socio-cultural drivers, including country-specific consumer developments, consumer cultures and niche segments, and peopleconsumer insights into European bathroom products were a part of the value-added research. An analysis of the Asian Market, including market size, market share and segmentation, industry barriers, and ways to overcome both competitive and entry-level considerations was a major part of this research project. I was lucky enough to be given access to a number of specialized online databases to do the bulk of the research. I collated the information and wrote a series of reports for the client. Business Intelligence Researcher for a Law Firm in New York, October 2010 - January 2011 This very hands-on position saw me scoping out new resources for competitive information. I was expected to offer strategic input, analyze business data and information, and provide support for the decision-making process. I also conducted primary research for a series of special projects working as part of a firm-wide virtual library team. Researcher for a Large UK Telecom, September - October 2010 This qualitative customer experience study of B2B Direct Marketing companies in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Italy, France, Sweden, China, Japan, Korea, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico was a new experience for me. I worked with a great team of freelance researchers and was project-managed by a consulting group with its head offices in London. Researcher for a B2B Start-Up, September 2010 This company hired me to research and identify small businesses in the B2B space that can serve a national audience in the categories of Business Growth, Employee Rewards, and Productivity Improvement. They built a B2B ecommerce engine that created a community for small businesses through discounted group sales. In essence, they were interested in sourcing unique deals that can serve a national audience of small businesses and its employees. Researcher, September 2010 This client wanted to build an online database of good sources for information on the history of cookbooks. My role was to find the websites of cookbook publishers around the world. I also used the Internet to find information on cookbook awards leading food critics fairs, such as the Paris Cookbook Fair and authors who have won or were short-listed for awards such as the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards, the James Beard Cookbook Awards, and Gourmand Internationals World Cookbook Awards. I also collected websites that review gourmet food products and restaurants. Fact Checker for a Healthcare Software Company, September 2010 I fact checked a lengthy historical timeline that traced the evolution of consumer health technologies over the last one hundred years. Business Researcher and Interviewer for a UK Branding and Design Consultancy, August - November 2010 I was asked to help with the early stages of a book about branding. They were interested in talking to a cross section of people around the world about what they think of personal and professional branding, what it means to them, and how it affects their lives. They needed help on identifying potential candidates, getting their contact details, writingphoningemailing them, interviewing them, writing up the transcripts, and identifying trends. Researcher for a Health Services Manager, August 2010 This project focused on researching the phenomenon of reactivity, including the Hawthorne Effect. I also identified and described significant findings that came out of the Hawthorne Studies and led to changes in theories about how managers should behave to motivate and inspire their employees. The other part of the project was to explain and describe how effective human resource management planning, recruitment, and selection can assist in the continuous growth and development of an organization. Researcher and Editor, July 2010 I helped a senior citizen from Phoenix, Arizona with his memoirs. I did some research on his hometown and edited the manuscript. Substantive Editor and Bibliographic Consultant for a PhD Thesis, July 2010 Researcher for a Technology Provider for Financial Institutions, June - July 2010 I was asked to develop a number of white papers and executive briefings that are now used as content in presentations, webinar decks, and videos. One of the topics I researched was how much money companies in the financial services industry spend on technology services. The client also wanted me to find out which social networks financial institutions actively participate in regards to particular topics. I also had to research item processing outsourcing, including SWOT information, market share, industry trends, information to support building a business case of why a financial institution would outsource their item processing functions, and benefits of outsourcing. The other main thrust of my work was research on online banking and bill payment processes. I had to find out the major players, SWOT information, market share, industry trends, and information to support building a business case of why a financial institution would switch to my clients company for their online banking and bill payment services. Identifying which factors contribute to a financial institutions decision process for selecting a vendor was also requested. Examples would be accuracy, error rate, speed, and conversion impact. Medical Researcher and Editor for a Dental Company in San Francisco, June 2010 This new venture capital backed dental company hired me to do the research for and create white papers and tech briefs on a number of topics. I also helped them edit and write some of their clinical materials. Researcher for a Masters Student, May - June 2010 My job was to help with the research for a Masters level dissertation on deceptive marketing. I also worked on the literature review. Researcher for a Pennsylvanian Communications Consultancy and Design Firm, May 2010 The topic of the research is training materials used to teach and guide service employees in completing basic stepwise processes. The client was especially interested in in-situ, on-the-job training, not classroom training or e-learning modules. This research assignment was two-pronged: find out the best current ideas that can guide design of such training materials, and identify some specific, instructive benchmarks from across different industries and the military. I was expected to conduct the research online and to use secondary sources, such as LexisNexis, QuestiaHighbeam, and Factiva. The deliverable included a report that summarized the key insights together with links to and copies of primary sources. The industry benchmarks included illustrations. They expected brief progress reports and telephone discussions to make sure the work was focused appropriately. Everything was delivered in an accessible digital form. Researcher for Queensland University of Technology, May 2010 I was hired to research creative writing programs at Australian universities, including how many there are in Australia, how long they have been around, what they offer, a brief profile of the staff working for them, and a short history of their development. Creative writing programs have existed in the United States for over a hundred years, with the establishment of creative composition courses at Harvard University in the 1880s and the founding of the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop in 1939, the oldest graduate-level creative writing program in America. In England, the Bloomsbury Group laid a solid foundation for creative writing from the 1920s onwards. These informal networks were important because they allowed writers to critique each others work, exchange ideas, and act as mentors the type of role that is now fulfilled by universities. But these networks were often only for the elite or for those who ran in artistic circles. In Australia, creative writing higher degrees are relatively new and find their roots in the Colleges of Advanced Education programs of the 1980s. Just a decade ago, few Australian universities offered creative writing doctorates or masters programs. Now many offer a full range of creative writing programs, from undergraduate to doctoral levels, and are in high demand. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council has an interesting report on the Australian Writing Programs Network (AWPN) here . Researcher for a PhD Student, May 2010 I was hired to fact check a thesis. My client also needed a lot of help with the references because although she originally meant to make the footnotes and bibliography entries as the thesis was being written, deadlines were looming and she didnt keep track of them. I had to go over each section of the thesis and where an author was cited, either in parenthesis or directly in the text, I needed to check the source. In the majority of cases, the source was already listed in the bibliography, but essential information was missing. I followed the MLA style guide and made sure that the bibliography was up to par. I also had to go back and cite the source in the text and associate each with a particular page number. That meant that I had to search the actual source for the information cited and then insert the page number or numbers in the thesis text. Researcher and Writer, April - July 2010 I was asked to research and write a comprehensive series of articles covering a variety of topics based on a wealth of primary source materials and subject matter expert interviews for an online nanotechnology knowledgebase. The tool will be used by nanotechnologists and science institutes. The client provided me with a conceptual framework, expert resources, and access to source materials. I uploaded the material using a content management system that was created with information architecture and instructional design input from me. The entire development process, from initial research, content gathering, drafts, and final production of the knowledgebase took four months of part-time work. Researcher, April - June 2010 My client is writing a book about how cities around the world thrive or die. I did a lot of research and read many books, articles, and city planning maps. I then summarized pertinent information into a series of white papers. Using a number of expository forms, my client discusses what makes a city successful. Of course that changes over time. What made a medieval city successful is a lot different than what makes a modern city such as New York successful. The humanistic management of cities the right mix of aesthetics and practical, user-friendly spaces and balancing grand and classical structures with contemporary initiatives in cities are covered. Encouraging city planners to take a progressive approach to the development of urban areas is key, as is considering diversity to create a better quality of urban life. While important aspects of reimagining cities are things such as cleaner public transit and building using the latest energy efficient designs, we also have to consider that people need a daily connection with nature and require sustainable urban areas that incorporate green spaces and natural life forms and systems into their cityscapes. Rooftop and sidewalk gardens are two examples of how urban planning can transform city areas from distressed and grey communities to revitalized neighbourhoods that promote health, a connection to nature, and a place that inspires and stimulates the human psyche. Recognizing that city environments can be planned in such a way that the lives of people are enhanced by encouraging physical activity and surrounding them with beautiful vistas rather than decaying urban infrastructures goes a long way towards creating cities that will thrive along with their inhabitants. Researcher and Writer for a Non-Profit, April - May 2010 This project focused on the loss of religious buildings in the United States, particularly in relation to changing demographics, economic hardship, shrinking congregations, or as a result of religious orders paying out large amounts of money to victims of molestation and abuse. In order to bring this reality to the publics attention and to help congregations learn of their counterparts struggles and creative solutions, my client had me do research on a number of religious buildings and arrange interviews with some of the important stakeholders. I then compiled the information and wrote a report. Many communities have faced the loss of their places of worship. Many of these buildings are sold to land developers who turn them into condos or level them to construct residential or commercial buildings. Churches and synagogues are an essential part of urban hubs, providing sanctuary, community outreach, jobs for the community, improved mental health for residents, reduced levels of crime, foster charitable contributions, encourage volunteering, support a variety of local businesses, and improve the vitality of the community. Their loss can be devastating, not just to art and architectural history, but to society as well. Churches contribute to vitally important components of successful societies and their presence in communities provide many benefits that cannot be measured solely by direct revenue. Researcher, March 2010 I worked for an art institutes online division to assist with arranging image permission requests and researching the fair use of copyrighted works. Researcher, March 2010 In this case, my clients had been involved in holistic nutrition and medicine for over thirty years as patients. They both take 75-100 supplements daily, including standard vitamins, a number of esoteric ones, and also longevity and cognitive supplements. They also had many chelation IVs, ALA IVs, Myers Cocktails, Phosphatidyl Choline pushes, ozone IVs, oxygen therapies, had taken heavy DHEA and HgH injections for two decades, and even bought a mostly UV-B sun-tanning bed to increase Vitamin D levels. And, for over thirty years, they only saw American College for Advancement in Medicine sanctioned holistic MDs. They also read over one hundred holistic e-newsletters weekly, as well as a number of print ones. They hired me to do some detailed research on Enhanced External Counterpulsation Therapy (EECP), a procedure performed on people with angina, heart failure, or cardiomyopathy. I also provided a list of MDs who would perform the procedure for preventive purposes. Since they were considering moving to another state, they asked me to generate a list of doctors who offered certain protocols. They also asked me to find the best type of sauna and where it could be bought. Finally, I investigated a number of new supplements, therapies, procedures, blood tests, and looked at other relevant research studies. I used the Internet and a number of academic and medical databases to do the research. Researcher for an Upcoming Book on Customer Conversion Rates in Retail Operations, March 2010 I did some initial research for this book. It is being written by the founder of a business analytics company that works with leading retailers, including Hallmark, Adidas, Home Depot, and Sears. The book is about the importance of measuring prospect traffic and customer conversion rates in retail operations. It is a follow-up to When Retail Customers Count . Fact Checker, Proof Reader, Researcher, Substantive Editor, and Writer for an Upcoming Book that Looks at Evolution as a Religion, February - June 2010 I was contacted by a first-time author who had spent years researching and writing a book that challenged the theory of evolution. As a product of the public school system, he was taught to believe in evolution and never thought to question it until a chance meeting with a biology professor from UCLA in the 1970s, who told him that the possibility that life could have happened by chance was 1 in 10 to the 27th power. That remained with him and prompted a great deal of thought and eventual research into the complexities of life. The end result of his journey is this book. This was a big project for me. Each chapter was proof read and fact checked. As a result, a lot of additional research was needed. I used articles I retrieved from academic databases to find information and also found that Google Books was an invaluable tool. The book came to me with incomplete footnotes and needed many others added. As a substantive editor, I advised my client to make some major changes in how the information was structured and arranged. I also edited the book and rewrote sections of it to make my clients ideas shine through more effectively. Finally, I created a sixteen page bibliography and formatted the book in preparation for publication. The premise of his book is that Evolution is a faith-based theory. It stands alongside other faith-based movements, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The one common thread that binds these great religions together is FAITH. Faith may be defined as having complete, unwavering trust and belief in a concept for which no scientific evidence is available. The theory of evolution gained wide exposure following the publication of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859. It became a very popular book and went through six editions within a brief period of time. The book was particularly popular in academic circles. In Darwins day, the cell was thought to be so simple that brilliant scientists of the day accepted his theory of evolution to explain the foundation of life. As science advanced and the complexity of the cell became clearer, the idea of intelligent design became more and more compelling. This book does a very good job explaining intelligent design and irreducible complexity. Evolutionary presentations found in articles and textbooks, and used by millions of students start with the assumption that the accidental formation of life is a fact. Mutations and accidental mistakes in cell reproduction are credited with species progression. This faith-based evolutionary concept uses the assumption of the original cell as a point of departure, which then leads to broad-based transitional forms and the tree of life, and concludes, with life as we know it. Many prominent evolutionists and other professionals define evolution as a religion. Sir Julian Huxley, Charles Darwin, James D. Watson, George Wald, George G. Simpson, Jonathan Sarfati, James Perloff, Luther Sunderland, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler, Fred Hoyle, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Jay Gould, Antony Flew, Francis Crick, Michael Denton, Richard Dawkins, and James F. Coppedge are just some of the people covered in this book. Client and Market Researcher for a California Insurance Brokerage, February 2010 I was hired to find insurance brokers in the Los Angeles area who have clients with small commercial buildings and who also place that business in the wholesale insurance market. I collected the names and addresses of the firms, noted if the firms were an insurance brokerage, if the firms handled small apartment buildings, and if they placed any of this business in the wholesale marketplace. Researcher for a Marketing Director, January 2010 My client needed a list of bankrupt or no-longer-in-business companies that were issued a UCC certificate prior to August 28, 2002 in the United States. This certificate would give them a block of Universal Product Code (UPC) barcodes. He also needed the last known contact information of an executive or owner of those companies: the last available contact information of the owners or higher up executives, or someone with access to the certificate and the ability to transfer ownership. The more contacts I could collect the better because there would be a segment that would not be interested in selling the certificate or have enough codes remaining to sell. My client didnt care how old the certificates were but pointed out that the companies that received their certificate closer to their demise date would be optimum and would increase the odds of having more remaining usable codes. Ultimately, he was hoping for 200-300 contacts going back two to three years prior to August 28, 2002. The end goal was to purchase the UCC certificates, thus taking ownership of their block of barcodes. The UCC completely changed the barcode regulations post August 28, 2002, but any code established before that date is still valid and has fewer regulations attached to it. This was a project that I couldnt do in the end. I did work on finding the information but I ran into trouble. I did find out that a definitive list of all UCC certificate holders (prior to August 2002) doesnt exist. I figured if I could find that list I could then check the companies and their status. The inventor of UPC, George Laurer, cant even get a list, even though he has tried for years. I then contacted a friend of mine from grad school who does business research for a living and who has access to very relevant databases and he couldnt find the information either. One thing that might help my client is if he can find a list of the companies involved in the class action suit levied against the GS1 in the state of Washington. The GS1 lost and all prefix owners prior to August 28, 2002 became exempt to the GS1s renewal fees. Researcher for a Marketing Support Company in Reston, VA, January 2010 My job was to research federal agencies that have issued grants in the past five years. I was expected to name the agencies, the award amounts, levels of profit, time frames, the winners, and their competition. Brief descriptions of the grants were also requested. Another part of the project was to investigate federal agency grant trends and projections. My client was interested in finding out more about the health, security, space, IT, and education sectors, and other industries that have shown growth and are projected to show growth in the grant arena. Finally, I was asked to research the link between federal grants and formal procurements, and discuss how the link affects the element of developing customer relationships. A ten page white paper was the end result of my research. I included graphs that depicted past and future market percentages. Researcher for an Upcoming Book on Japanese American Baseball, January 2010 Specifically, I was asked to find newspaper articles from Honolulu, Hawaii newspapers between the years 1915-1920. The client also wanted articles from a Japanese American newspaper based in Los Angeles called the Rafu Shimpo . years 1925 to 1927. I used LexisNexis but those years were not indexed. I then did a search for the information on the newspaper websites, but most only archive a few years online. I then wrote a number of newspapers to ask for assistance but surprisingly, the newspapers dont even have extensive archives offline and couldnt help me. I then thought to write the state libraries, but they werent helpful either and suggested that I come in and search their microfilm for the articles. Since I was thousands of miles away, that wasnt an option. I suggested that my client make use of a library research service that allows you to hire a librarian to find and print out the information and mail it to you. The other alternative was to post an ad on Craigslist asking if there was a local student interested in going to the library and performing the task for him. Posting an ad on pertinent universities electronic job boards and requesting the same was also suggested. Researcher for a Vitamin Company, December 2009 I was asked to use excerpts from biochemical texts and published medical studies to find scientific verification for the three step process that takes B vitamins to the generation of energy. Higher potencies of B vitamins help the body generate more energy. The process starts with the ingestion of B vitamins, which increases mitochondrial function and performance, which in turn increases ATP production. Increased ATP production leads to more available energy. PubMed was my main tool. Market Researcher for a North Carolina School, December 2009 This school was interested in hiring a consultant to conduct market research for them. As a state-funded special education school for students with sensory disabilities, they wanted to determine how to better serve their students, community, and state using socially-responsible initiatives. As part of their strategic plan, the school needed to evaluate the market so as to continue delivering high quality education and to ensure its relevance to society. Working with management to implement objectives and directly targeting important priorities will allow the staff to increase its effectiveness and to expand their programs. RSS Consultant, December 2009 I was required to set up a series of RSS feeds for news, blog entries, and articles. The focus was on the emerging business of trading emission credits, which is a way for low emission companies to sell its credits to benefit higher emitting companies. It is a bigger business in Europe than in North America, and my clients wanted to find out what is happening in this market-based approach to controlling pollution. They also asked me to find some older articles on the subject. Researcher, December 2009 I was hired to find email addresses and fax numbers for lingerie businesses in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, and Italy. Researcher and Writer for a Class Action Committee, November 2009 - February 2010 This American public-interest organization was waging a battle for healthcare reform against a private hospital company, questioning its integrity and accusing it of being corrupt. I was hired as a secondary researcher to supplement the efforts of its information team, which consisted of a researcher and two health-care analysts. They believed their research efforts could be improved by bringing in a consultant. Above all, they were looking for hard facts that could be incorporated into reports. Some of the tasks could be completed quickly in a few days, other larger projects were targeted at a few weeks. I worked for a number of people in the organization, but had a primary project manager. The following are examples of the work I did: 1.) research specific lawyers, including who they had worked with, what political parties they contributed to, their connections to particular politicians, and anything else that could be important for my clients 2.) I was asked to obtain certain court records for them 3.) transcripts of television shows were requested 4.) I often was asked to pull together all existing news and clips about certain hospitals and then write succinct memos covering the most salient points 5.) I was also expected to take a look at certain civil and criminal court cases and obtain the records 6.) keep my clients updated on a regular basis through memos about a series of subjects 7.) investigate a federal budget for specific line-items and find out who sponsored them and 8.) access information on Washington lobbyists and find out how much they were getting paid. Overall, a very challenging four-month part-time job. Survey Developer, Researcher, and Writer for a Report on the Social Value of Leisure for an International Cruise Line, November 2009 My client will use the information I found in a variety of ways, including in the development of its leisure programming and in its advertising packages. Instead of looking for data on Baby Boomers or Seniors, this study focused primarily on young people, ages 21 to 50. We started by developing a survey that zeroed in on their spending habits, lifestyle choices, recreation habits, and leisure values. We posted it on very appropriate websites and were surprised by the number of people who took the time to answer our questions. Further analysis was conducted by gender because we were also interested in malefemale preferences when it comes to relaxation, socialization, competitiveness, and the importance of pleasure as a form of recreation. It is important for recreation planners and leisure service providers to understand the leisure values of the people they work with in order to provide adequate services and programs. Today, more than ever, people are seeking to improve their quality of life through enjoyable recreation and leisure pursuits, especially when they are on vacation. They are increasingly aware of the importance of preventative health strategies, rest, and recreational activities, and try to incorporate this philosophy into the vacation packages they spend money on. With more disposable income, good jobs, and a heightened awareness of the world and its travel opportunities, young people will continue to become the focus of cruise lines and resorts. I also read a number of studies, academic articles, and books on the subject of leisure and put all the information into a report. Researcher for a Book Proposal, October 2009 I helped an author put together a book proposal on the subject of test stress. He needed me to research a large number of studies, facts, and figures for the audience and marketing sections of the proposal. He also had a lengthy list of very specific questions I had to find answers for. Researcher and Photographic Consultant for a US-based Newspaper Columnist, October 2009 I was hired to find information on the South Bank Skate Park, which is located underneath Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Thames in London. I was also asked to find copyright-free photographs of the area. The park has been popular with skateboarders since the early 1970s. For almost forty years, this public space has acted as a community for thousands of young people and is widely acknowledged as Londons most beloved skateboarding area. Performance and graffiti artists, photographers, tourists, and buskers also migrate to the park. The Graffiti Archaeology Project has an archive of the areas art throughout its history. The park also appeared in a Tony Hawks computer game. Although its size has been reduced in recent years and partly given over to retail shops, the government has agreed that this vibrant public space has had a very positive impact on thousands of young people and contributed to the cultural heritage of London, so much so, that plans for more retail outlets were recently nixed. Researcher and Writer for a Non-Fiction Book Proposal (NDA in Place), October 2009 My client is a well-known author with over twenty-five years experience in the fields of filmmaking and technology. The project I worked on with him was for a non-fiction book about the convergence of a number of complex digital technologies. I helped with the research and design of the book proposal. I also assisted with the writing and editing of the first three chapters of the book that were sent to the publisher along with the proposal. Researcher for an Educational Publisher, September 2009 For this project I had to do research on a number of interrelated subjects: US college enrollment growth due to the recession job training growth in general colleges moving toward online learning and digital course materials high schools moving toward online learning and digital course materials digital books and their affect on traditional book publishers and the growth of ebooks in any channel over time. I used a number of academic databases to do the research, collected articles on each topic, read them, making notes as I did. I took all important information and made a series of short reports, one for each of the topics I had researched. College enrollments are closely aligned with the economy. When the economy weakens, there is an increase in post-secondary enrollment rates as people hasten to increase their employable job skills and ride out the storm. When the economy strengthens, enrollment rates fall off as more people look for jobs instead of attending college. This is particularly true for community colleges during the global recession that began in 2008, when students cut across all demographic groups. According to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, higher education institutions believe that bad economic news is good news for both overall and online enrollments. More people go back for additional schooling in a bad economy, specifically people working in low-paying jobs. The largest universities and all community colleges in northeast Mississippi reported their enrollment numbers were through the roof, driven by a weak job market and high unemployment. California college officials reported turning away 250,000 community college students because they had no room for them. Historically, when the economy slows, one of the first things cut is job training. Funds for job trainingre-training have recently increased but the state of these types of programs are still far from what they were in 1979. So, it is impossible to say whether job training funds will decrease as the recession wanes, but it is very likely they will since the unemployed will be moving into jobs and not spending as much time in retraining programs. The stimulus spending bill signed in early 2009 includes 4.5 billion for job training. Armed with new federal funds, American states are trying to help their jobless residents. The new Economic Stimulus Act includes 5.7 billion for workforce programs, which represents the largest infusion of dollars into the workforce in decades. Private companies are also partnering with states to help with job training. For example, Microsoft Corporation works with state officials in Florida, New York, and Washington, using the companys e-learning programs and online certifications. If you want to help people get back on their feet, you need to take a rigorous new approach to technical training. Online learning is an important piece of the puzzle and continues to be the fastest growing segment of higher education. And yet the educational establishment still debates whether e-learning can ever be as good as traditional teaching at a campus. A study released by the US Department of Education found that when compared to face-to-face teaching, many types of online college courses were better at raising student achievement. President Obama has also endorsed online education, while talking about his recent community college initiative. Convenience is one of the main reasons why so many students take courses online. They are available 24 hours a day and are particularly attractive to younger students, who are quite at ease navigating their way through the collaboration software, digital tools, and video components used in online education classes. Online learning has turned a corner and moved into mainstream education as advancements in technology and high-speed broadband networks allow for a more interactive and personalized learning experience. Established brick and mortar universities, such as MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Penn State are putting their curricula online and are now offering extensive online learning options. UMassOnline reports that enrollment among students under the age of 25 has increased 91 percent over the past three years. Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, N. J. is reporting a 100 percent growth rate over the same period. The shift from paper to digital textbooks is also gathering speed as school systems struggle to provide students with books at a time when budgets are being cut. The California Digital Textbook Initiative will replace some high school science and math texts with free ones in hopes that the state will save hundreds of millions on textbook purchases. It will be years before students will have access to all their books in a digital format, but there is no question that competition from open-source materials poses a real threat to traditional textbook publishers. Moving towards open-source materials is well under way in higher education courses as President Obama pushes for the creation of free online courses to improve community colleges. According to the National Association of College Stores (NACS). which tracks the higher education retail market and reports the latest findings, e-books currently constitute a small portion of the college textbook market but are expected to reach 15 percent of textbook sales by 2011-12 and are increasingly nudging their way into the marketplace. For example, CourseSmart is a joint venture of the leading traditional publishers in North American higher education. Companies such as McGraw-Hill Education, John Wiley Sons, Elsevier Science, Cengage Learning, Princeton University Press, and Sage Publications, Inc. provide digital books and learning tools to millions of student with more than 7000 titles. They are also accessible on Apple Inc. s iPhone, iPod Touch, and the Blackberry, to name a few. The most popular college texts can be downloaded at approximately half the price of traditional texts. NACS Student Watch 2010: Student Attitudes Perceptions reported that the average full-time college student spent an average of 693 on college textbooks and course materials in 2010. Going digital seems to make a lot of sense when you consider numbers that high. Amazon is currently conducting a pilot program that provides students at Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, and the University of Virginia with the revamped Kindle and the ability to download textbooks. As portable gadgets become more ubiquitous, digital publishing will continue to grow. Initiatives such as Googles Library Project also go a long way to explain the increased interest in digital books and devices, especially since Google made sure that all digitized materials were formatted for mobile devices. Apple also plays a crucial role in the transition from print to digital with its iTunes University. It offers college lectures and provides free storage and bandwidth to universities, some of which make their lectures available to all, while others restrict based on enrolment. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has tracked digital book sales since 2003, which were 20 million at the time. By 2007, that had more than tripled. By 2008, revenues were reported as 113 million. An added note: according to the AAP, the first quarter of 2011 saw e-book sales explode to 233.1 million. Historical Newspaper Researcher for an Author, September 2009 My client wanted access to Los Angeles newspapers accounts of the death of Thomas Ince and the subsequent coverage. His novel will feature the death of Thomas Ince as a small part of the plot. Ince was born in 1882 and was famous as the owner of his own progressive movie studio. He was also a well-known actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Ince was considered an industry leader and Hollywood virtually came to a standstill the day of his funeral. He died at his home in Beverly Hills in 1924 after falling ill aboard William Randolph Hearsts yacht, the Oneida . amid rumours that he was murdered by Hearst over a dispute about a woman. The official cause of his death was heart attack. In the end, there was no official investigation into Inces death. On December 11, 1924, the Los Angeles Times published the following: District Attorney, Chester Kempley, announced that he had uncovered nothing to justify him in proceeding further with the matter. He said, I began this investigation because of the many rumours brought to my office regarding the case and have continued it until today in order to definitely dispose of them. I am satisfied that the death of Mr. Ince was caused by heart failure as a result of acute indigestion. There will be no further investigation, at least as far as the county of San Diego is concerned. If there is any investigation of the stories of liquor drinking on board the yacht where Mr. Ince was a guest it will have to be in Los Angeles, where, presumably, the liquor was secured. I used LexisNexis to find over fifty full-text newspaper articles for my client to read for his research. Joomla Consultant and Content Provider for Mystic River Marina. August - October 2009 I helped the web programmer design this site, integrating a number of photographs to spotlight the marinas many amenities. I also did some research into local businesses, services, and events to add pertinent information to the website. I used Joomla to make the pages and also wrote or edited the website content. Medical Technology Researcher for a Medical Center, August - September 2009 This project required me to research thirty medical innovations identified by clinicians and medical researchers using web-based resources and medical journals accessed through proprietary databases. I then wrote a brief for each technology that included a description of the application, the technologies or methods it will replace or complete against, its clinical trial status, the current state of development, regulatory approvals, commercial availability, companies involved with the technology, patient benefits, and when it is likely to appear in the marketplace. Researcher for a PhD Student (NDA in Place), August 2009 Client Researcher for an Art Restorer, August 2009 A professional conservator of paintings hired me to find contracts for her company. It had been awarded some lucrative state and federal preservation jobs, but she wanted to find more state and federal painting or mural restoration projects on which she could place bids. Shed had little success finding such contracts herself and needed some assistance. I used the Internet to do some of the work, but focused my attention on the appropriate government agencies and community organizations to find the information. Internet Researcher for a Documentary Filmmaker in Mongolia, July - September 2009 My client needed help locating rural schools and libraries in Mongolia, including a description, photographs, and contact information for each. He wanted to tell the stories of people who use extraordinary efforts and ingenuity to bring knowledge to those without access. In many remote areas of the world, there are no library buildings. Instead, there are donkey, elephant, and camel libraries wheelbarrow, boat, bus, and train libraries are also very common. Some libraries are housed in the homes of farmers and people come and go, sometimes great distances, to select books. These mobile libraries and their librarians play a key role in the lives of people living in rural areas. For them, the arrival of the mobile library is an important occasion and an exciting event. My primary tool for this project was the Internet and a few NGOs, operating in the area. Researcher and Survey Designer for a Study on Homeschooling in the United States, July 2009 There is no question that homeschooling, when properly done by competent people, can be a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Many glowing reports have already been written that highlight the advantages and unlimited learning possibilities that go along with home-based education. Studies have definitely shown that some homeschooled students score much higher than the average publically-educated child. But what about the dark side of homeschooling What about the parents who say they are homeschooling their children but are, in fact, not actually teaching them anything, resulting in illiterate adults Who is monitoring these children In some states, the answer is no one. Most states do insist upon some form of annual standardized testing and a monitoring of the homeschooling program, but many leave the enforcement of provisions to local school districts, which have few resources to do so. My client decided to write a book that uncovers some of the darkest secrets of the homeschooled, including profiling the uneducated and lazy parents who have fallen through the cracks and are pretending to homeschool their children without the knowledge of any educational agency. The other allegation that the author wanted to explore was the contention that homeschooled children are more likely to be abused and because they do not attend school, nobody knows. Some of the children are also subjected to an extraordinary amount of religious instruction, to the detriment of other subjects. Others are simply put to work. We started by designing an online survey that we posted in multiple places on the Internet. It basically asked if the reader knew of any children being kept home from school, but who were receiving little in the way of educational instruction. For example, some parents believe that taking their children for a walk and pointing out the clouds constitutes a science lesson. Similarly, they believe making a cake together and cooking supper every day can be counted as hours spent learning. Most parents consider these types of activities interacting with their children, not school lessons. We were surprised by the number of responses we received. My other duties included doing a review of the literature, researching state laws and legislation, and working with the survey results to generate statistics and graphs. Researcher for a Project on the Management of Serials in Academic Libraries, July 2009 I was asked to undertake the research for this project because my client, an academic librarian, was very busy with other responsibilities. This is the type of work that takes a lot of time. After I used a series of academic databases to do the research and downloaded over one hundred appropriate articles, I had to read them. As I read through each article, I copied important points and placed them into a Word document with related bibliographic information. I also added my own notes, possible points of departure, and ideas on how the information could be integrated into the final report. Libraries of all types are facing a digital revolution that is continuously changing and difficult to manage. For years, library finances have been struggling to keep up with the growth of journals. The shift from ownership of physical collections to licensing content for electronic resources has occurred quickly in the fields of medicine and science, but other collections are mired in problems, uncertainties, and controversies. As universities and colleges offer more online courses and create global educational environments with increasing numbers of offsite international students, they have no choice but to make a move from print to digital serial collections. The changing culture of scholarly communication and learning will continue to challenge librarians and require even more change from libraries. The transition from print to electronic resources has meant better service to library patrons, but the challenges of managing electronic resources have forced library staff to work more collaboratively and advocate for the creation of new partnerships and resource-sharing in order to transform library services. Libraries and serial publishers face unique challenges in the acquisition of electronic resources, including new pricing models, obtaining access rights, and determining packaging options. Effective communication, enhanced library workflows, new partnerships, electronic resource management systems, and the utilization of web services are all important factors in the reshaping of library services in this digital age. Fact Checker for an International Publisher of Consumer Periodicals and Books, June - August 2009 I was hired to fact check and verify the information in a four book series. The project was fun and interesting, in part, because the trade books were very entertaining and provocative to read. Topics included a history of food in New York City, the culture of fear in America, the science behind gadgets, and the resurgence of the cupcake. Researcher for an Examination into Publicly-Available Information for a Content-on-Demand Company (NDA in Place), June 2009 Fact Checker and Researcher for a Nutrition Magazine, June 2009 I was required to do some fact checking and research for a new fitness, exercise, and nutrition magazine. From time to time, I am contacted by them to verify article facts or do the research for new articles. Internet Researcher for an Overview of APIs (Californian Consultancy), June 2009 This long established company was interested in branching out and incorporating some new ideas and technology as a way to expand its business. They decided that a web application programming interface (API) was something they would like to investigate. An example would be the Google Maps API that can be used by anyone to build a business around. Real estate developers and agents come to mind. I discovered that there are tens of thousands of APIs available for free on the Internet. Lots of options for my clients to choose from. Here is one website to give you an idea of the types of businesses that can be started by using an API. Researcher and Writer for a California Health Information Management Consultancy, May - July 2009 The company needed to acquire hard data on the market for US health and science staffing services, as well as on the US staffing industry, in general, to aid in the formulation of their marketing strategies. The research was limited to the US market only. The data collected for each sector included market size in dollars, geographic distribution, client universe ( of establishments) by sector and sub-sector, and employment universe (by relevant profession). The universe of staffing firms in OAI sectors financial data on top 25 players in each sector total number of people employed by health science staffing companies market share held by the top 25 health science staffing companies in each sector trends in health and science staffing merger and acquisition activities in the last five years trends in usage of staffing services for health and science staffing fastest growing health and science professions being staffed by the staffing industry and seasonality of staffing employment were all included in the deliverable. Government data sources, such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dept. of Commerce, US Bureau of the Census, and other federal agencies and departments commercial data sources, such as LexisNexis, Dun Bradstreet, and Standard Poors trade data sources, such as the American Staffing Association, the American Nurse Association, and other relevant trade associations media data sources, including trade publications, industry white papers, professional association publications, industry analysts and experts company and industry websites and online research reports were the tools I used to find the information. I then used Excel to input the data I was able to find. Researcher for a Newspaper Journalist, May 2009 This project involved finding statistical information on patterns of private philanthropy. Americans, Europeans, and Japanese were the focus of the research. My client, a journalist, was working on a piece. He requested specific numbers to make the comparisons, including gross amounts and a careful breakdown of what was included and how it was sub-divided in categories such as religious, secular, arts, health, science, emergency relief, and other similar sub-categories. Bibliographic Consultant for a Medical Publishing Company, May 2009 My client had 250 references stored in an EndNote library. EndNote is a bibliography program that keeps track of your references. Many of the references were missing some of the information and needed to be polished up. In some cases, I had to find the city of publication, clarify authors names, and about 25-30 were missing the date. The good thing about this job was that most of the references were imported from PubMed journals, so finding the missing information wasnt all that difficult. For some of the other references I had to use WorldCat to find them because they were pulled from diverse sources, including psychology books, federal reports, book chapters, and websites. Co-Designer of Three Web-based Applications for North American Organic Farms, April 2009 Small, family-run organic farms are often burdened by debt, or at least a lack of money. Coming up with the funds to pay for the services of a web programmer or a designer is difficult for many, even when their businesses would run a lot better with the help of information technology. So, when one such farm approached me for advice, I decided it would be a good project to get involved in. For example, they run an organic co-op, but had no online application form for people to sign up for the service. Instead, they had posted a PDF application form which had to be printed off, filled in, and mailed using the postal service. A bigger problem for them was they didnt have a web application that local restaurants could use to make their weekly orders, nor did they have an easy way for customers to order any of their almost 150 product seedlings. I worked with a programmer to design the forms and the application interfaces. I then inputted all the product information and prices. The applications have subsequently been offered to many other farms across North America. Researcher and Writer for an European Conference on the Subject of Collaborative Divorce, April 2009 I acted as a research assistant for a presenter at a conference. Her topic was collaborative divorce, a method of practicing law in which divorce lawyers for both parties agree to help their clients work through their conflicts and find resolution using non-adversarial interest-based negotiation and cooperative techniques rather than litigation. The lawyers are key in collaborative divorce and are committed to settling all issues and conflict in creative, fair, and non-confrontational ways. The process is much less expensive than a regular divorce case that goes to court. The collaborative divorce model was developed in the early 1990s by lawyers and other professionals who believed that litigation was injurious to the principals involved, especially the children. It is also a way to avoid the arbitrary and uncertain outcomes of court litigation and allows both sides to achieve an equitable and fair divorce settlement that reduces the negative consequences that are often an outcome of traditional divorces. Learning new skills, such as conflict resolution, effective communication, and healthy co-parenting tips are also goals of the process. The model has spread rapidly throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and other parts of the world. Researcher for a Privacy Consulting Company, April 2009 This company specializes in creating strategic privacy governance programs for major corporations. Corporate privacy is a major issue and is expanding as personal privacy is shrinking. Privacy initiatives need to support business strategy and has to scale across all units. Affordability, effectiveness, and sustainability are also important aspects of privacy programs. The use of appropriate technologies and compliant infrastructures also play a critical role. My role in the project was to assist the primary consultant in a privacy scan for an American food corporation, make recommendations for next steps, and help write up the summary report. Market Researcher for a Regional Car Dealership, April 2009 My job was to find research studies that examined how Canadian women buy cars. Pertinent questions included: are they the primary purchasers or are they influencers are there any big picture buying patterns and are there any legitimate statistics that can answer these questions The other part of this research project looked at how women shop for vehicles versus how men shop for them. Fact Checker and Editor for a Book on the History of Jazz, March 2009 I was given a manuscript on the history of jazz in the United States and Western Europe to read and was asked to fact-check it for accuracy and consistency, editing as I went through the process. Ideas of democracy, modernism, racism, and redemption are covered in the book. Researcher for an Upcoming Book, March 2009 For an author based in Ontario, Canada, I conducted research for a book on American and Canadian water issues, focusing on the crisis that some bodies of water are experiencing, the most promising methods of conservation, and the commodifaction of the global water supply. The book was structured as an easy to read introduction to the subject and was not particularly scientific or technical in nature. Researcher for an Asian Agricultural Organization, February 2009 For this project, I had to find all current and archived news stories about Indian agriculture, its farmers, and how new technological advancements may be able to help both. I used LexisNexis and ProQuest to do the work. Business Researcher for a Technology Presentation (NDA in Place), February 2009 I was hired by a software company specializing in next-generation operating system platforms to find a diverse collection of data that its in-house research department was having difficulty finding. One aspect was searching for global ecommerce statistics for 2002 and onwards. The research was needed urgently because of a time sensitive race between two companies developing the same technology, a technology that has mega implications for ecommerce. Internet Researcher and Writer for a Report on Search Engine Optimization, January - February 2009 A well-established web company contacted me to put together the latest information on search engine optimization. For many years, its rankings had always been respectable, but all of a sudden, they took a big hit and revenues began to slump. The company then hired a series of SEO experts, all of whom had different ideas, opinions, and costly steps for the company to take to solve the problem. Instead of spending any more money and changing everything on its site one more time, they decided to find out which SEO best practices were presently being employed and what results they could expect. I did a series of interviews with SEO experts, read the most recent reports and books I could find, visited Internet forums specializing in SEO, and searched the web for value-added information. I put all pertinent findings into a white paper. Researcher for an Australian Consultancy, January 2009 The main objective of this project was to establish if pheromones increase a persons attraction. The client required a list of human-based clinical studies and research papers. The deliverable was a highly condensed summarization with copies of the research papers and clinical trials attached in the appendix. I searched for studies that confirmed pheromones increase a persons attraction. Some of the questions I tried to answer were: does a persons attraction increase if pheromones are applied on the body If so, what sort of pheromones Artificial or animal derived Can the human body increase attraction with an increase in pheromone production from the inside There are nutritional supplements available on the Internet that make such claims. Is there any research to substantiate this claim Researcher, Writer, and Editor for a Publication on ACRL Literacy Standards, Instructional Scaffolding, and the Value of Web-based Tutorials in an Academic Setting, January 2009 I worked with a librarian on this project. She needed help with researching, writing, and editing to take her ideas and turn them into an article. When you look at the research habits of NextGens, a couple of things become pretty obvious: they use the Internet as a starting point for research instead of searching academic databases when using library databases, they often disregard help screens and they employ a very erratic style of searching webpages for information, something that Angela Weiler called I dont think, I click in Information-Seeking Behavior in Generation Y Students: Motivation, Critical Thinking, and Learning Theory . Almost every academic database has a different interface, a different set of search protocols, and different full-text retrieval engines, meaning access to these resources is less than transparent. For example, PsycINFO offers the option of using controlled vocabularies, while JSTOR doesnt. Before conducting a search, LexisNexis forces the user to select different source areas, while the best way to search Factiva is to make use of its subject directories to narrow searches. Some provide full-text articles, while others, only the bibliographic information and perhaps a pointer to where an article can be retrieved. Even experienced researchers become confused when faced with multiple procedures. It takes quite a bit of expertise to navigate digitized information systems and use them well enough to get the best available information. That is why it is important, if not crucial, to offer sufficient support when students are first being introduced to research tools in an academic setting. Support from librarians is a key component, but web-based tutorials are also critical because they tap into the independent and tech-savvy nature of NextGens and are also cost effective. Students could benefit from having basic explanations of elements found on search results pages, definitions of commonly used terms, and simple contextual maps to explain the basics of information retrieval for the wide array of databases found in academic libraries. Maybe academic libraries and the tools they offer their students shouldnt differ that much from online businesses such as Amazon, Google, and Netflix, which spend a lot of their time and money focused on improving the self-service functionality and usability of their websites so that visitors can find the answers they need when they need them. Perhaps emulating their self-service models to create an instructional framework could go a long way to facilitate active learning and may even serve to increase a users general research skills. Researcher for a Real Estate Marketing Company, December 2008 - February 2009 A company that provides innovative, web-based marketing systems and software for both real estate agents and mortgage brokers contacted me for research help and the creation of content for their marketing files containing local-based information. I eventually researched approximately 250 topics, including many in the area of financial services. I also wrote a series of articles for their monthly newsletters which cover a variety of subject matters. Researcher, December 2008 My client was looking for a list of public relations companies that were founded by women and who have their primary offices in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Researcher for an Upcoming Historical Novel on William Marshal, the 1st Earl of Pembroke, November 2008 - January 2009 I read a large number of books and academic articles on the life of William Marshal. I also read background information on the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries as preparation for my work. I then created a series of summaries on a large number of topics and events so that my client could more easily write the book, without having to stop every day to do more research. William Marshals life is well-documented because his eldest son commissioned a record of his life shortly after his death in 1219. The resulting work was LHistoire de Guillaume le Marchal and it contained many eyewitness accounts of Marshals life from his contemporaries. William Marshal was born during the tumultuous Civil Wars of King Stephen and Empress Mathilda. Sentenced to death at the age of five by King Stephen when his father refused to surrender, William Marshal had a notorious beginning. He was a hostage of Stephens, held in surety in exchange for his fathers good behaviour. But his father, John Fitz Gilbert the Marshal, had other ideas. Although Stephens knights urged him to hang the child, the king decided to give John Marshal another chance to save his son by forfeiting the castle at Newbury. But William had three brothers and a young mother. When King Stephens messenger delivered the ultimatum he was told that John cared little if William was hanged since he had the anvils and hammers to make more and even better sons. He said his youngest son was of far less value than his castle at Newbury. King Stephen had every right to hang the boy, but William was not executed and went on to become an important bodyguard for Eleanor of Aquitaine and a courageous knight. Over his life, he served four kings: Henry II, Richard I, John Lackland, and was made regent for the nine year old, Henry III. Researcher, Editor, and Analyst for a Real Estate Strategy Consultancy, November 2008 - January 2009 I was hired to read, review, and edit five strategic plans that my client had written for various commercial real estate projects. The typical document was 80-100 pages. I edited, filtered, and condensed the reports into three templates to serve as base documents for future reports. I found that some things were stated more clearly in one report than another. My client needed the best of each report standardized and applied to three different templates for three different types of real estate projects (i. e. town center, regional mall, entertainment focused center). I also analyzed cities, regions, states, and then produced market overviews for projects that my client was working on. For example, if one of the consultants was given an assignment in downtown Atlanta, heshe would need an overview of downtown Atlanta, with a focus on real estate. The number of businesses in the downtown core, daytime work population, traffic statistics, total number of hotel rooms, square footage of office space, rental rates, retail sales, job growth, downtown residential population, etc. Typically, a ten page report provided a good overview. I also supplied my client with a write up of the overall national real estate market with overviews in housing, hotels, office space, apartments, and retail. Researcher and Writer for a Study on Recession-Proof Industries, November 2008 An American college was intrigued by the idea of developing new diploma programs based on the premise that the courses would provide recession-proof jobs for graduates. When jobs are scarce and the economy is going through a downturn, many people go back to school to upgrade their skills. Why not offer them programs that could keep them employed long into the future No career is truly recession-proof, but discovering the high-demand jobs of the future and updating your skills accordingly, can go a long way in offering economic security. Emerging fields such as geographic information systems, green energy, and specific healthcare occupations are currently receiving a lot of attention. The most important part of this project was the futures research I did for it. Every year we are surprised by social, economic, and technological upheavals that appear to come from nowhere. How can we plan for the future, when we dont know what will happen tomorrow Predicting which jobs will still be vital a decade from now is not an easy task and must be made using some of the principles of scenario planning. Key to preparing for the future is making better decisions today. We can do this by highlighting large-scale forces that push the future in different directions. The work I did was summarized into a report and given to the provost for evaluation. Researcher for a Washington, DC Non-Profit, October - November 2008 This research project is part of a multi-prong initiative that looks at how politicians are using the Internet and if it changes the way they govern. I looked at politicians from many countries, not just the United States. I basically used the Internet for all of my research, collecting information on different politicians and parties, and on how they are using the medium to transform the democratic process. I put all my findings into a report. All four major candidates in Frances presidential election are using Second Life. opening virtual campaign headquarters there so that visitors (in the form of avatars) can ask questions, debate with politicians, and attend political rallies. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards are also campaigning in Second Life. Clinton has even held press conferences at her virtual headquarters. UK politicians are increasingly using blogs and are responding to the posted comments. Blogs have become extremely important, with millions reading both local and national blogs daily. The British Conservatives have launched their own Facebook pages to attract new support. Facebook is a really fast growing way for politicians to communicate with constituents. Voters who become a friend of the Conservatives receive regular updates and tips on how to get involved in the political process. European politicians are using podcasting, vlogging, blogging, and other Web 2.0 tools to raise funds, recruit volunteers, and to organize supporters. Britains Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, has his own video blog to post slick clips that attract voters and engage the public in a new kind of conversation. The Conservatives say the party has been inspired by whats happening in America. Social networking sites had a huge impact on the United States Presidential elections. Barack Obama credits social networking and Web 2.0 tools for his campaigns phenomenal support and successful fundraising efforts. He won every important caucus state by using these tools because he was able to move thousands of people to organize. Obama used the Internet to organize his supporters in such a way that would require an army of volunteers in traditional campaigns. The Internet also allowed him to run a campaign for much less money. For instance, Obamas campaign is taking advantage of YouTube for free advertising. Also, the ad material they created for their YouTube channel is currently being watched more than ten million hours, something that would cost tens of millions of dollars on broadcast television. And, unlike direct mail, the Internet costs nothing in comparison. The election of 2008 is already being called the YouTube Election thanks to the videos uploaded by presidential hopefuls. Photographic Researcher, October 2008 My job was to find images of gods and goddesses associated with knowledge, learning, wisdom, writing, books, and libraries. These images of deities will be used as part of a librarians presentation at a conference in Thailand. Hermes was the Greek god of knowledge and invention Vidya Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of learning and rational thinking Lono is the Hawaiian god of learning and intellect Seshat (Sashet, Sesheta, Safekh) is the Egyptian goddess of writing, historical records, accounting and mathematics, measurement and architecture to the ancient Egyptians. Seshat was the goddess of libraries, knowledge, and geomancy Thoth was the oldest and greatest of Egyptian librarians and was known as the inventor of writing and acted as scribe to the gods Ganesha (Ganpati) is the Hindu God of knowledge and learning Wei TO is the ancient Chinese god of libraries and books Hayagriva is the Hindu God of learning and wisdom Carmenta is the Roman Goddess of writing and the alphabet Saturnus was the Roman god of learning Nabu is the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom Quetzalcoatl is the Aztec god of learning and creation Sarasvati is the Hindu goddess of books and knowledge Tenjin is the Japanese god of learning, language and calligraphy Nisaba or Nidaba is the Sumerian goddess of writing, the Learned One and scribe of the Sumerian heaven Bridget is the Celtic goddess of writing, poetry, and learning Buddha Manjushri is a god of learning Ogma is an Irish god of writing, eloquence and poetry Vagdevi is a Hindu goddess of learning The other gods of education and knowledge were the Muses, who were the daughters of memory and goddesses of the arts and libraries Athena was the goddess of wisdom, learning, and teaching Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, learning, art crafts and industry Apollo was the Greek god of knowledge, past, present, and future and Danu was the Celtic god of knowledge. This is a webpage showing the images of the gods and goddesses I found. Here is the key that goes along with the photographs. Environmental Researcher for a Study on the Environmental Impacts and Health Concerns Related to Wireless Internet Towers (Washington State Grassroots Organization), September 2008 This project was both interesting and frustrating. I found an equal amount of information on both sides of the debate. Often when you are hired as a freelance researcher, the client is expecting you to deliver only information that supports the way they see a situation. They want you to find information that backs up their viewpoint. In this case, that was difficult. Many of the reports and articles I read on the subject reported that there is very little to worry about when it comes to the potential health risks associated with exposure to microwave radiation. A number of experts stated that microwave ovens are more of a health risk than ISP towers because they leak radiation. And, as they point out, cell phone towers are much more of a concern when it comes to health. In general, public health implications of wireless technologies is a relatively new phenomenon and it will be several more years before studies can reliably demonstrate and predict what exposure to all kinds of microwave radiation does to the human body and if it alters brain chemistry. Another part of my research was to find information on how Internet towers affect the value of homes located near them. The information I could find points to the subjectivity of each case. For example, a home may decrease in value by 20-30 percent in some areas, but in other locations, namely very rural areas, an Internet tower could be viewed as a positive by people looking to buy a home with access to high speed wireless. The perception of the buyer is key. One of the questions that arose out of my research was how the locations for these towers are chosen. Particularly, why are they built anywhere near houses and people The answer is they need access to electricity, so a location cant be a very remote and uninhabitable area, and must as a consequence, be built in populated areas supplied with power. One other interesting point was raised by this research: when you say no to Internet towers, sometimes you are saying no to a lot more. We found that entire rural areas of the United States are basically without reliable and speedy access to the Internet because local people have fought against towers. Without access to a high speed connection, you are invariably cutting people off from having access to a lot of important information. The Internet has become a lifeline to rural communities. Think also of small businesses, the home schooled, and the telecommuters. The Internet is a critical utility and is as important as telephone, electricity, and mail. Living in isolation, off the grid, is just not an option anymore. The Internet provides too much opportunity. Even the off-gridders have Facebook pages these days, which is kind of funny. The Internet gives you access to the whole world and hundreds of years of knowledge. For instance, the National Library of Wales is digitalizing everything printed about Wales and the Welsh people since the 16th century. And, every day, another service becomes available only online. Researcher for an Overview on Best Practices for Corporate Website Usability, Customer Experience, and Usability Engineering, September 2008 I was hired by a North Carolina consulting firm and directory to evaluate their website and online social communication tools. After losing some of their ranking in various search engines, they decided that it was a good time to take a closer look at their online presence and find out if customers and visitors to the site were having a positive experience. Sometimes companies spend so much time and money on positioning themselves for search engine optimization that they forget the basics of customer service. Unless the experience is user-friendly and barrier-free, people wont come back. Search engine spiders are getting better at indexing Flash elements but without a duplicate site for spiders and for users without the needed plug-ins, parts of my clients site was inaccessible to many. The site also relied, in part, on audio cues alone, which meant that the hearing impaired couldnt fully use the site, nor could those that didnt have speakers hooked up to their computers. The website also could not be read by the computers of visually impaired users. Computers are unable to read text that is enclosed in graphics. People with disabilities were unable to navigate the site because it was built to be visually pleasing rather than informationally and structurally sound. Visitors were also unable to change the font sizes, which is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. I also found that users were unable to efficiently and quickly locate information on the site. The interface design required people to guess where items were because the information was not well organized or properly labeled. The sites navigation wasnt easy to use or find because it featured a navigation scheme considered cutting-edge. The reality was that users couldnt figure out how to use it, especially since it did not remain in the same place throughout the website. A breadcrumb trail built directly into the navigation is a very helpful component of a site, as is using webpage titles and subtitles to indicate what section of the site a person is in. Researcher for a Study on the Portrayal of Male Librarians Throughout History, August - September 2008 I spent quite a lot of time researching male librarians, from the earliest documented accounts. This project was multi-pronged and complex. The first thing I did was a literature review. I used a series of online academic databases to find good articles and books. My client requested that I highlight the most important points in each article and write a summary. After my initial research, I put all the information together and wrote a report that chronologically tracked librarians over time. I also put the highlights into a simple timeline. Historically, the image of the male librarian has come full circle. The profession was originally peopled by bookish men, although there are certain exceptions. The famous philanderer, Casanova, was the librarian for Count von Waldstein in the Chateau of Dux in Bohemia. Ancient librarians had high social status and were often scholars or priests. They were generally the only literate people in their communities. The chief Librarian of Alexandria was chosen by the king and was always a prominent scholar. In Egypt in the early 500s, Pachomius started a monastery and insisted that all resident monks read and write. Many monastic enclaves emerged throughout the Roman Empire and most had theological libraries. Monasteries in the Middle Ages were centered on librarianship and libraries, housing monk scribes, with the head scribe often put in charge of the library. The Benedictines created libraries and the scriptorium became sacred. It soon became customary for monasteries to lend to other monasteries, giving birth to inter-library loans. Prior to 1870, public opinion was that librarians were introverted, mean, eccentric, and male. Early male librarians were seen as dusty old bachelors, and undernourished, weak and non-masculine bibliophiles. The masculinity of male librarians was never questioned when libraries were the exclusive territory of male employees. That changed when libraries were primarily the workplaces of women. Male librarians were then stereotyped because they were seen to work in a female-dominated profession. By the end of the 19th century, the profession was slowly transforming into a womans profession, thanks to Melvil Deweys School of Library Economy, the first institute to offer formal training for future librarians, including women. He established a pool of relatively cheap female labour that transformed the landscape of librarianship over the next half-century. Once exclusively the domain of men, librarianship evolved over time to not just incorporate women, but to become a profession that is almost completely associated with them. Women werent seen as having a role in the profession until World War I. A review of American and British articles written prior to 1914, shows that librarians were always referred to as he. In the era following World War II, men were actively recruited into the profession and there was an increase in the number of men entering the field, enticed by higher salaries and rapid advancement into administrative positions. Stereotypes of male librarians as effeminate was a big factor in keeping many from working in academic librarianship, especially since the public perceived such a man as a failure who couldnt find work in typically traditional male professions, such as law and medicine. Men of that era tended to consider librarianship as better suited to women than men. His very identity as a man could be compromised by choosing to become a librarian. Because the workplace is dominated by women, male librarians find themselves associated with the stereotype. Like male nurses, male librarians, have a fear of being perceived as homosexual since they work in a feminized profession. Surveys do not show that there are any more gay male librarians working in the field of librarianship than there are in the general population, just that it is possible that societal homophobia forces many gay men away from typical mens work and into jobs that were once called sissy jobs, such as dancer, librarian, secretary, and florist. More importantly, what movies, comic books, and literature have said about male librarians is that they are typically effeminate, weak, nerdy, etc. with effeminate being the most important trait that can be traced back to the gay stereotype. When you research male librarians throughout history, homosexuality has not been one of the main stereotypes that comes up, not at all. There is no substantial evidence to indicate that a large number of male librarians are gay, although surveys indicate that there is a perception that gay males predominate in librarianship. According to a famous study by James V. Carmichael, the proportion of homosexuals and heterosexuals among male librarians is comparable to that in the general population. In reality, the majority of male librarians surveyed had a MLIS degree and were older married men. The stereotype that men in libraries are more likely to be gay is a myth. The homosexual image is only one of the stereotypes associated with males in the library profession. Male librarians are often thought of as the systems guy who joined the profession because of its technological aspects and because they are seen as more technologically-savvy than women. Men who work in libraries are frequently seen as in charge, with patrons assuming they are managers or directors. Male librarians appear in many movies. In the Rose . Volker Prechtel played an anti-social male librarian in Brazil Jonathan Pryce played a male librarian who was seen as a failure in Offbeat . John Turturro played an anti-social male librarian, Neil Pepper in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold . Richard Burton portrayed a male librarian characterized as a failure in Ghostbusters . John Rothman played an anti-social male librarian and In the Name of the Father . Alan Barry was socially-inept, archivist Jenkins. This is a webpage displaying pictures of male librarians that I collected. Here is the key that goes along with it. Medical Researcher for a Study on the Effects of Candida Yeast, August 2008 Using a number of relevant books and academic articles obtained from MedLine, I provided my client with the latest information on candida yeast, its symptoms, the effects it can have on the body (short and long-term), and treatments, including comprehensive cleanses to rid the body of the overgrowth of candida albicans yeast. Researcher for an Entertainment Company, July 2008 My job was to identify all sport and entertainment venues with seating capacities greater than 12,000 in North America, South America, and Western Europe. Government documents were a great help for this project. Researcher for a New York City Research and Consulting Firm, July 2008 The firm assists organizations in optimizing their education and training resources, and teaches them how blogs might contribute to a learning environment. The company retains the services of independent researchers to research and write on topics related to learning and development in large organizations. The topics I was hired to do were e-learning, learning technologies, leadership development, and measuring training-related performance improvement. Client and Market Researcher for a Nutraceutical Manufacturer, June 2008 The CEO of a small manufacturing company of nutraceutical products hired me to identify and research companies who may be potential customers for products he manufactures. I also created profiles for the companies. Researcher and Writer for a Report on the Future of Life Insurance, May - July 2008 This project was a summary of insurance market activity for several countries. Specifically, I had to find information on life insurance penetration, trends, challenges, leading players, sales channelsdistribution, foreign investment, bancassurance, direct sales and marketing, health insurance, growth metrics, and IFAs. I was hired to do the research and write the report. This wasnt an easy job because a lot of the information and statistics I needed were proprietary and already compiled into very expensive reports, which my clients werent interested in buying. I was fortunate that I had access to a few insurance associations, which allow members access to timely statistics and reports. I was also able to make use of databases, such as Factiva and LexisNexis, and was able to get additional data from a few insurance experts working overseas. For the most part, I combed the Internet and read every whitepaper and report I could find and made use of each countrys insurance association, such as the Berlin-based, German Insurance Association (GDV). As the insurance industry continues to evolve worldwide, distribution becomes more of a factor. Tied agents and brokers, once the mainstay of the industry, dominated most markets. But that is changing at various rates, depending on the region. Currently, the trend is towards the development of alternative distribution channels. In South America, distribution varies by country but many are experimenting with new sales channels such as drugstores, supermarkets, and malls. Some countries in the region require an intermediary for any insurance transaction, a regulation that is preventing countries such as Brazil from developing alternative distribution systems. In 2005, nineteen life insurers and twenty-four non-life insurers were operating in the country. Brokers and agents dominate the distribution channels in Colombia, but there too, company-employed representatives and banks are gaining ground. In Colombia, brokers dominate the group life market. In 2005, 52 registered brokers were working in the field. The individual life market is dominated by agents, approximately 10,000 of them. But it is the banks that are increasingly becoming a one-stop shop for financial services, since they have a better image than the insurance industry. The last year has seen the German life insurance industry busy reacting to changes in the legal and regulatory framework. Introduced in May 2007, the EU Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) and the Insurance Contract Law, which came into effect in January 2008, are regulations that have increased the complexity of the life insurance business model, leading to higher expenses. Also, the EU Mediation Insurance Directive has had a significant impact on distribution. Higher deferred acquisition costs and surrender values, and a change from policy model to an offer-acceptance model are two of the changes that are creating new challenges for insurers. The German life insurance industry is still one of the least profitable in Europe, as German life insurers business prospects remain weak overall. Preliminary results for 2007 indicate a decrease of 7.1 in total new business premiums to EUR 146.1bn and gross written premiums stagnated at EUR 74.3bn. Fitch currently believes that from 2009, new business in Riester and overall, will slow down. Fitch is forecasting acceleration in competition from within Germany as investment funds and banks try to benefit from the changed product environment given their experience in short and long-term savings products. Increased competition is also expected from foreign insurers. The distribution landscape for German insurers has also changed dramatically in recent years. Also influencing German life insurers is new legislation such as the Retirement Income Act (Alters-Einknfte - Gesetz) and the Tax-Amendment Law (Steuernderungsgesetz). After the partial lapse of tax benefits for traditional endowment policies, the new life insurance products require a much higher degree of sales force competence, as product advantages are more complex to explain to the consumer. This may spell bad news for direct sales. As in Japan, the South Korean sales force is primarily made up of women: shop owners and homemakers selling insurance part-time have historically been the distribution channel that long-established domestic South Korean insurers used to sell their products. These independent agents had little training, and as a result, the industry was marred by complaints of non-professionalism, mis-selling and low customer retention. Upon entry to the market, foreign insurers insisted upon a professional sales force and have done a lot to professionalize the industry. ING Life Korea is noted as a pioneer in this area, and has a network of professional, self-employed full-time tied agents. This model has brought about fundamental changes in the insurance market landscape. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), South Koreas insurance regulatory body, reports that insurance salespeople are becoming more professional and are making more money. What has traditionally been a female-dominated field is now attracting men to the profession. Male life insurance planners totalled 26,396 as of March 2007, accounting for 20 of the total number of people selling life insurance. The ratio of men has more than doubled since 2002 when it was a mere 9.1. Researcher for a Non-Fiction Biography, May - June 2008 My client was commissioned to write a 80,000 word biography on a series of women political leaders. I was hired to help with the research. I was given a two page document that outlined the book specifications in which the author made comments about the type of content she was looking for. The book specs included a list of in print competition books to serve as models. I was expected to identify a list of relevant articles and books that the author could use to write the biography. I also had to create a working Table of Contents. Researcher and Survey Designer for a Study on Learning Commons in North American Academic Libraries, May 2008 My job was to find as many articles as I could on academic learning commons in North America. I read all of them and extracted the sections I thought were most important for my client, who needed the information to write an article he could publish and to create a presentation he had to give at a professional conference. At this point in the project, I suggested we develop a survey that could be sent to hundreds of librarians. I collected a large number of email addresses for academic librarians working in learning commons. I then put together a series of survey questions that were pertinent to our research question. My client provided feedback, we made some changes, and the survey was sent out. We got a very good response and my client was able to get more insight into the state of learning commons in universities and how reference service has evolved because of them. Another component of the project was to find out how many graduate students work in learning commons and offer consultations to undergraduate students. The nature of learning is changing. A learning commons should recognize that the needs of the learner are paramount. This includes new learning pedagogies, a greater emphasis on collaborative learning, and a recognition that advances in technology have a major impact on how students now acquire, organize, and disseminate information. The evolution of the information commons concept has been one approach to providing new and refined levels of service to academic library users. The concept can be readily adapted to the campus culture and the needs of individual institutions. Given the rapid alteration of the collective information landscape, learning styles of customers, and the nature of library operations, usage patterns of library resources have steadily evolved. Many libraries and librarians have recognized these fundamental changes and some have further undergone a series of organizational developmental processes to adapt and cope with the new realities. Creating a learning commons is one of the ways in which libraries are responding. The learning commons is not just a concept, it is a place, and in many instances, it exists in the library. Academic institutions are supporting a learning commons model because the faculty and administration recognize that students learn in dynamic ways. Learning commons are spaces with the technology and design that emphasize knowledge creation. In the framework of the learning commons, the librarian as facilitator is emphasized. The librarian becomes a partner in the collaborative process on specific projects. The librarian is also responsible for marketing the learning commons and evaluating the outcomes. Another area that the librarian needs to coordinate is the increase in technical services to make sure that the tools are available and easily manipulated by users. The challenge in this philosophy is striking the right balance between the need for supporting technology in the public computing area and providing traditional reference services. New patterns of service delivery are developed to better service the needs of students in this environment. Most information commons are based on a partnership between the library and information technology services of the university with varying degrees of collaboration and integration between the two functional areas. In some cases, multimedia services are also involved. The emphasis on how to house physical collections, accommodate library staff, and seat readers has been replaced by a focus on user needs and expectations, and client experiences. A key feature of the information commons is the help provided to users. The arrangement of the computers, the ease of moving between the desks, and the placement of the information desk all contribute to its success. Students are not always willing to leave their computer and approach a desk, no matter how friendly and helpful they know the staff to be, so it is necessary for staff to go to them. A primary aim of the information commons is to create an environment and a service that will give students the opportunity to develop information and computer literacy skills. Library design should not be dominated by a concern for information resources and their delivery. It should incorporate a deeper understanding of the independent, active learning behaviours of students and the teaching strategies of faculty meant to support those. Staff should regularly rove around the commons. Researcher and Writer for a Presentation on the Future of Academic Libraries, April 2008 My role in this project was to identify important trends and challenges that will shape the future of academic libraries. I used a number of databases to find relevant articles on the topic. I also searched the Internet for information, and interviewed a number of experts in the area of futuristic studies and libraries. My deliverable was a comprehensive report which my client used to build his presentation. The future of the academic library is a topic of continuing concern for the profession, particularly in view of advances in technology. Can libraries harness these new technologies to fulfill their mission in this new information landscape Academic libraries are changing faster than at any time in their history and have entered a period of enormous transition. Identifying relevant technologies to employ in libraries to support services is crucial, and considering the impact of social networking and mobile devices on users and their expectations is also important. Libraries that integrate the interactive world of Web 2.0 ensure they are keeping pace with new ways of learning and interacting with students in provocative ways. Todays students have grown up with computers and are technologically-savvy. Their expectations and attitudes have been shaped by the Internet and other types of digital media. What kind of information are they looking for and how do they want to access it Recent studies have found that even researchers and members of faculty prefer to access information on their computers from home or the office, and visit the library very irregularly. How can libraries make the information easier for them to access and use Many students lack the basic skills to research online and often use Google to begin a search. They have difficulty establishing whether a website provides quality and accurate information. One of the core problems is that the prospect of using their librarys online databases to find good information and refereed articles is overwhelming to them. Each database has its own set of rules and if you dont know them, you will not get good results. Students also dont like to ask for help. They have grown up in a digital world that sanctions independent and self-paced learning and require library services that are structured to accommodate them. University libraries online catalogues have long been characterized as difficult to navigate and not intuitive. Libraries need to start taking lessons from business and workplaces to make quality information easily accessible to students like Amazon has done. Visitors to the site can look inside many books, read reviews, and learn about similar books. Google Books is a great tool because you can search in all the books at one time. This is an invaluable tool for research. A key point to make here is that rather than providing new and exciting services created specifically for the digital age, libraries are taking the safe route by providing their users with the same old types of services wrapped around online technologies. It just doesnt scale well. Yes, they offer online catalogues and other web-based services but they arent adaptable and they arent that easy to navigate and use, especially if you dont have a degree in library science. Libraries should begin developing custom portals to allow easier search options for their collections. Expensive, high quality information goes unread by a majority of students because they have no idea how to access it. Libraries should do whatever it takes to expose their digital collections, even if it means teaming with commercial players such as Google. If not, they run the risk of becoming irrelevant. Developing new and innovative services will be key to bringing academic libraries into a successful future. They will be judged by the quality of the services they offer and the quality of the staff. I think libraries need to establish themselves as agents of change - become leaders in an increasingly complex, information-rich world, if they hope to remain relevant. Technology and shifting expectations are radically changing the job of the librarian and their role in the digital era. Expectations of students, academics, and researchers act as drivers of change in libraries. It is true that universities and their libraries are currently facing a sort of perfect storm: they are being pressured to spend larger amounts of their budgets on computer systems, budgets which are shrinking due to the global financial crisis they are receiving fewer endowments from private individuals, who have seen their net worth plummet in the last few years and unprecedented transformations in scholarly communications coupled with advances in technology have also made the mission and position of academic libraries precarious. The evolution of student expectations and a cry for increased accountability and competition have made this a difficult time for all libraries. But it can also be a time to reinvent the academic library and overcome the challenges. Website Content and Photographic Designer for a Well-Known Business Site Specializing in Gourmet Food Products, April 2008 I acted as a stylist for the redesign of this website, working with the web designer to create a fresh updated look for this forty year old company. I rewrote a lot of the content and found or commissioned photographs that really added to the customer experience. Proofreader, March 2008 I proofread a document on the rise of flood devastation in the United States. People continue to build homes and businesses in areas that are prone to floods. Tens of thousands of people have lost everything to floodwaters of the ever-urbanized seaboards that are routinely hit with big storms described as isolated events but which cause billions of dollars in damages. Historically, the response has always been to employ engineering solutions to meet the challenge of flooding, along with calls for more sophisticated rainfall prediction models and better floodplain maps. This paper asks, whats next For instance, Central Texas has been identified as the most flash-flood prone area in the country by the National Weather Service, but Texas has no comprehensive flood safety education program of any kind. A lack of understanding of flood risk causes deaths, massive property damage, and billions of dollars in lost revenue and aid. More stringent floodplain building codes, converting floodplains back to open spaces and parks, and publishing an annual report that identifies flood-prone areas of the country can go a long way in saving lives and raising public awareness. Business and Market Researcher for an Insurance Start-Up, February 2008 I was hired to find information on efforts to sell life and health insurance directly to the consumer, without the help of insurance agents (direct marketing) in the following countries: England, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, South Africa, China, India, and Korea. Identification of companies that sell direct, information about their business models, the outlook for selling direct in the countries, articles about selling insurance to the middle market in the countries, and information about the future of the agent distribution channel in each of the countries formed the bulk of my research. Researcher for a Book on Luxury Shopping, January - May 2008 My client wanted to write the definitive guide to luxury shopping throughout history. That meant starting at the beginning and researching the oldest luxury shops that exist in North America and Europe. As you might have guessed, London, England has some of the oldest, most luxurious, and expensive specialty stores in the world. We didnt simply focus on apparel and accessories, but also looked at furniture, stationary, fine jewellery, art and antiques, cosmetics, gifts, and even gourmet food and wine. One of the components of the research considered if paying more actually translates into a better quality purchase. We also added research on how the shopping experience has changed since some of these companies have opened online stores, and if the products differ from those found in their brick and mortar locations. Researcher for a Magazine Journalist, January 2008 I was asked to research the selling of digital assets. I primarily used LexisNexis to find newspaper and magazine articles on the subject. I also used the Internet to do some of the research. In-game trading has grown in popularity over the past five years, in step with the growth of the MMOG games industry. Commodification of virtual goods is happening whether developers want it to or not. Inflation is rampant in most games, with rising prices subsequently fueling real-world trading. In 1999, virtual assets were increasingly being traded for real money. eBay began selling digital property in 1999, primarily those associated with Ultima Online. eBay offers gamers the chance to bid on hundreds of items, including characters, gold, armour, magical potions, trinkets, and property. Recently, a gamer sold his account for 4,000, and many others have also gotten thousands of dollars. What this means is you no longer have to be an experienced player to have property and mature characters. As long as you have money, you can acquire whatever you want instead of putting in the time and work. This is changing the nature of gaming. Sonys EverQuest also has a vibrant secondary market with hundreds of items currently listed on eBay, some selling for thousands of dollars. The birth of this secondary market elicited various reactions from companies operating MMORPGs. For example, Electronic Arts, publisher of Ultima Online, was excited by this turn of events and let its players trade their virtual assets for free. On the other hand, Sony Online Entertainment, the operator of EverQuest, asked eBay to take down any auctions for EverQuest assets. This was mostly due to frauds occurring in the market. Items bought on eBay are regularly not delivered, resulting in angry customers turning to Sony for help. In 2000, it officially outlawed the secondary market by adding certain clauses to its end-user license agreement, telling sellers that character sales infringed upon its EverQuest copyright. In January 2001, Sony managed to convince eBay and Yahoo Auctions to remove all auctions of EverQuest virtual assets, but this did nothing more than move the trading to other marketplaces, such as PlayerAuctions. The unauthorized, black-market auctions grew so quickly that Sony was forced to police eBay and other sites full-time. By 2005, Sony had developed its own virtual asset auction website called Station Exchange to sell assets of specific EverQuest II servers. Security effectively eliminated fraud by forcing sellers to place items in special accounts so that Sony could make sure that buyers received what they paid for. But the illegal auctions continued. In January 2007, eBay announced that it would pull all auctions for virtual artifacts, not just Sony assets, except for Second Life assets because that virtual world encourages its members to mix real life with virtual life. All Real Money Transfers (RMT) were suspended, in part, because the legal complexities of virtual property and intellectual rights to the property were unclear. With eBay out of the way, companies such as IGE, which describes itself as the worlds largest secure network of buying and selling sites for massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) virtual currency and assets on the Internet, will make more money. The World of Warcraft banned the sale of in-game items because it doesnt allow players to upgrade their characters or tools by paying money. The company expects players to earn them the old-fashioned way and will ban a player if they are caught selling outside the game world. In December 2005, it closed more than 18,000 WOW accounts for that reason. Researcher for a PowerPoint Deck on the Importance of Government Documents, January 2008 My client had to make a presentation at an American Library Association conference and needed my help to research the topic and create the PowerPoint deck. One of the areas he wanted to focus on was the users right to access government information and the importance of preserving it for future generations. Government documents tell the story of a nation, since almost every aspect of society is documented by local, provincial, and federal agencies. Becoming an informed citizen has a long history in American culture and forms an important component in the democratic process. How can librarians assist their patrons in accessing and understanding government information and become better informed citizens Offering better service in this area of librarianship should be a primary concern for libraries, allowing better dissemination of information to students and researchers. Many libraries recognize the importance of government documents to researchers in areas such as law, political science, and history, but there are also teachers, genealogists, cartographers, small business owners, sociologists, geologists, university administrators, and local government officials to consider. Government documents play an important role in the research process, with statistical publications some of the most frequently consulted. Some government documents are available online, but the collections are far from complete and tend to disappear without any notice. They are also not very well organized. State and local documents present their own special problems because they are often classified using home-grown indexes, which can be ineffective. Librarians need to standardize how they arrange government documents to make the process easier for the average user. The other component covered in the PowerPoint presentation is the lack of bibliographic instruction focusing on using online government information. Studies of undergraduate library use show that new strategies are needed for integrating government information into standard library instruction. Researcher for an International Insurance Group, December 2007 I was hired to identify the number of power plants in the United States (by state), Canada, South America (by country) and Western Europe (by country). I also had to identify the power source for each plant (steam, internal combustion, combustion turbine, non-conventional, geothermal, oil, coal). I used government documents to complete the project. Researcher and Writer for a Book Proposal, December 2007 I worked on a book proposal for an American entrepreneur writing a book about a multi-step plan to assist with the start-up phase of new business ventures. The premise of the book is that there are many core reasons for business failure but they can be avoided through competent and considered planning. Researcher for a Start-Up, December 2007 I was asked to find out the percentage of visitors to contact pages of small businessesboutique websites that result in the visitor calling or emailing the business, and what percentage of those contacts result in a sale. I did some research and it seems as though the average conversion rate (unique visitors to a boutique business general website into paying customers) is about 1. But this doesnt measure bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who only view one page, then leave) and repeat visitors who return to the site over several days. What my client was looking for is a combination of online consumer behavior, conversion ratio, and website analytics. I wasnt able to provide him with extensive information because, although the statistics had been compiled, the report was very expensive to buy and my client did not have the budget for it, nor did he have the budget for me to start from scratch. Researcher for an Academic Librarian, November 2007 My client is an academic librarian, working towards tenure. As a result, he not only has to work full-time, but also has to work on studies and papers that will help him get promoted. Thats why he hired me. This project focused on the future of reference service in academic libraries. As a first step, we worked together to develop a survey that asked librarians a series of questions about reference. I had already spent time on the Internet collecting the email addresses of reference librarians working in universities and colleges in Canada, so I sent the survey to them. We had a very good response and their comments added a lot to my final report, which included statistics, graphs, and all comments from responding librarians. Next, I did a literature review, pulling the most important points from each article to make it easy for my client to write up the paper. This is some of what I learned from the project: The bottom line is that many users of reference have moved online and expect reference when and where they need it. They also tend to be self-sufficient and have embraced the self-service ideology for most things in their lives. Long gone are the days when librarians could sit back and wait for library users to come to them, especially with the rise of online databases and virtual courses, which are crucial not only to part-time students, but to special-needs students. Reference services also need to accommodate the nomadic NextGens by supplementing traditional face-to-face service with online communications. The changing nature of college students makes it important for reference librarians to be comfortable with new technologies. Students expect services and resources when and where they need them, not when and where the library staff wants to provide them. New models of service are popping up to supplement traditional reference services: outdoor mobile reference kiosks are scattered across university campuses librarians offering reference help in dining and residence halls librarians walking through study areas with laptops, asking if students need help using Web 2.0 technologies, such as MySpace to reach out email reference and conducting reference interviews through chat. Several libraries are incorporating training to help familiarize staff with Web 2.0 concepts. Reference librarians will continue to be flexible and creative in using technology to supplement more traditional methods of service delivery. It is very important for the survival and growth of libraries to go where the users are. However, given the preference for independent information collection, virtual reference is unlikely to be viewed as the solution to most students, particularly since it is still based on the patron interacting with a librarian and doesnt reflect the fact that information-seeking in a digital environment differs greatly from traditional library-based research. Other forms of creative online reference help need to be developed that incorporate the way electronic resources are used. Many of the challenges facing libraries are the same as they have always faced: providing products that their patrons want and succeeding in a competitive environment. Niente è cambiato. The current twist is choosing the right delivery system as publishers and library consortiums try to keep up in a networked world of electronic reference products. It is only through such experimentation that libraries will learn what applications are appropriate for what tasks and what reference environments. The progress of technology has allowed, and will continue to allow, reference services to become more collaborative, to the benefit of both individual services and reference work in general. Researcher and Writer for a K-12 Book on Americas Security Agencies, November 2007 My role in this project was to look through the manuscript and taking important points from each chapter, provide qualitative web links for the topics covered. For each link, I created a fifty word descriptive annotation. I also wrote a bibliography. The research I did is found in the back of the book and can be used by students to do further research and write reports. Fact Checker and Bibliographic Consultant for a Manuscript on Inventors, October - December 2007 This book covers a number of famous and not so famous inventors who changed the world. Elisha Graves Otis invented the elevator brake, which permitted skyscrapers to be built Alfred Nobel was a wealthy industrialist, who invented dynamite Robert Metcalfe is the inventor of Ethernet Louis and Auguste Lumire invented a camera and projector system they named the Cinmatographe, which became the foundation for the film industry Ray Kurzweil invented the Kurzweil Reading Machine, which reads printed materials to visually impaired people Charles Goodyears discovery of vulcanization made rubber strong enough to be used in the manufacture of automobile tires Milton Bradley invented the Checkered Game of Life (later sold as the Game of Life) and launched an entire new range of board games in 1976, Seymour Cray designed and built the CRAY-1, the worlds first supercomputer Douglas Engelbart owns the patent for the computer mouse Art Fry, product development researcher at 3M, is the person responsible for Post-it Notes pioneering automotive engineer, Henry Ford, was an inventor with many patents on automotive components and was famous for creating the assembly line that revolutionized the auto industry and made cars cheap enough for the ordinary person and Thomas Alva Edison was the inventor who held patents for more than one thousand inventions. He is famous as the inventor of the phonograph, the incandescent electric lamp, the first industrial research laboratory, and the motion-picture projector. I did a lot of research to make sure my client had all the facts and dates correct. I also created the bibliography. Fact Checker for a Book on the National Parks of the United States, September - November 2007 National parks are going through a transitional period and are faced with many problems. Encroachment, pollution, animal control issues, the dilemma of dams, and the reality that drug cartels are using national parks to grow marijuana, putting visitors and park wardens in danger when they come upon these illegal operations. Interests of various indigenous groups were also covered in the book, along with problems associated with visitors to parks. My job was to make sure all information was accurate, and in some cases, expand the scope of the subject matter. Acadia National Park, Everglades National Park, Glacier National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Alaskas Denali National Park and Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park were covered in the book. Researcher for a Series of Educational Booklets on the Amendments to the United States Constitution, September - October 2007 The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The members met because the states were very dissatisfied with the Articles of Confederation and there was a need for a stronger centralized government to keep the federation together. After months of debate and many compromises, the draft Constitution was presented to the states for acceptance. The Constitution was eventually ratified, establishing the new Federal government in 1789. It is no surprise that the Constitution would need to change as the country grew and matured. An amendment process was built into the original document to facilitate these changes and make room for additions. The first ten amendments are collectively called the Bill of Rights. To date, there have been twenty-seven amendments to the US Constitution. An overview of the Constitution, a look at the Bill of Rights, along with a number of the Amendments, were included in my work. I then had to provide a number of modern examples that challenge some of the Amendments. Some of the amendments I researched were the establishment of womens suffrage (Nineteenth Amendment), the abolishment of slavery (Thirteenth Amendment), the prohibition of alcohol (Eighteenth Amendment), the repeal of prohibition (Twenty-first Amendment), the right to keep and bear arms (Second Amendment), the granting of citizenship to and protecting the civil liberties of recently freed slaves (Fourteenth Amendment), and the right to have individual freedoms (the Fifth Amendment). The history and the events leading up to each amendment and the politics and personalities behind the changes to the United States Constitution are discussed. I wrote summarizations of the amendments, how and why they came about, and characterizations of the main players. I also included scenarios on how these historical occurrences affect us today. Science Researcher for Industry Canada, July - September 2007 I used the Internet and academic databases to find examples of nano-bio-info convergent applications that are usually embedded in systems. Converging technologies are applications having new and combined features derived from the intersection or combination of different enabling technology platforms. Convergence represents a new way of viewing cross and multi-disciplinary possibilities, and it will provide major recombination opportunities for business and entrepreneurs. It may also present unintended social consequences. A diverse private - public partnership, combining key organizations is required to explore the convergent landscape, the potential opportunities, as well as the unintended negative implications. My clients primary need was to expand, deepen, and add new prospective applications to their present inventory in three areas: 1.) Energy Environment (EE), including energy production and distribution energy end use and device efficiencies environmental stewardship toxicology environmental monitoring sensing and bio-remediation. 2.) Water, Food and Bio - Products (WFB), including synthetic, bioengineered foods industrial bio-products bio-fuels, bioenergy systems optimization food processing and packaging and food and water freshness and preservation. 3.) Health and Life Sciences (HLS), including nano-bio pharma-drug design and delivery bio-computation, nano-imaging for medicine bio-nano materials for health devices bio-nano diagnostic devices and arrays and bio-nano-genetic medicine. The challenge was to identify, analyze, imagine, and speculate how these new technologies, their innovative functionalities, and public partnership-stewardship implications may affect a selected set of sectoral activities that are deemed critical for Canadas future. Here are a couple of the technologies and their applications that I was able to find: 1. Researchers at the ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, University of New South Wales, Australia, are developing new coatings they hope will be used for self-cleaning surfaces in hospitals and the home. Used on outdoor surfaces such as self-cleaning windows, titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles work by absorbing UV light below a certain wavelength, exciting electrons and giving the particles an oxidizing quality stronger than any commercial bleach. These nanoparticles kill microbes and break down organic compounds, and water runs straight off surfaces coated with TiO2, washing as it goes. 2. Motorola Labs and Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) announced a key advancement in the use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in Field Effect Transistors (FETs) to sense biological and chemical agents at low concentrations. Together, the research teams tuned SWNT-FETs to sense specific agents by applying a peptide-functionalized polymer coating that does not affect their ability to transmit electrical signals. This developing sensor technology could be used to monitor a host of environmental and health issues, including air and water quality, industrial chemicals, and biological agents, especially in the area of homeland security. 3. Until now quantum dots have been known primarily for their ability to produce a dozen different distinct colors of light simply by varying the size of the individual nanocrystals, a capability particularly suited to fluorescent labeling in biomedical applications. But chemists at Vanderbilt University discovered a way to make quantum dots spontaneously produce broad-spectrum white light. The report of their discovery, which happened by accident, appears in Quantum Dots that Produce White Light Could Be the Light Bulbs Successor. 4. The EU-funded BioFinger project is another interesting project. Its aim is to develop versatile, inexpensive, and easy-to-use diagnostic tools for health, environmental and other applications. The BioFinger device uses cantilevers on a disposable microchip, making it small and portable, and allowing it to be reconfigured with new on-chip cantilevers to detect different substances. The tip of the cantilever is coated with chemicals allowing it to bend and resonate when it binds specific molecules (such as those on the surface of bacteria). The analysis which can be performed anywhere, anytime, takes between 15 and 20 minutes. 5. Nano-scale sensors are in development that will monitor toxins and bacteria at all stages of food processing. This will help producers spot salmonella in chickens or e-coli in spinach, long before the products reach the shops. Self-monitoring food packaging will mature into technology like the nano-tongue. Wired into your fridge, it will detect and warn you of a whole range of chemicals given off by rotting food, or the presence of bacteria, and then clean them. 6. The food industry is excited about sell-by dates and self-preserving food. Nano-coatings will make the lifespan of manufactured food even longer. Food manufacturers including Unilever and Nestle plan to use nano-encapsulation to improve shelf life and engineer taste sensations in fat-based foods like chocolates, ice creams, and spreads. 7. Development of nanotechnology for rapid detection of food pathogens, specifically, new rapid methods for detecting food pathogens will be developed using high sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensors based on nanostructured substrates. A new generation of nanotechnology companies is focused squarely on the water and food purity market, using nanoparticles that form chemical bonds with contaminants and dont let go. Thiol-SAMMS, a powder, can suck up 60 percent of its own weight in mercury, arsenic, lead, and other metals, and is so absorbent that a single tablespoonful has the same surface area as a football field. Rice University researchers have demonstrated nanorust, microscopic particles of the metal magnetite that bond to arsenic in water and can then be lifted out with an ordinary magnet. 8. Tiny magnets help drugs reach the spot. Inhaled drugs could soon be guided to the lungs by magnetic fields using a new technique developed by researchers in Germany. The team performed computer simulations and experiments on mice to show that drugs mixed with tiny magnetic nanoparticles could be delivered to the lungs up to eight times more efficiently than if inhaled normally. Nanocarriers may not only be used for the administration of drugs to the airways but also to deliver vaccines since the stimulation of a long lasting, protective immunity to respiratory viruses is often difficult to achieve with conventional respiratory vaccines. 9. Nanopatches are expected to make needles a thing of the past. The patch will contain very tiny projections (micro-nanoprojections) that when applied to the skin will deliver vaccine to the target cells below the surface. Its a revolutionary approach that will overcome several of the problems of existing vaccine delivery, including the need for medical personnel to administer needles, the cost and logistics of storing and transporting vaccines, and hygienic needle use and disposal. All things considered, this technology will have a huge impact on the way vaccination programs are administered in third world countries with the potential to reach far greater numbers of people than under conventional needle technology. 10. Tissue engineering and rejuvenation medicine using self-assembling nanostructures to create fully biological or biohybrid tissues and organs in vitro that can be safely implanted in the human body is also on the horizon. 11. Researchers are attempting to develop more accurate and sensitive techniques to monitor cellular changes of cancer cells in both temporal and spatial domains using nanotechnology and are now working to miniaturize MEMS devices to the nanoscale. 12. Magnetic nanoparticles heat up when a time-varying magnetic field is applied. This characteristic is used to burn away cancer cells (Hyperthermia), which can specifically destroy the desired target without deteriorating healthy surrounding tissue. Cancer cells are more sensitive to temperatures in excess of 41 degrees C than their normal counterparts. 13. Near-infrared light, which passes harmlessly through our cells, causes carbon nanotubes to heat up enough to destroy cells. The nanotubes can be placed only in cancer cells by coating them with folate to attach to the numerous folate receptors on cancerous cells. 14. Magnetic nanoparticles for cell isolation where the attraction between an external magnet and the MNPs enables separation of a wide variety of biological entities. Examples are the isolation of cancer cells in blood samples or stem cells in bone marrow to allow for improved diagnosis and the removal of toxins from the human body. Furthermore, MNPs can be biologically activated to allow the uptake of cells via endocytotic pathways, thereby allowing certain cellular compartments to be specifically addressed. Once taken up, the desired cellular compartments can be magnetically isolated and accurately studied using proteomic analysis. 15. Gold nanoshells for tumor detection: when injected into the blood stream, they naturally congregate at tumor sites so that no additional targeting is necessary. In order to feed their growth, tumors create many, many blood vessels very quickly, so the vessels are often defective, allowing the nanoshells to slip through vascular leaks and gain access to the tumor. Detecting and targeting tumors by exploiting their surrounding vascular defects is known as enhanced permeability and retention, or EPR effect. 16. Nanotechnology research tools to allow better understanding of cellular behavior, the difference between normal and abnormal cells, and communications between cells are currently being developed. These tools can measure energy metabolism, internal fluid flow, transportation of components, and the signaling pathways of cells. Lifestyle Researcher and Consultant for an Upcoming Book on Ethical Living (NDA in Place), June - November 2007 My role in this project was to research topics for a book that looks at the issues surrounding consumer life, including the clothes we buy, the food we eat, the products we buy for our homes, and how consumers can make realistic choices that are ethically motivated and environmentally friendly. Researcher for an Education Resource Organization, May - June 2007 I used academic journals, websites, and books to find information on a wide variety of subjects, including great minds of ancient science and math, cultural holidays around the world, how to avoid plagiarism, landmark supreme court cases, and 19th century philosophers. This material was then used to write booklets for the K-12 education system. Researcher and Writer for an Online Legal Information Company, April - May 2007 I was employed to find information on a number of current topics making the news, including various types of food poisoning. I then wrote articles for each and had them published on my clients website. Historical Researcher for Enslow Publishers, March 2007 Thomas L. Jennings, Patricia Era Bath, George Washington Carver, Lonnie G. Johnson, Percy Lavon Julian, Lewis Howard Latimer, Jan E. Matzeliger, Garrett A. Morgan, Madame C. J. Walker, and Granville T. Woods are some of the African-American inventors that appear in this book. My job was to use the Internet to find interesting information about these inventors. I then had to summarize each website and make a record for each to insert into an online database. Before America abolished slavery in 1865, only free African-Americans were allowed to patent an invention. After the enactment of the U. S. Patent Act in 1790, there was some documentation of the works of African-American inventors, but that documentation is sketchy because the Patent Office usually didnt record or ask for the race of the inventor. Even after slavery was abolished, there were other obstacles facing African-American inventors. They didnt have the same access to education, apprenticeships, and training programs as whites. Interacting with other inventors and being nurtured through mentorships was not for them. They also found it difficult to get funding to finance their research and development, and the money to market their inventions after they were patented was unavailable to them. Many gave up the rights to their work to get the financial backing they needed, so they never made any money from sales of their inventions. From 1910-1930, more than two million African-Americans migrated from the rural south to escape racism and prejudice. They arrived in northern cities to a new way of life, leaving the fields for better paying jobs in machine shops and factories where they were able to develop new technical skills and where they were exposed to a new mentality, one which brought out their inventive natures. Thomas L. Jennings was the first African-American to receive a patent. In 1821, he received a patent for a dry cleaning process that he invented. Researcher for a Web 2.0 Start-Up, March - May 2007 My job was to generate a number of reports that incorporated statistics, trends, revenue and business models, market numbers, and historical growth rates. I also researched articles that would help my clients have a deeper understanding of their customers and competitors. Researcher for a UK Non-Profit Charitable Organization, March 2007 I was hired to assist in the research for a report on how information and communication technologies are changing the way voluntary and community organizations (VCOs) conduct their day to day business. Researcher for an Academic Library Consultant, March 2007 I worked with a consultant to develop a Library Disability Services Strategic Plan for a Seattle University Library. The goal was to conduct a formal strategic planning process to gauge the growth in service and to identify recommendations for improvements that would meet the future needs of students and faculty with disabilities to make sure they have access to independent learning. We created a series of surveys and questionnaires as our point of departure. An extensive literature review into best practices formed a large part of my work for this project. I also accessed disability plans for a number of comparable libraries to check on their policies. The demand for service continues to grow as libraries continue to struggle to meet the demands of students with disabilities. Only a few years ago, students with disabilities had little choice when it came to technology that facilitated independent use of digitized information. Things are changing and students have much better access to information technology and have the ability to convert materials into electronic text, which allows them to read more effectively and quickly. The following are some of the recommendations we made to the library committee: provide library spaces that are appropriate and safe make informed staff available to students with disabilities make certain that LDS study spaces are available whenever the library is open require staff to undergo training in special software applications and equipment for the disabled monitor developments in IT for new technology that will level the academic playing field for students and faculty with disabilities provide access to the extensive library collections and supply well-equipped library workstations. Researcher and Writer for a London-based Author, February - March 2007 I was hired to research topical subjects of interest for HR professionals, including current trends, employment legislation, recruitment, HR networking, talent management, the implications of social media, and outsourcing. I also provided my client with a series of mini reports that I wrote for each topic. Researcher, February 2007 My client wanted me to find articles and reports that address the issue of attrition of bank checking accounts. Retail banks are currently having difficulties retaining checking account customers because of intense competition between banks for such customers. I was hired to get some hard data on the phenomenon. Factiva was invaluable for the project. Business Researcher, January 2007 I was hired to find information on best practices for fulfillmentretention of financial services sold via direct marketing. The Direct Marketing Association was a very helpful resource for this project. Business Researcher, January 2007 I used a series of questionnaires, surveys, and interviews to help my clients company become more successful and profitable. I also used government and public data, along with other financial statistics, to create a development strategy to move the business forward. Researcher and Annotator, January 2007 My job was to read 200 articles in the area of human and organizational systems thinking and write an annotation for each. This work was done for a doctoral student. I also rewrote his comprehensive assessment paper. Knowledge Manager and Researcher for an International Insurance Group, January 2007 On a monthly basis, I identify information that relates to a particular sector of the insurance industry. It is used as a foundational element in a strategic knowledge sharing system for a global operation. The research is shared with business units throughout the world. These are some of the subjects I regularly research for this corporation: Long Term Care Insurance, Marketing Insurance, Term Life Insurance, Life Insurance Distribution, Critical-illness Insurance, Policyholder Marketing, Insurance Overviews, Digital Marketing, Baby Boomer Market, Customer Retention and Loyalty in Bancassurance, Insurance Market Development, Green Bancassurance, Orphan Management, Distribution Models of Insurance and Financial Industries, Trends in the Insurance Industry (US, Canada, Europe, Asia), High-Net-Worth Market, Multi-Channel Distribution, Insurance Products, Banks Selling Insurance, Annuitization, Cross Selling Insurance, Country Profiles and Research on New Countries, New Insurance Markets, Best Practices for Fulfillment or Retention for Financial Services Sold Via Direct Marketing, Direct Marketing, Competition: ACE, AEGON, Aetna, AIA, AIG, AON, AXA, Cigna, Middle-Market Insurance, Longevity Insurance, Whole Life Insurance, Insurance Regulations, Securitization, Simplified Issue Insurance Products, Universal Life, Insurance Research Studies, Orphan Policyholders, Insurance Conferences and Seminars, Best Practices in Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Ecommerce, Statement Based Marketing, Direct TV, Outsourcing Claims, Emerging Markets Insurance and Banks, Reinsurance Market, Reinsurance Companies, Insurance CompaniesBrokers, Bank Market, Marketing, Ecommerce, Customer Retention, Compliance for Communication, Data Protection and Data Transfer Regulations in the European Union and Asiapacific, Creative for Direct Marketing, Professional Broking, Information Security, Voice Message Broadcasting, Mobile Banking and Payments, Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI), Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), Professional Liability, Solvency II, Deregulation, InsuranceBancassurance Lead Generation, Microfinance and Microinsurance, Bancassurance, Selling Insurance Online, Country Profiles and Research on Existing Countries, Industry Profiles, ULIPs, Attitudinal Data, Bluetooth Marketing, Insurance Direct Marketing, Scor, Trends in the Bank and Bancassurance Market (Americas, EMEA, Asia Pacific), Accident Protector, Accidental Death Insurance, Disability Insurance, Senior Accidental Death, Income Protector, Credit (Card) Insurance, Serious IllnessCancer, Call Monitoring and Speech Analytics, Corporate Marketing and Branding, Direct to Consumer Marketing (New PlayersTrends in the Direct Marketing Business), Takaful (Islamic) Insurance, Charity and Insurance, Direct Marketing Technology, Insurance-Linked Securities Market, Mobile Banking and Microinsurance, Mobile Insurance Payments, and Behavioural Targeting. Business Development and Researcher for an Internet Start-Up, December 2006 I was hired on an ongoing basis to identify and match innovative business opportunities with my clients company vision. Competitive analysis, targeting potential new customer bases, and assessing target markets is included in my work. Ultimately, my role is to suggest possible new products and services, and brainstorm entirely new business markets and models. Other duties see me analyzing the needs of key customers, monitoring progress, offering solutions, negotiating fees, and contracting new business for them. Researcher and Editor for a PhD Student, December 2006 My client had the task of writing a lengthy essay on an ethical dilemma in contemporary social work. Ethical dilemmas present the decision-maker with competing perspectives which are of proportional or similar worth. In order to focus the situation, you must state the dilemma in ethical terms. I was asked to find the appropriate information and supportive articles, and helped with structuring the essay and editing it. Photographic Researcher, December 2006 I was asked to find photographs and the names of those sitting on a number of Australian banking boards. Sports Researcher for MyReportLinks, November 2006 I was given the manuscripts for a number of Grade 7 books on popular sports teams. Sensational sports teams such as those featured in this series, are teams that have success on the field and are able to capture the imaginations of fans off the field. Each book tells the history of a team and highlights its top players, managers, and personalities that have made the team great. I read the manuscripts and then found thirty qualitative websites for each one. Besides the usual book format, the publisher also provides links in each of its books that relate to the topics covered. Choosing websites for school children is not as easy as some may think. There is a lot to keep in mind. The accuracy and currency of the content and the credibility of the sites creators are the most important factors when assessing whether a site should be recommended for students. Information that is correct and up to date, with appropriate authors credentials content that is serious and scholarly information that is politically, religiously, or otherwise unbiased sites that appear well maintained and updated and those with correct spelling and grammar are good places to begin. Websites should meet the same stringent standards required of print products. A few other things to watch for are: is there advertising How is the overall design and presentation of the site Are there graphics or other features that take a long time to download Do you need to have specialized software to access sections of the site Do all the links work Once I had found the links, I wrote an annotation for each one that summarized the contents. An online database was then used to insert all bibliographic and value-added information for each site and uploaded to the companys server. The Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Pittsburgh Steelers were some of the titles I did this work for. School children will use the research to learn more about their favorite athletes and what it takes to become a professional competitor. Designer and Project Manager for a Business Website, November 2006 I worked with an experienced web programmer and designer to recreate an already existing ecommerce site, focusing on the newest digital marketing techniques to complement the clients business plan and target audience. The design incorporates intuitive user interfaces with logical and easy-to-use navigation elements that are accessible and usable to a wide variety of operating systems and technologies. Endangered Species Researcher and Writer for MyReportLinks, October - December 2006 Jaguars, whooping cranes, cheetahs, otters, rhinoceroses, grizzly bears, Florida panthers, giant pandas, mountain gorillas, wallabies, orangutans, and bighorn sheep were some of the animals I researched for this job. Predators, competition for food, hunting, fire, loss of natural habitat, poaching, limited geographic range, pollution, use of animal parts in traditional Asian medicines, illegal trade, and the introduction of non-native animal species were some of the sub-topics I focused on. I then wrote profiles for each and provided other annotations. The information will be used as part of an online educational tool for students and will also appear in a series of books for the K-12 market. Researcher for a PhD Student, October 2006 This project involved me finding the newest and most cutting-edge information on running injuries, injuries in recreational adult fitness activities, and the etiology and prevention of sports injuries. Researcher for an Academic Librarian, September 2006 An academic library was considering opening a reference desk inside Second Life. One of the librarians on the committee asked me to do some research on the avatar-driven virtual world, in preparation for a meeting. I chose a hands-on approach to this research project by joining Second Life to learn about it instead of reading articles. Second Life is free to join and many of its activities are free. Others cost money and must be paid in Linden dollars, the official currency of the virtual world. If you want to own land, you have to pay a monthly fee. Businesses, corporations, banks, car manufacturers, clothing designers, tax professionals, politicians, embassies, hotel chains, real estate companies, non-profits, and entrepreneurs are using Second Life as a way to reach out to customers. The educational uses of this virtual world is also growing. For example, Stanford Universitys Humanities Lab has set up a museum dedicated to award-winning American artist and filmmaker, Lynn Hershman Leeson. Universities, such as Harvard, Pepperdine, Elon, Ohio, Ball State, New York, Stanford, Delft University of Technology, and AFEKA Tel-Aviv Academic College of Engineering have opened cutting-edge virtual classrooms on Second Life. Many libraries have also established ask a librarian reference desks. Researcher for an European Consultancy, September 2006 I was hired to help my clients develop a more coherent ecommerce strategy. Specifically, I had to look for information on life and health insurance sales over the Internet (global scope) electronic policy deliveryfulfillment email marketing of financial services and the use of the Internet to support direct mail marketing or telemarketing campaigns. Once I had collected the information, I read everything and wrote a report. Researcher for an International Insurance Group, August - December 2006 Working with a web programmer, I helped design and create an application to store, categorize, and annotate digital information. I then did my research using academic journals, trade publications, magazines, newspapers, country reports, industry profiles, market research reports, and product reviews. This great tool allowed me to store the articles and information I found for my client, create bibliographic profiles for each article, categorize by subject and country, write abstracts, add keywords, and make comments and notes. Business Plan Writer, Researcher, and Editor for a Pharmaceutical Start-Up (NDA in Place), August - September 2006 This not-for-profit organization needed my assistance with researching and writing a business plan, one based on ideas from the field of social entrepreneurship. My clients are working on the release of an important, innovative, and controversial psychoactive substance that can be used to treat addiction to opiates, methamphetamines, and other drugs. The medication displays anti-addictive properties, interrupting the symptoms of drug withdrawal syndrome and reduces drug cravings, which allows an addict to detoxify with minimal symptoms. I also worked on the problem statement. I added new information to try to explain in more detail what my client had in mind. I added hyperlinks and posted the business plan and other background information online for supporters and potential investors who might want to read more. To date, drug development has been largely confined to the RampD-based pharmaceutical industry, which has grown into one of the most prosperous industrial sectors by focusing on the most lucrative medical markets. This reliance on market-based incentives and commercial actors to generate new medicines has transformed drugs into regular consumer goods. The limitation of this system is that market forces skew drug development investments toward diseases and patients that guarantee the highest financial returns. Given that North America, Europe, and Japan account for 80 of the worlds pharmaceutical market, the health needs of the majority of the worlds population are being sidelined by the proprietary pharmaceutical industry. While publicly financed research institutions are involved in the early phases of research and drug discovery, the expertise, infrastructure, and management capacity for taking these findings through the drug development pipeline are almost entirely concentrated in the private commercial sector. While multi-million dollar investments fund research aimed at developing highly profitable drugs for prosperous markets, drug RampD for neglected diseases is stifled. That is why when Doctors Without Borders won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize, it committed the prize money to the development of an alternative model for the research and development of new drugs for neglected diseases. As a result, seven organizations joined forces to establish the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi): the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation from Brazil, the Indian Council for Medical Research. the Kenya Medical Research Institute. the Ministry of Health of Malaysia Frances Pasteur Institute. Mdecins sans Frontires. and the UNDPWorld BankWHOs Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. which acts as a permanent observer to the initiative. Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) is a collaborative, patients needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organization that is developing new treatments for malaria, visceral leishmaniasis (VL), sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis), and Chagas disease. Government Documents Researcher and Writer for an Association of Curriculum Development, August 2006 Many school teachers have few opportunities to improve on their course preparation techniques and feel unqualified to teach particular subjects. For example, surveys show that elementary school teachers feel they are more unprepared to teach math and science than any other subjects. Helping K-12 educators enrich their understanding of the subjects they teach and mastering new teaching strategies results in more effective inspired teachers and greater progress for students. Teaching children about the United States federal government and how it is structured can also be challenging for educators. I was hired to do basic research on the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch, which interprets Americas laws. I was then expected to package the information in such a way as to provide a step by step guide on how to more easily and interactively teach middle school students about the three branches of government. Quizzes, games, and group activities were developed. Digital Photographic Consultant and Image Stylist for Online Store, July 2006 I received a large number of digital photos to be used for a gourmet food website. My job was to choose a selection that would best reflect the company brand and facilitate the building of an online retail environment that maximized customer experience and retention. Historical Researcher and Writer for an Education Resource Organization, June - July 2006 I researched and developed a series of virtual education field trips and finding aids that focused on American historical events and sites. Gettysburg, the National Mall in Washington, DC, Martin Luther King, Jrs National Historic Site, and the John F. Kennedy National Historic Site were included in the project. Business Researcher for a Technology Start-Up, June 2006 Habbo Hotel, Second Life, Club Penguin, Nicktropolis, Neopets, Webkinz World, Whyville, and Disney Extreme Digital were the virtual worlds I was asked to research, focusing on when they were founded, how many users they have, their demographics, revenue models, terms and conditions, and their privacy policies. I was asked to find the same information for social networking sites Bebo, del. icio. us, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Imbee, Piczo, and YouTube. Additionally, my clients were interesting in knowing which Second Life asset providers and creators were considered the top players in the field. Team-VIP, Player Auctions, Markee Dragon, Gaming Treasures, EyeOnMOGS, The Electric Sheep Company, Aimee Weber Studio, Accident Designs, and Anshe Chung Studios are some of them. Here is a little of what I found out about some of the social networking sites. 1.) The Bebo site was founded in January 2005 and given a major relaunch in July of that year. It reports 30 million registered members, viewing over five billion monthly page views. Bebo is developing its business model around what it calls engagement marketing where ads are spread virally around content. It has also announced plans for a platform that will allow users to choose the ads they receive. No revenue numbers are available. Product placement will be a crucial revenue stream. It was announced that Orange has paid Bebo to provide its customers with an exclusive mobile version of its popular social network, at least for a while. The move follows a similar tie-up between Vodafone and MySpace, which was announced in February. Bebo also announced that it is introducing a music download service that will allow bands to sell music. The indie store service will be available to Bebo users in the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. San Francisco-based social network Bebo recently raised 15 million from Benchmark Capital, and rejected a 300 million (552 million) acquisition offer from British Telecom Group in 2006. 2.) Facebook launched in February of 2004. It has 20 million active users. It is free to use, but ad-driven. Revenue is estimated to be 50,000,000 per year and is expected to generate revenue of more than 100 million this year. Facebook got its first major influx of money last summer when Microsoft guaranteed to pay approximately 200 million in ad revenue through 2008. Co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg has recently said that the ad contract had been extended through 2011. Facebook continues to look for new markets and is going beyond college and high school markets, now allowing new users from corporate networks to join the social network. Inside Facebook lists ten companies that are currently Facebook-enabled: Accenture, Amazon, Apple, EA, Gap, Intel, Intuit, Microsoft, Pepsi, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Zuckerberg, now 22, reportedly turned down a 750-800 million offer from Viacom, holding out for 2 billion, according to news accounts. More recently, it was reported that he received an offer of close to 1 billion from Yahoo. which he also turned down. Some analysts expect Zuckerberg will file for an IPO in the next two years, when Facebook is expected to be much more valuable. He will have time to build up its ad sales and create demand for its stock before going public. 3.) Flickr was launched in 2004. There is a free version and also a paid subscription that costs 24.95 US per year. In March 2005, Yahoo acquired Flickr. I termini finanziari non sono stati divulgati. Sources believe that the acquisition price was anywhere from 17 to 35 million (cash and stock deal), although most people in the know put it at 30 million. Flickr reportedly has 7.2 million registered users and 23 million monthly unique visitors. This is only an estimate since Yahoo does not divulge revenue numbers. Co-founder and general manager, Stewart Butterfield, talks about Flickrs growth in size and quality, and its status as a Yahoo company: We dont break down revenues by property but I can definitely say were happy with it. The core of the business is the premium subscription service, and we do much better in that than we expected in the early days. Were gradually starting to experiment more with branded advertising and theres contextual advertising in the search. Over time, advertising will become a bigger component of the revenue picture. So people are definitely happy at Yahoo. Theres never been any worries about Flickrs revenue and the long-term potential is excellent. 4.) The MySpace service was founded in July 2003. It has 100,000,000 users and an average of 31.5 billion unique page views per month. It is free to use, but ad-driven. MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch in July 2005 for US580 million. Various analysts have called it the deal of the century because it is reportedly worth anywhere from 6-8 billion in the current market. In March 2007, Pali Research analyst, Richard Greenfield, wrote that MySpace is now generating in excess of 30 million a month in revenue, with about 24 million in domestic revenue and 6 million internationally. Google recently agreed to pay MySpace at least 900 million over three years to sell text and banner advertisements on its site. MySpace is gaining a strong footing in the mobile world. A recent deal with Cingular has resulted in the sign-up of 200,000 MySpace mobile users. Really cashing in will mean reinventing the ad business for the social networking world. One way of getting rates up is to create customized ads. 5.) YouTube was founded in February 2005 by three former employees of PayPal. It is ad-driven and free to use. Before being bought by Google, YouTube reported that its business model was advertising-based. Some industry commentators have speculated that YouTubes running costs - specifically the bandwidth required - may be as high as US1 million per month, fueling criticisms that the company never had a viable business model. The site was losing lots of money, had huge expenses, not much revenue, and no profits, but Google was interested anyway and acquired it for 1.65 billion in Google stock. Traffic was climbing and still is. Since the deal, YouTubes audience has grown forty percent and has more visitors than any other video website, many that you cant easily find watching TV. According to comScore Media Metrics, YouTubes 136 million monthly visitors made up about 18 percent of the worlds Internet audience in January. YouTube already has partnerships with NBC, CBS, Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music. What it doesnt have a lot of is the kind of content that advertisers are interested in being associated with. In addition to selling banner and search ads, YouTube is doing custom campaigns for major brands that cost about 750,000 a pop. YouTube is serving 100 million videos per day. Fact Checker for an Upcoming Book, June 2006 Fact checking involves verifying facts and checking quotes, dates, names, page numbers, addresses, spelling, titles, statistics, geographical locations, and citations for accuracy, relevancy, and legitimacy of content using reliable sources. I was hired to fact check a non-fiction book and do the work within a very tight schedule. Bibliographic Consultant, May - June 2006 I was hired by a major publishing house to assist copy editors and the project manager with the footnotes and bibliography for a non-fiction book. What sometimes happens when copy editors make their final tour through a book is that the bibliographic citations get moved around and become attached to the wrong text. My job was to iron out the difficulties, check for the accuracy of each note, and to make sure that the proper format was used. I also compiled the bibliography for the book. Business Development Researcher (NDA in Place), May 2006 I was asked to research and identify appropriate Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors for a business that is currently looking for capital. Researcher, May 2006 I was asked to find out the ownership structure of Scientific American Inc. They are publishers of the magazine Scientific American . I was also asked to obtain information on the senior management at Scientific American andor their Board of Directors. Scientific American is a private publication. Scientific American Inc. is a private division of parent company, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, in Germany, which is also privately owned. This was a challenging assignment and I used some specialized databases to find the information. Historical Researcher and Writer for MyReportLinks, April - May 2006 My duties included reading a number of manuscripts on famous inventors. Henry Ford, Julius Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Alva Edison, Philo T. Farnsworth, Louis Pasteur, Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, and Johannes Gutenberg were included in the project. I used the Internet to find quality information about the inventors and wrote a summary for each of the 240 websites. I then created a database record for each site and inserted them into an online database. The information will be made available to school children who buy the book and used to write reports. Researcher, April 2006 I was asked to find out the top ten blogs and what business models they are using to make money. Using Technorati as my primary source, I found that the top three blogs were engadget, boingboing, and TechCrunch. A large assortment of ads, sponsorship ads, RSS ads, membership in a larger network, and selling branded merchandise, formed the basis of the blogs business models. Additional income streams used by other top blogs include: asking for donations, selling books based on blog content, affiliate programs, user subscriptions, paid job postings, and speaking and consulting fees. Business Researcher, April 2006 My job on this assignment was to find consultants and experts to become a part of the primary management team for a new company. I found software engineers, programmers, security experts, and communication technologists to join the team. Researcher for a Commercial and Residential Insurance Company, March 2006 Operating in thirty-five states, this insurance company needed my help to identify information relating to a potential new class of business for them. Specifically, they were interested in finding out which insurance companies and brokers provide insurance to familysemi-commercial gentlemen horse farms in the United States, including those which offer stabling services and riding lessons. There is no central list or database that would have this information available. Many insurance companies that write property and casualty insurance have a program that is generally called a farmowners policy. A farmowners policy is similar to a traditional homeowners policy with the addition of coverage for farm type exposures. It is possible horse farms could be written under such a program. Many of the larger insurers have farmowners programs, such as Nationwide, Erie, Allstate and State Farm. In regards to brokers, there is no list of available markets for horse farms from the standpoint of surplus lines. Surplus lines policies are often available for specific types of risks that mainstream insurance companies will not write. Brokers are required to file affidavits listing the policies they write through surplus lines insurance companies, but they are not required to identify their markets. Most of the carriers are not willing to write policies for such farms. Some of the carriers that did provide coverage for farms were willing to pick up a limited amount of equine coverage but were not willing to, if there was any kind of business involved. Besides doing exhaustive Internet searches with various keywords and phrases, I also sent out hundreds of emails to various associations to see what I could find out. A lot of people wrote me back and tried their best to be helpful. Many said that no one keeps track of which companies provide insurance for the kind of establishments my client was interested in. I wrote a variety of insurance libraries around the country, and all directed me to the Insurance Marketplace, International Directory of Excess, Surplus, Speciality Lines and Industry Services . 2006 Edition. A number of horse associations also told me that this publication is the best one to use for this type of information. I wrote every state horse council, chapter, and association I could find to ask what companies their members use. Some of the organizations seemed to have made arrangements with particular insurance companies so that their members were able to get better deals. I emailed every national horse association and council I could find, such as the American Horse Council. the American Quarter Horse Association. and the United States Equestrian Federation to ask for suggestions. A few associations, such as the United States Equestrian Federation, told me that the association offers members insurance through specific companies. In their case, it is through Equisure. I also wrote every state department and commissioner of the Insurance Information Institute to request the information. Many said that type of information was not collected. Others suggested specific companies to contact. I wrote every state association of the Independent Insurance Agents Brokers of America, Inc.. I contacted every state representative connected to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents to ask for their insight. I was told that kind of insurance is handled by excess and surplus lines companies. Through some of my reading, I noticed that there seems to be an upward trend in country estate hobby farms, so one would assume that the market for that type of insurance would be growing as well. Researcher for the Discovery Channel, March 2006 I was hired to do some initial research for an upcoming documentary on Tuvalu, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. The research centered on global warming, climatic changes, and flooding. Project Manager for a Start-Up, February - December 2006 My main job for this client was to keep the team on track, making sure that projects were completed on time, setting up meetings, helping with status reports, answering emails, and resolving issues in a timely manner. Researcher and Editor, February 2006 The subject of my research work was Memetics and its connection with terrorism and warfare. My client was interested in writing a series of articles on the topic for a possible book. I then helped with the editing. Business Researcher, February 2006 I was asked to find a variety of information on a large number of popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), including the number of users they have, the price of the games, their revenue models, terms and conditions of use, and privacy policies. Some of the games I researched were World of Warcraft, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage, Lineage 2, RF Online, Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars Galaxies, Dungeons and Dragons, Eve Online, EverQuest II, Guild Wars, Maple Story, The Matrix Online, Mu Online, Rappelz Online, Dark Age of Camelot, RuneScape, Scions of Fate, Dofus, ArchLord, Hero Online, EverQuest, Ragnarok Online, Ultima Online, Toontown, and Asherons Call. My client also requested the demographics for MMORPGs. The research shows that typical users of traditional MMORPGs are between the ages of 18 and 35. Numbers coming out of the Daedalus Project estimate that only 25 of MMORPG players are teenagers, and paints a picture of a very diverse demographic that is made up of retired people, college students, middle and high-school students, young professionals, and a large number of middle-aged married people. More than 73 of the players have some college education. Analysts have projected that the total worldwide game industry revenue will increase to 54.6 billion by 2009. Another part of my research was determining how many Power-Leveling companies there are and how the prices they charge vary by company, game, and service. IGE is one of the leading companies in the field, as are the MMORPG Exchange, Mogs, and PGMx. Science Technology Foresight Researcher for the Office of the National Science Advisor, January - March 2006 ONSA identified the requirement for, and the importance of developing a SampT foresight strategy in order to better focus and improve Canadas future strategic preparedness for new and emerging technologies that will impact Canadas future economic performance and its security of critical infrastructure. To this effect, I was hired to locate and assess reports on PACT applications, web references, and sources for experts. I assisted ONSA in finding, documenting, and summarizing relevant research and applications reports on convergent technologies and compiled them into an accessible, organized format. I reviewed the current PACT documentation to ensure that new and additional information was the focus of the searches, and developed a framework for comparing and ordering the prospective applications to ensure that the information could be assigned or allocated according to broad sectors. My final report summarized the research so that it could be used in PACT events throughout the year. I created a template for foresight web searching and a thirty page guide on references, along with a methodological summary of which search references worked best and why. I also compiled a source list of all the reports that can be activated or linked to and inserted them into the PACT knowledge base. Government Documents Researcher and Writer for an Association of Curriculum Development, December 2005 - January 2006 Teaching specific subjects in the K-12 school system can be difficult and complicated, particularly to certain students. Differentiated instruction is used to overcome some of the problems by using a number of different instruction methods to facilitate learning. Continually questioning what works in the classroom and confronting the challenge of creating and using alternative approaches to learning is central to progressive education. For this job, I was expected to develop research modules on three independent government agencies: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Peace Corps. Health Researcher for a International Nutrition Company, December 2005 My job was to supply research on a wide variety of ingredients found in a selection of vitamin and health supplement products. Researcher, Writer, and Editor for Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy. September 2005 - July 2006 This really great job actually began in August 2004, when I helped the author with his pending proposal for the book. A year later we began putting the book together. I did extensive original research, summarizing it into briefs for the author. I used a wide range of resources, finding appropriate information in magazines, newspapers, books, government documents, websites, and databases. I edited and critiqued the work in progress, and fact-checked the materials. I also compiled the endnotes (including formatting them into the Chicago Style), references, sources, and created the bibliography. I later worked with copy editors to put the finishing touches on the book, checking the copy for readability, style, and agreement with editorial policy. I also helped with verifying facts, dates, and statistics. One of the most important parts of my job was to act as a sounding board, to tell my client the truth, offer support (because the process is a difficult one), and keep the project on track. The authors intention in writing Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy was to explain the connection between technology and privacy and speculate a little on where things might be headed. The premise of the book is that our privacy has become lost because of technology. Technology has changed our culture, how we communicate and how we dont. It has affected our ability to control our personal information, who sees it, what they see, what they do with it. Our privacy is already lost, whether we know it or not. Whether we can find it again is still unclear. Throughout the book youll find numerous stories and examples, culled from newspapers, magazines and of course, the Internet. Sure, privacy violations happen to celebrities, but more often it affects normal people, the ones who mistakenly think that the government or the law is protecting them. This book is about this connection between technology and privacy. Its not just written for privacy advocates or for technologists. Rather, its meant to be read by anyone who is disturbed about the growing amount of data available on them, about whos doing the collecting and what the collectors are going to do with all of our personal information. The subject of privacy is applicable to anyone concerned about the growing number of exceedingly well-publicized privacy violations and wondering about how many more incidents havent become public. Its hard not to notice the unending stream of news stories describing one egregious privacy violation after another: companies losing the financial information of millions of users a Veterans Affairs employees laptop stolen along with the personal information of nearly every American who has ever served in the military and a Boston newspaper that wrapped papers in printouts of their customers credit card numbers. They are all documented and discussed in this book. The stories alone are a testament to the effect of technology on our privacy. Researcher for a United States Law Firm, September - December 2005 My client is a class action attorney in need of some assistance finding information on a particular engine. Specifically, he was suing an automobile manufacturer. The allegedly defective design of a specific engine component was at issue. While the firm also hired expert engineers to consult with, as a preliminary effort, I was hired to find all available literature regarding this engine design and to tap into a vast literature of automobile design engineering literature. I searched for and evaluated relevant resources, schematic representations, and articles, then forwarded copies for review in an organized format. I also searched the Internet to find consumers talking about their problems with the engine and collected their contact information for a class action lawsuit. Researcher for a Busy Academic, September - November 2005 I was hired to act as a research assistant, finding timely articles on social work related issues. Contemporary psychotherapy, traumatized impact of child sexual abuse, perspectives on youth care programs, attachment theory, and the boundaries between physiotherapy and psychotherapy were just a few of the subjects I researched. Agoraphobia, chronic pain in primary health care, biopsychosocial rehabilitation programs, and multidisciplinary approaches to the treatment of chronic pain were also scanned and profiled. Researcher and Writer for a Technology Start-Up (NDA in Place), August - September 2005 My work was assisting the company directors in preparing a PowerPoint business proposal deck by supplying the market research and preparing the templates and text. Business Plan Researcher and Editor for Start-Up, August 2005 I assisted in establishing contact with potential backers, allies, stakeholders, advisors, and partners, along with helping research appropriate materials for the plan, writing and editing the documents, and finding missing references. Without backers, advisors, or a team, most investors dont have enough information with which to judge the prospects of a company. I helped to assemble a serious upper level team. I also helped with development and strategy, and to create a coherent capital formation strategy for successful seed-stage financing. Historical Researcher and Writer for an International Association for Learning, July - August 2005 I researched and developed American history information resources for topics that focused on political and cultural upheaval, revolution, and the American Indian Wars. The California Bear Flag Revolt, the Texas Fight for Independence, the Alamo, the Cherokee Trail of Tears, the Kansas Border War, and Custers defeat at Little Bighorn were the main events that I covered in this project. The materials will be used as an accompaniment to online courses. Research Assistant for an Educational Writer, June 2005 Nutrition, weight management, and the causes of increased levels of obesity among children in the United States were a few of the research areas covered. Obesity and the need for weight management, risks of being overweight or obese, nutrition and your body weight, the food pyramid and portion sizes, metabolism, a road map to a healthy weight, diets, medications, surgery for weight loss, the digestive system, eating disorders in young people, and weight management for young people, were some of the specific research topics. I did the research, found the academic articles, photocopied them, and sent them to the author. Philosophy Researcher for a PhD Candidate, June 2005 My research focused on investigating the rhetorical devices that Bentham used in his writings, and why those devices made his writing more or less persuasive. Historical Researcher and Writer for an International Association for Learning, April - June 2005 My work included researching, profiling, and writing about significant 19th century American historical events and people, including the California Gold Rush, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Pony Express, the building of the Erie Canal, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and the Oregon Trail. The information was developed to use in the creation of alternative learning resources. Researcher for World Congress. April - May 2005 I was hired to assist with the development of an information web portal specifically targeting Chief Medical Officers. The site is called CMO Exchange, a members-only, web-based portal meeting the unique information and resource needs of Chief Medical Officers and executives with comparable titles. CMO Exchange has been conceived and developed as a targeted information portal directed specifically and customized individually for the sole use of Chief Medical Officers and Medical Directors. CMO Exchange is developed by World Congress, the producer of events that convene senior-level executives from all segments of the health care industry. World Congress events include The World Health Care Congress, The World Health Care Innovations in Technology Congress and the World Congress Leadership Summit series. My focus was to work with the project manager on the Custom Research area that allows members to request quality information on any topic they need, on a project-by-project basis, including business development, change management, best practices, and medical management resources and reports. I also developed an online request form for CMOs looking for in depth research. The online form requested the following information: definition of research needs in as much detail as possible, time frame to be searched, description of limits or restrictions, reason for needing this information (i. e. journal article, conference presentation, research backgrounder for a book, etc.), preferred format of results (formalized report, list of article citations, website addresses, etc.), specific goals of the research project, provision of keywords and significant terms, depth of research required, and an overview of research already completed to avoid duplication. I also worked on a research project for them that examined best practices in the use of medical directors in case management: best practices of how managed care organizations and medical management companies use medical directors to enhance clinical and cost savings outcomes in case management. Traditionally, case managers have only come to medical directors when they had a medical management coverage decision to make - a pretty typical utilization management function. Case managers have otherwise functioned largely independently, helping to coordinate care during and in the recovery from an acute event. My client was interested in using his case management team to drive more effective outcomes on a long term basis, engaging the case managers and medical directors in more discussion around the appropriateness of the care the member is receiving, not just the efficiency of its delivery. He was also interested in the roles other companies have medical directors play, the structure of the interaction of medical directors and nurses, and any best practices. Environmental Researcher and Writer for Enslow Publishers, February - May 2005 I was hired to investigate the key issues associated with the global endangerment of animals, including their predators, the competition for food, hunting, fire, the loss of natural habitat, poaching, limited geographic range, pollution, entanglement in fishers nets, illegal trade, and the introduction of non-native animal species. The Sperm Whale, the Right Whale, the Green Sea Turtle, the Galpagos Penguin, and the Humpback Whale were some of the ocean creatures that I researched for this project. The deliverables were used in a series of educational books for middle school children. Researcher for an Upcoming Work of Fiction, February - April 2005 My client is writing a family saga that sweeps across time, generations, continents, and cultures. My role was to assist in the research by making sure that historical references, geographical descriptions, cultural content, and other day-to-day nuances were accurate for the time and place. Business Researcher, January 2005 I was asked to find information on a number of U. S. companies, including uncovering their ownership structure, internal infrastructure, bylaws, and articles of incorporation. I consulted Infogroups OneSource aggregator of business information and Hoovers proprietary business information services to do the research. Since some of the companies are private, OneSource provides only the bare bones of financial and analyst information for them. Private companies are not obligated to provide the detailed and regulated reporting that applies to public companies under SEC, OSC, etc. Also, if a company was incorporated in Delaware, you can expect very little information because Delaware does not provide much detail from its state corporation records. Historical Researcher and Writer for an Academic Publisher, January 2005 I created online finding aids and cyber documents for the following: the seven wonders of the ancient world seven wonders of the modern world seven wonders of the natural world and the seven natural wonders of North America. The seven wonders of the ancient world are the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse (Pharos) of Alexandria. Five of the seven wonders were constructed or sculpted by the best Greek artists and architects of the time. Despite the differences in design, all provide proof of the advanced capabilities of ancient technologies. 1.) The only one of the ancient wonders that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is the oldest of the ancient wonders and remains substantially intact. Constructed over a twenty year period concluding around 2550 BC, it is believed that the pyramid was built as a tomb for Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu. Standing at almost five hundred feet, the Great Pyramid was said to be the tallest manmade structure in the world for almost 4000 years. 2.) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were designed around 600 BC as a present by King Nebuchadnezzar II to his wife, Amytis of Media, because she missed her mountainous and foliage-lush homeland. In his Geographies . Strabo reports that the gardens were quadrangular in shape and were a series of arches and terraces. The water was brought in by means of a chain pump from the nearby Euphrates River and would flow down the terraces spreading water to all the gardens. 3.) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was a massive monument located near Ephesus, an ancient city that was located in what is now Turkey. It was built to honor the goddess of hunting, nature, and fertility. The temple was made of marble and had many bronze statues. Pliny said it took more than 120 years to build and was one of the largest temples ever built in ancient times. It was rebuilt several times over the centuries before its final destruction. The temple was burnt to the ground on July 21, 356 BC by Herostratus, a native Ephesian. The reconstructed temple was destroyed during a raid by the Goths in 262 AD. In 401, the temple was attacked by a Christian mob and its stones were carried off and used to build other structures. 4.) The Greek city of Olympia was home to the Statue of Zeus, an ivory and gold statue of the god. It was built by Phidias, the famous Athenian sculptor, who was commissioned by the priesthood to design a chryselephantine statue of Zeus. It took twelve years to finish the almost forty foot high sculpture. The statue sat in the inner chamber of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia for approximately 800 years. There is a debate over what ultimately happened to the sculpture. Some scholars say that it was stolen, taken to Constantinople, and destroyed in 475 AD by fire. Others argue that it was destroyed in the 5th century AD along with the temple. 5.) The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was a 135-foot high marble tomb conceived by Queen Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, who was the ruler of Caria. Some of the best artists and craftsmen of the time period helped build and decorate Mausolus beautiful tomb. In Natural History . Pliny the Elder, reported that along the south and north sides it extends for a length of 63 feet, but it is shorter on the front side, the total length of the circuit being 440 feet the tomb is 25 cubits high and is surrounded by 36 columns. Skopas did the carving on the east side, Bryaxis on the north, Timotheos on the south, and Leochares on the west, but before they had completed the work the Queen died. They did not stop working, however, until it was complete. For above the pteron (peristyle) there is a pyramid which is equal in height to the lower part and tapers toward the top in pyramidal fashion with 24 steps at the top there is a marble quadriga which Pytheus made. With this added, the total height of the building comes to 140 feet. The Mausoleum remained in good condition for sixteen centuries before an earthquake damaged the roof and the colonnade. In 1494, the Knights of St. John of Malta dismantled the tomb and used the stones to build a castle, which still stands today in Bodrum. Only the foundation remains at the original site, but several of the sculptures have survived and can be found at the British Museum in London. 6.) The Colossus of Rhodes is an ancient day Statue of Liberty. Located in the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece, the statue was believed to have stood guard against incoming ships. The construction of the 120 foot statue was finished around 282 BC and was dedicated to the sun god, Helios. It was toppled by an earthquake in 226 BC. 7.) The Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria, was built between 280 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Its purpose was to guide sailors into the harbor. There was a mirror on top to reflect sunlight during the day and a fire would guide the sailors at night. The Lighthouse of Alexandria stood over four hundred feet high and maybe as high as four hundred and fifty. Earthquakes damaged the lighthouse through the centuries, but it was said to be still partially standing when Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, Qaitbay, began to fortify Pharos Island by building a citadel as a defensive stronghold on the lighthouses foundations in 1477. The construction lasted two years. The seven wonders of the modern world are the Panama Canal, the Netherlands North Sea Protection Works, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the CN Tower, the Itaipu Dam, and the Channel Tunnel. Each of these structures was so innovative that in 1994, the American Civil Engineering Society named them wonders of the modern world. According to the organization, they are examples of modern societys ability to achieve the unachievable, reach unreachable heights, and scorn the notion it cant be done. The seven wonders of the natural world are Mount Everest, Nepal Victoria Falls, ZambiaZimbabwe Grand Canyon, United States the Great Barrier Reef, Australia the Northern Lights Paricutin Volcano, Mexico and the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro. The tradition of listing the seven wonders of the world carries on today. Unlike the wonders of the ancient world, we can claim none of the glory for creating the wonders of the natural world. Nature carved these sites that we so admire. Over the course of millions of years, rivers flowed over their rocky beds, eroding the stone and carving waterfalls and canyons. Volcanoes and mountains rose up from the earth in reaction to movement far beneath the ground. Powerful forces of nature shaped the land we know today. Finally, the seven natural wonders of North America are: on the east coast is the Florida Everglades, a subtropical wetland. On the west coast, California has two natural wonders: Glacier Point, in Yosemite Park, made of solid granite, and the tallest living trees in the world can be found in the Redwood Forest. Alaska is home to Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. The Grand Canyon is another natural wonder and is located in Arizona. On a typical day, the Canyon can have a temperature difference of 50 between its floor and its highest rim. Canada and New York share the natural wonder of the Niagara Falls, and the Mississippi River passes through ten states. These seven natural wonders are all different, but they share something in common. They are majestic works of art, shaped by natural forces. Researcher for a Book on Architecture, December 2004 - January 2005 Over the last three hundred years, the homes we live in have changed a great deal. Changes in the way we use space, advances in architecture, reduced family size, new materials, and technological innovations in the housing industry have transformed both our living spaces and us. My job was to research the many transformations that have taken place in North American residential housing over the last three hundred years, including changes in lot size, square footage, number of rooms, and how heating and lighting changed the way we live and use our homes. My job also included predicting the future of housing. I used academic journals, databases, books, and the Internet to conduct my research. Business Researcher and Editor for a California Start-Up, December 2004 My client needed an experienced editor and fact checker to make his business plan more clear, compelling, and concise for an Angel Investor. He also needed additional research and help with his references. Researcher and Fact-Finder for a Prominent American Legal Team (NDA in Place), December 2004 I used academic databases, journals, print publications, and the Internet to conduct value-added research. Business Researcher for a Mexican Medical Consultancy (NDA in Place), November 2004 I was hired to find information on the latest technological advancements in a number of related high-tech fields. Researcher and Writer for an Educational Enrichment Company, November 2004 My duties included reading educational manuscripts and researching related subject areas on the Internet. I then used the websites I found to create a large number of records and put them into an online database. The information is used by school children to write reports and essays. Researcher for a Business Book, October - November 2004 My work revolved around fact checking and gathering statistical information on international business failuresurvival rates and the truth about franchising. Science Researcher for Enslow Publishers, Inc. August - September 2004 For this project, I did research on the planets (the Earth, the Moon, Mars, the Sun, Uranus, Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn) in our solar system, their moons, asteroids, and comets. I compiled the information and created electronic K-12 educational resources. I also looked at important astronomers and astrophysicists throughout history and wrote summaries of their work. Researcher and Writer for a Book Proposal, August 2004 I assisted the author in organizing the sections of his book proposal. I researched additional facts, figures, and other information to incorporate into various sections of the document, including the market potential of the publication, promotional opportunities, and anticipated readership. I also edited the document and added large sections of text to add depth and more perspective to the subject areas covered. Editor for a Hong Kong University Research Proposal, August 2004 Writing research proposals for additional funding can be time-consuming and very stressful for academics. It takes more than a good idea to obtain a grant. My job was to help clarify the major themes and add additional sections to the proposal. Researcher and Writer for an International Non-Profit, August 2004 I was hired to look at how the economic success of a country affects the philanthropy of its citizens, and how the politics surrounding debt forgiveness, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, the IMF, and the World Bank puts many developing countries in a state of crisis. Health Researcher for an American Nutrition and Health Start-Up, July - August 2004 I was hired to research the health benefits of a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. The information was used as the documentation for nutritional software. Science Researcher and Writer for a Canadian Government Institute, July - August 2004 My job was to find the latest research on drugs such as ecstacy and other party drugs, steroids, heroin, cocaine, crack, nicotine, marijuana, methamphetamine, amphetamines, nicotine and tobacco, and inhalants. After collating and analyzing the data, I developed a number of informational techbriefs. Business Researcher and Fact Checker for Upcoming Business Book by Best-Selling American Authors (NDA in Place), April - July 2004 I used journals, monographs, and online resources for this soon-to-be-published book on how to get wealthy and stay that way. The thrust of my research was real estate related. Graphic Design for National Research Council of Canada, April - May 2004 The poster was designed to accompany a conference paper that was presented at the EU-US Scientific Seminar held in Seville, Spain, 13-14 May 2004. The poster was designed with Louis Atkinson. View a small version here . Historical Researcher and Writer for an Academic Publisher, March 2004 I was hired to do value-added research for a series of books on ancient societies. Subject areas that I worked on were Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Mesopotamia, the Ancient Inca Civilization, the Mayans, and the Persians. Researcher, Writer, and Editor for a Tenure-Track Professor, March 2004 I rewrote and edited an article on Chinese Archaeology for my tenure-track client based on comments he received from the editor of an academic journal. I also had to do some research to fill in the blanks. The article was subsequently published. In light of the relatively few articles highlighting Chinese archaeological websites and the issues surrounding them, the purpose of the paper was to discuss some of the features and characteristics found on the Internet. Good websites can provide readers with the latest information and also help point out trends in the development of Chinese archaeology. But what constitutes a good website The ability to sift through the ever-increasing amounts of information made available online to find quality and accurate data is becoming more important every day. Using credibility, accuracy, reasonableness, support, and uniqueness as criteria for website evaluation, the authors analyzed five websites in an effort to determine the value and quality of the information. The article discusses the evaluation of websites dedicated to Chinese archaeology and also points to six main characters of online resources for the subject area. In addition, questions are raised concerning the extent to which online Chinese archaeological resources can advance general awareness of the field and contribute to a growing body of knowledge. Researcher and Writer for National Research Council of Canada (Planning and Assessment, Corporate Services Division), February - April 2004 I was hired to research and co-write a paper focusing on new strategic capabilities for Canadas science and technology (SampT) institutions, foresight planning and activities, organization strategies, scenarios definition and elaboration, and bio-health innovation and stewardship. The paper was presented at the EU-US Scientific Seminar, 13-14 May 2004 in Seville, Spain. Foresight planning is an innovative and provocative process, which produces strategic insights, especially for those willing to think outside traditional boxes. Scenarios allow a better idea of the range of futures that are possible and shed light on the challenges, choices, and implications that exist. They can weave together past, present, and future elements and help develop new views of science and technology, and then integrate them into a number of imaginative stories to allow individuals and groups to see things previously unnoticed or acquire new viewpoints on familiar situations. Foresight planning has enormous potential to advance innovation, while focusing on the required next steps and strategic investments needed to move toward preferred futures. Scenarios can be a powerful reminder of the importance and significance of long term policy work in a governmental setting, emphasizing the potential of strategic thinking, and enhancing ones preparation for multiple situations of prospective challenge and opportunity. In Canada, like many other places in the world, reaction to events is the order of the day, rather than proactive strategies and planning in scientific and technological thinking. We can no longer rely on mental and analytical models that are getting shorter and shorter with each passing year. Organizations that participate in foresight activities can more easily overcome problems and create opportunities and responses that are robust, agile, and informed by science and technology knowledge. By using knowledge, imagination, and creativity, we can invent a better future. Researcher for an Architectural Firm, February 2004 This research project involved finding information on residential and commercial building statistics for the North America market, along with data on the assessment of energy conservation measures, sustainable architecture, the environmental impact of buildings, and ecological land use. Fact Checker, January 2004 My research included checking facts for an upcoming publication on international security and global cooperation. I learned a lot about international politics and the new technology being used to create a safer world. When considering global security in the 21st century, it is important to not just understand what the threats are, but also find innovative solutions. Many countries face 21st century security threats but are using 20th century archetypes to combat them, even though traditional security doesnt work and brings about insecurity. Old-fashioned security models need to be put aside, especially since threats are no longer confined to the state versus state paradigm. The global playing field is different now and old hierarchies have been replaced. Global cooperation is no longer defined as collaboration among states it now involves individuals, corporations, NGOs, and other non-state actors. In this post-911 world, our old perceptions of safety and complacency no longer work against an enemy who wants to undermine a way of life, leaving us vulnerable to attack. We need a better organized and full-proof system that will leave legitimate travelers and visitors feeling safer, more secure, relaxed, and welcomed, while minimizing security breaches and increasing the likelihood of detecting and neutralizing organized threats. We need a safe and systematic process to verify identity and check credentials, but even more than that, we need a technological system that has the capacity to accurately predict both a persons present condition and future intentions by investigating facial expressions, brain activity, and involuntary mental clicks of recognition. With identity theft on the rise, and the prevalent use of false travel documents, the current system is particularly vulnerable to abuse. Implications for personal privacy were also covered. Project Manager and Small Business Researcher, December 2003 - January 2004 I managed an online technology project that focused on using blogs in small businesses. I helped choose the templates and worked with the tech person to get the blogs online. I also designed the information architecture, and created categories and some initial posts on each one to get the content started. Businesses are beginning to understand that there are benefits to creating blogs and using them as corporate tools for sharing expertise and communicating with customers and potential customers. A business blog is a marketing tool that works for you 247, and is probably the best tool available. They can also direct more traffic to company websites. Since blog software is easy to use and often free to use, it is a good choice for small businesses that dont have the budgets for expensive websites and designers. Business blogs also allow a company to interact more easily with their customers and connect with a target market on a more personal level. The time spent in creating content for a business blog is an investment in the future of your business and worth every minute because it will increase your visibility in the search engines and attract new readers. Establishing credibility and increasing transparency, while generating inbound leads, are all good reasons why starting a business blog makes sense. Client and Market Researcher, December 2003 I identified business partners for a technology company interested in expanding its client base and growing the business internationally. Business Researcher, November - December 2003 I was hired to locate and collect information relating to the development of a virtual intentional community of cooperation for a specialized group of international entrepreneurs. In particular, my clients were interested in designing a virtual community that facilitates cooperation amongst entrepreneurs, a place where companies and individuals can access resources, and to make it easier to start successful business ventures that offer good ROI. For centuries, intentional communities have brought idealists together to create a better world by sharing a common root value of cooperation, promoting dialogue, and sharing information and experiences with others on similar paths. As a long-time member of Howard Rheingolds private virtual community, Brainstorms. I have experience working in the field of virtual community development. Researcher for an Upcoming Book on Living a Quality Life, August - November 2003 My role in this project was to help the author develop a list of subject areas to cover in the manuscript. We decided upon 98 topics for this encyclopedia of sorts (Qualipediatrade). I then worked with a programmer to create an online software tool that would eventually house the research information, separated into individual records with eight fieldsareas of interest. For example, introduction to topic, purchasing, selection, maintenance, implications, tips, etc. I then began researching, using both print and electronic resources, and the Internet to do my work. We ended up with over 3000 research records, which the author will use to write her book. Editor for a Tenure-Track Professor, July 2003 I edited my clients paper for acceptance into an academic journal. With my assistance, the paper was published. The paper provides tips for finding Chinese history journals on the Internet, and offers practical help to librarians and researchers building websites or electronic libraries for China studies. Researcher and Writer for Canada Health Infoway, a Canadian Government Agency, May - June 2003 My job was to find the latest information on international best practices and lessons learned for electronic health records, specifically for the United States, New Zealand, Australia, England, and the European Union. I then used the review of the literature to write a report that will be made available through Canada Health Infoway . Editor and Researcher for a Tenure-Track Professor, April 2003 For this project, I developed and conducted a survey for my client that investigated collection development practices for Chinese electronic resources in North American East Asian libraries. The survey was sent to all East Asian libraries in North America that have websites and electronic resources available on them. I made the survey accessible through email and also created an online version. When I compiled the results, I used Excel to run the stats and make the graphs. Finally, I edited and rewrote parts of my clients article, incorporating the study results, which helped him to get it published. The paper examines electronic resources, including journals and databases for Chinese studies, collected in North American East Asian academic libraries. A small survey of 26 East Asian academic libraries in North America was conducted in May 2003 in order to learn more about collection development practices and accessibility issues for Chinese electronic resources. Based on an eight question survey, 57 per cent of the responding libraries have collection development policies for their electronic resources, 36 per cent do not while 7 per cent were unsure. Budget constraints, time constraints, lack of technical support, lack of training, and ChineseEnglish computer operating system incompatibilities were given as the top five constraints in the collection of Chinese electronic resources and providing access to them. Researcher for Rheingold Associates, March - May 2003 Our team worked with a major Internet player to test the efficacy of its search engine. The first phase involved testing a search product and required me to spend several hours a week for a couple weeks trying the product. The second part required me to provide feedback and to participate in private online discussions with the companys team and other RAers. The final requirement was that I sketch out a user case study from my experience as a professional researcher using the tool. Professional researchers utilize the Internet for many aspects of their work. For instance, they could be hired to search for links to Canadian educational resources for a government portal, or newspaper articles about recent fires caused by unattended cooking. For other projects, researchers search for papers, electronic journals, and conference proceedings, to use as resources for the writing of literature reviews, white papers, annotated bibliographies, books, etc. They need powerful tools to do the job, tools that allow them to work quickly and smartly. This new search tool would be a great addition to any researchers toolkit. The ability to exclude terms and fine-tune searches are extremely powerful tools for a researcher because as the Internet gets larger, there is more and more available to sift through in order to find the appropriate information for a client. The search tool saves time and can help build stronger search strings by allowing the up-front search power of exclusioninclusion to do a lot of the work for you at the outset. I re-did some of my searches associated with an NDA project that I had recently completed using it and was amazed at the direction I was taken by the terms in the Fine Tuning section of the tool, terms that I had not thought of using until much later in my search were included in its exclusioninclusion list. Not only is a researcher able to exclude or not exclude and therefore, include terms provided, it allows the user the opportunity to further the fine-tuning process by allowing the addition of information through the Choosing Interests section. One thing to keep in mind, is that many types of researchers are often asked to find information they have no previous knowledge of, so any extra direction at the outset of a search cycle is critical for success. By analyzing the terms provided in the Fine Tuning section of the search tool, a researcher could easily build a more appropriate search string and add those additional areas of interest for their subject area to the Choosing Interests section. It is this multi-step process of exclusioninclusion, wherein we find the tools greatest strengths for researchers. There is also power found in the provision of the Personalize options, where a choice of fonts and colours can be made. For someone who may have to spend fourteen hours a day searching through pages of Internet links, having the ability to control the display of the information is essential and can prevent headaches and eye strain. In addition, the ability to search more than one phrase is also uncommon among search engines, and is therefore, both very useful and powerful. Internet Researcher for Elike Solutions (NDA in Place), March - May 2003 I worked with my client and his PR person to put together information packages for shows such as 60 Minutes . What we needed was to find specific familiesindividuals who had suffered from unattended cooking fires. Our focus was on five major local media markets nationwide: New York, Boston, DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. These stories were then packaged for the media as a tie into a patented consumer device. Some of the problems I encountered were that newspapers like to sell their articles, so most are not indexed by Google newspapers have very poor archives or very inadequate search engines newspapers will give you a headline but would like you to pay 2.95 or more per article many articles about fires do not include names and many locations, besides the ones my client really wanted, were included in the final report because I couldnt always find articles from the regions my client wanted. Researcher and Cybrarian for Canada Health Infoway. a Canadian Government Agency, March - April 2003 I was part of the team that created the knowledge portals for Infoways intranets and website. Specifically, it was my responsibility to find every website, listserv, newsfeed, PDF document, report, and digital resource that was specifically related to electronic health records. First priority was given to Canadian sites in both (or either) French or English, followed by international sites in either French or English. I was not expected to conduct literature searches on the topic. The Infoway team was looking for 1.) as comprehensive a search as possible given the time constraints 2.) quality information. Every resource was then entered into a multi-field database and an annotation was written for each one. Feedback and search results were sent to the KM team in Montreal on a regular basis. Project Manager and Moderator for a National Research Council of Canada Internet Workshop, January - February 2003 I worked with the Canadian Science and Technology Foresight Pilot Project (STFPP) team to develop, implement, and host a week-long virtual workshopconference to elaborate and develop the initial findings from a series of onsite workshops and technical panels that were held in the fall of 2002. The online workshops purpose was to enable all the participants, as well as a selected group of additional experts and generalists who were not able to be involved in the fall events, to consider the findings that were summarized into two reports and to help develop the information further in preparation for the scenarios work to be done by the project team in March 2003. The workshop was deemed to be a critical element of the iteration of observations and results from the fall events of 2002. I worked with the project leaders to organize and plan the virtual conference. My work also included helping to write the email invitations contact all guests and provide them with their registration information set up the conference, which used conferencing software called Caucus help the team develop the workshop itinerary work with a graphic designer to create the workshop graphics host the event was present at the conference, checking in at least twelve hours a day to greet the participants and be available for help questions help those with problems and format posts, especially long posts that needed HTML tags inserted to facilitate reading. I also made sure the client got a CD-burned copy of the event. Great project Internet Researcher for a Virginian Company, January - February 2003 My job was to search newspaper databases, the Internet, Google News, and LexisNexis for articles that my client was interested in reading. I then used online resources, such as telephone directories, reverse look-up, tax assessor data, and real estate property report databases to locate various people. Internet Researcher for an International Insurance Group, December 2002 The research I did was needed as value-added information for a business plan for a proposed international insurance venture start-up that plans to specialize in large-scale property insurance. I had to identify all cities in North America, South America, and Western Europe with commercial office buildings in excess of 50 stories or with 3,000,000 rentable square feet. Search Engine Optimization, November 2002 I helped a dentist from Los Angeles to rank higher in web searches for California cosmetic dentistry and TMJmigraineheadache dentistry. I did this by using a multi-pronged approach to search engine optimization. Website Design and Database Integration, August - November 2002 I worked with Higher Mind Productions to help design Smart Mobs. the companion website and blog for Howard Rheingolds new book. I also created individual database records for each of the 1000 citations in the online bibliography so that it would act as a mirror for the books bibliography. Note: although the site we did is no longer online, here is a screenshot of our design. Client and Market Researcher, August - October 2002 I was successful in finding funding opportunities for my client, an international non-governmental organization. Researcher for an Upcoming Academic Book. April - July 2002 In the initial stages of this complex project, I was given 962 printed survey documents, many of which were three feet wide and six feet long scrolls. My first task was to digitize the huge amount of information that was found on each one. In many cases, I chose to use an industrialarchitectural-sized scanner to create high-resolution scans and then OCRed the data myself. I think it was the best solution, especially since I was working under a pretty demanding deadline. I then inputted all of the data into two separate Excel spreadsheets using assigned categories and additional ones that I developed. I read all of the survey answers and then made an intellectual decision as to which assigned category each of the answers best fell into. I basically summarized open-ended answersthoughts into pre-assigned categories. Of course, accuracy and consistency were very important, especially for running the quantitative stats (pivot tables and crosstabs) later. I also created two separate Word files to hold almost 900 long answers for the qualitative data that helped draw a portrait of what the respondents thought. We were looking for themes, sub-themes, and patterns in their words. In addition, some online research and email correspondence was needed to complete the project. Here are some of the questions the reference librarians were asked in the survey: are you paid to read. has current awareness helped you to provide reference service. has television and radio helped you to answer reference queries. do you watch TV news shows. and do you read print papers and magazines on own time The survey covered both academic reference librarians and public library reference personnel in the United States and Canada, asking them about their reading habits. We were interested in the extent to which librarians read newspapers, periodicals, fiction and non-fiction, and asked them to recount stories about how reading has made them better librarians. A lot of work, but a very exciting, and fulfilling project. Photographic Researcher for Robert Dafford Murals. March - April 2002 I helped my client with photographic research for a large-scale government mural contract in Camden, New Jersey. I took advantage of New Jerseys digital image collections and Camdens historical societies online photographic archives to do my research for this floodwall mural project. I then created an online tool that allowed my client to view and download the images. He used the photographs as a point of departure for his painting. Researcher for a Vermont company, March 2002 For this contract, I did market research for a firm that specializes in mediating and resolving architectural and construction legal disputes. I also did some preliminary search engine optimization for them, including the creation of meta tags and title tags. Researcher for Elike Solutions, February - March 2002 My research work for this job was associated with a patent that will help to prevent kitchen fires from even starting. My client was interested in identifying victims of fires that were caused by unattended cooking. He needed recent (within the last two years) victims of fires from the Washington DC area, Virginia suburbs (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax), Maryland suburbs (Montgomery County, Prince Georges County, Bethesda, Silver Spring), or as close as possible to DC. Anywhere in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York was acceptable. I was asked to find newspaper articles and press accounts, with the names, addresses or other identifying information of victims so that a Product Liability lawyer could work with them to obtain compensatory damages from stove and range manufacturers. Researcher for an Information Science Study on Deselection Policies in Libraries, January - April 2002 This project set out to uncover what policies libraries follow when weeding (deselecting books), how they do it, if there are complaints, what the librarians think of weeding, and if they have ever saved any books that were to be weeded out of the library system. My first task was to take 300 multi-page paper surveys that consisted of open-ended questions and transfer them to digital format. I used a scanner and OCR software to do it. In total, there were nineteen questions covering every aspect of weeding. I then entered all data into nineteen separate Word files, a file for each of the survey questions. Librarians gave many different answers to all of the questions, so I had to analyze them to generate enough categories to fit each answer into. For instance, when looking at the answers for reasons for weeding I came up with the following categories: accuracy, condition, space, circulation, duplicates, vital resource, age, superseded editions, scope, and alternative form. For what is done with weeded books I used the categories of sell, trash, recycle, donate, give to other libraries, and put into storage. Not all the answers fit perfectly into the categories, but it was important to generate meaningful stats from the data. Each set of answers were analyzed and categories were chosen for each one. I then created Excel graphs with the information from the reports. I was also asked to pick out the most interesting responses for each of the nineteen questions, so the author could highlight them in his final write-up. The top three reasons librarians gave for deselecting books were accuracy of the information, the condition of the books, and space restrictions. In answer to what is done with the weeded books, the top three answers were sell them, throw them away, and donate the books. One thing that kept coming to my mind during this project was how book jobbers and standing orders, etc. affect deselection in the long run. Are the best books chosen to begin with It takes a very intuitive smart person to set up those types of contracts correctly. I wonder how often they use reviews in the process. I believe one library director had weeding built into the review process, which forced the librarians to do more. Overall, there seemed to be some lack of understanding that weeding is an essential component for a circulating public library. In part, that might be blamed on library school programs that barely touch upon this aspect of collection management. In addition, some of the librarians seem to lack any knowledge of what their librarys mission is. They see libraries as historical archives and believe they should hang onto every book ever purchased. As the pre-eminent futurist Paul Saffo has pointed out, libraries were originally created in an era of scarce information. librarians were sort of mad information hoarders, who were hoarding in the public interest. Not so anymore, the days when libraries could collect everything just in case are over. There is an increased necessity for librarians to visualize a rebirth that emphasizes a library connected to a network of electronic information and to other libraries that can offer them interlibrary loan services for their clients. I guess the striking thing for me is the difference in philosophy amongst the librarians. Some are very concerned that the patrons receive misinformation by reading dated materials, especially scientific, medical and legal, while others say they weed to make space for new books. Other librarians do admit to weeding when crowding is an issue, but that is not a norm. For example, they wouldnt just weed out books that didnt meet the criteria just to make more room. That is good. Many librarians are reluctant to weed. They have a problem with the process for many reasons, including the worry attached to what patrons will say about getting rid of books that were bought with tax payers money, and not having the resources available to replace the items they weed, thus, leaving holes in the collection. Some libraries get around this by weeding as new books come in, so the process is seamless and there are no complaints by the public. Librarians also fear they will make a mistake or weed books that other librarians or members of staff feel should remain in the system. Many believe books should be given second chances and marketed better since they were placed too high or too low on the shelves and the public just couldnt find them or notice them as they made their way through the stacks. They remember how much the books cost and really think it is better to give the books another round in the circulation process before the items go out the door, never to return. They dont think they have the expertise to do a good job and are overwhelmed by other duties. Many of them just dont want to weed because it takes so much time. From reading the survey answers, it seemed that some librarians use this as an excuse - they say they dont like the concept, but it might be because they just dont have the time to do it properly. I think some of the best library directors interviewed recognize that the reluctance is based on ignorance. Librarians just dont realize how important weeding is to the management of the collection and to the satisfaction of the patrons. One of the main factors cited is the trouble associated with getting rid of the books. They feel their hands are tied when it comes to disposing of the materials. They have no real space to put the books when they come out of the collection, but must find room since the main avenue for disposal is the Friends of the Library sales, which only occur once or twice a year. It seems like a very frustrating process for them because besides the time it takes to actually find the books that need to come out of the collection and making sure the materials meet the criteria to be weeded, they run up against opposition with other staff members disagreeing on their choices members of the public looking for books they miss finding room to store the books for the sales worrying that the funds wont be available to replace the information that is lost by weeding and the problems associated with what to do with the books that do not sell. There seems to be so much red tape involved that you can hardly blame them for thinking that weeding is a big problem, which some of them are unequipped to deal with. Even when they put the leftovers in the dumpsters, they have members of the public complaining about the waste of government money and even those who will drag the books out of the garbage and demand they be put back in the collection. They would like to have more options when it comes to disposing of books that dont sell, but are hesitant about sending non-fiction books to schools that may be filled with misinformation. Researcher, Survey Designer, and Project Manager for a Study on Multi-Cultural Library Services, January - March 2002 This research study is being used as a vehicle to find out how major public library systems in Canada purchase materials for their ethnic populations. Diverse communities need diverse types of materials in their public libraries, not just what has traditionally been available. Is the changing face of the Canadian population reflected in public libraries by incorporating the library and information needs of a diverse community of public library patrons Are libraries committed to diversity through management decision-making, by educating staff of the needs of changing communities, and by diversifying staff so that the communities ethnic populations are represented by library employees My part: I searched for and read a couple of hundred public library collection development policies. I then worked with my client and the original concept he had for the study, to generate a series of questions for the survey. I placed them into ten separate categories. Working with a web programmer, I helped to design and create an online survey, a nation-wide survey of public libraries of all sizes, including branches. A sample of the survey questions can be read here. Almost all questions could be answered using drop-down menus and clickable multiple-choice answer boxes. I then did an Internet search for appropriate listservs where I could post the survey. A summary of the project and the web address to the survey were uploaded. The survey was also emailed to over 1600 Canadian public librarians. Resultsanswers were emailed to me. I used Excel for the data entry and to run the statistics. I also did a partial literature review for the project. Project Manager and Researcher for an Academic Research Project on Email Reference, January - March 2002 This research project was developed to find out the condition of email reference service in Canadian public libraries. With more and more libraries offering to answer questions electronically, the researchers were interested in studying the timeliness and correctness of the answers supplied by librarians, and the overall effectiveness of digital reference desks. This study was originally undertaken in 1999 and was repeated for comparison purposes. I helped develop the reference questions, sent the emails, corresponded with the librarians, compiled the answers, and ran the stats, also generating graphs. Designer, Content Researcher, and Writer for a Corporate Website, December 2001 - January 2002 I designed the website and developed the information architecture. I then did a lot of research into what types of content should appear on the website and wrote the copy. Client and Market Researcher for Higher Mind Productions, October 2001 - January 2002 On this project, it was my job to identify corporations and individuals that might need the various services my client offered. I also made the initial contact, wrote proposals, negotiated fees, and managed projects. Project Manager for the Redesign and Enhancement of the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers Website, July - October 2001 This project began for me in January of 2001 when I identified the international association as a possible client for my employer. Three months later, I wrote the proposal that won the company the contract for the redesign. I came onboard as project manager, working with the web committee to establish milestones, keeping everything on track, and acting as the main contact person. Later in the project, additional roles for me were content checker, quality controller, and researcher for the public domain images used on the site. I had a contract to maintain the site, edit the content, and upload new information until 2004. Market Researcher and Event Organizer (NDA in Place), June 2001 My role was to locate a large number of people who might like to attend a seminar on learning how to create targeted resumes. The seminars took place across the United States and were developed to teach job searchers how to focus on their desired position how to spotlight their skills and experience how to create a highly focused format for their resumes how to ensure that their resume rises to the top of the stack how to catch the attention of headhunters, corporate recruiters, hiring managers how to analyze their skills and experience how to impress the hiring manager figure out if their dream job is realistic for them and the secret of getting past the screeners. Professional consulting services were also made available to enrollees at discounted prices. Client and Market Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates. May 2001 My job was to locate the contact information for product managers or product marketing managers working for companies located in New York City and the immediate vicinity. These companies had to sell products in the knowledge management, libraryinformation science, information retrieval, computational linguistics or natural language processing fields. Researcher for Howard Rheingolds Book on Mobile Communications and the Technologies of Cooperation. April 2001 - June 2002 Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution is a book that details how the rise of pervasive mobile communications combined with always-on Internet connections produces new kinds of ad-hoc social groups. Smart mobs emerge when social networks use mobile communication devices, pervasive computation, peer to peer, and reputation management methodologies to coordinate collective action - political, social, economic. This great job began in April 2001. One of my first assignments was to help design an online database that would meet our research requirements and find a host that was cost-effective, allowing more than one person to work at the same time. The database has really been successful and presently contains almost 1000 records, complete with bibliographic information, thesis statements, quotes, and notes. My work also included finding interesting and knowledgeable people from all over the world, who are doing work in various fields and contacting them to set up interviews. To date, we have met with people in Canada, Seattle, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Stockholm, London, Helsinki, Surrey, Palo Alto, San Jose, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. I also did original research, summarized our research materials, compiled sources, wrote, fact-checked, formatted Word files for the publisher, and created tables of content and endnotes (including formatting them into the Chicago Style). In addition, I edited and critiqued the work in progress, and made the bibliography. Project Manager and Researcher for an Upcoming Book on Third-World NGOs (University of Toronto), March - May 2001 There has been a steady growth in the number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society movements and coalitions in the last decade of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century. NGOs, especially large international NGOs, and civil society movements often fill the vacuum left by governmental actors in such diverse fields as the environment and social justice. Large international NGOs adopt causes in third-world countries and bring their resources to bear on issues that local governments often do not want to deal with. In addition, NGOs typically make use of information communication technologies (ICTs) to further their aims. The proliferation of large international NGOs and the use of ICTs by large international NGOs has been examined in a number of studies. What has been neglected, however, are NGOs operating in the so-called developing or third-world countries. This research project therefore has a twofold purpose. First, it explores the relationship of third-world NGOs with large international NGOs. Has that relationship been fruitful, or has it been fraught with tensions and conflicts based on philosophical differences Second, has the introduction of ICTs been a panacea for third-world NGOs or do ICTs bring with them a host of problems and concerns that are not obvious at first glance This book is about third-world or Southern NGOs, ones that operate mostly in Africa, South America, and the less-developed countries. The focus of the book is two-pronged: the relationship that third-world NGOs have with their bigger brothersister NGOs in the developed world. Do they get along Do they feel they are being treated as equals by first world NGOs. AND, how do third-world NGOs get their information How do they use information technology My work for this project included the design and implementation of an international online survey, deciding which NGOs to include in the study, collecting articles on the subject. and data analysis. I also project managed. I needed a definition for Southern NGOs. I found that they are mostly those operating in Asia, Africa, South America, and other less - developed countries, including those in countries such as Turkmenistan. One of the first things I did was to search for third-world or Southern NGOs concerned with such issues as environment, social justice, and economic rights. Later, when I was further into the project, I added some centered on women and their issues because they are often fighting for human rights, economic freedom, and environmental improvements. Once I had a good starting point, I searched in the Yearbook of International Organizations . however, almost immediately I saw a problem using just this resource to compile a list of 150 NGOs that fit the bill since so many smaller regional organizations had no profiles in the database. It is possible that some NGOs do not realize that they can submit their contact information and mission statement. One of the aims of the Union of International Associations is to facilitate the evolution of the activities of the world-wide network of non-profit organizations, especially non-governmental or voluntary associations, not just the larger international organizations that get the lions share of media attention in the First World. Since my mission was to find smaller, regionalized, down-to-earth non-governmental organizations, I spent many hours sweeping the Internet using a variety of search strings and a series of online maps to make sure I was being comprehensive. I used maps of Asia, Africa, and South America and researched out each country separately to see if they had NGOs that fit the category. Many that I discovered on portal sites or in directories and wanted to include in the study had no web presence, nor email address. Since I needed to find a website so that I could establish a profile and was also required to have an email for each NGO so that they could be contacted, I had to leave those out of the study. As a result, there are some countries that were not included because the required information was not found. The survey we conducted was meant specifically for small and medium-sized NGOs who work in Africa, South America, or Asia. Email messages were sent to a random selection of 120 southern NGOs in March-April 2001 inviting them to go to a website that had a copy of the survey and to complete a series of questions using the web form. They could also answer the survey by hitting reply to the email we sent. In addition to three preliminary questions that elicited basic demographic data, the survey consisted of sixteen questions on two topics: (i) the way in which southern NGOs perceived and used information and communication technologies (ICTs) and (ii) the relationship of southern NGOs with international NGOs. One of the outcomes we were hoping for was to improve the relationship between small local NGOs and larger international ones. Here is a sampling of the questions we asked: About how many times would you say that your NGO has had significant working contact on a specific issue with large international NGOs in the past 12 months Do you feel that your NGO is sufficiently consulted by large international NGOs on matters of local concern about which your local NGO has special expertise Has the use of ICTs affected internal working relationships within your NGO In other words, has it caused any changes in the decision-making process or organizational structure of your NGO and Has the introduction of ICTs, especially the Internet, eroded your NGOs use of indigenous and informal communication channels All questions were accompanied with a request for specific examples. Cybrarian and Facilitator for OSN 2001, an Online Event Sponsored by Group Jazz and Rheingold Associates. March 28 to April 11, 2001 Online Social Networks 2001 brought together the most experienced designers and instigators of online think-tanks, virtual team communication spaces, and virtual communities to discuss the art of designing, launching, growing, and maintaining online social networks. For two weeks, from March 28 to April 11, registered participants, speakers, and workshop leaders joined together in structured conversations about practical issues related to online social networks. Caucus web conference software enabled registered participants to interact at any time during the event, from anywhere in the world, using text and images, through a net-connected web browser. Market Researcher for an International Artist, March - April 2001 I was contracted to compile a list of prospects that might be interested in buying art. The target market was Interior Designers who specialize in hotel, restaurant, corporate, and high-end residential custom art work, with a first preference given to east coast designers. Email addresses, websites, and telephone numbers were collected for each. I also put together a list of interior design trade shows, conferences, annual meetings, and other gatherings of interior designers who specialize in high-end markets, basically any where my client could make contact with these professionals. Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates. March 2001 I was hired to find magazine circulation managers, circulation directors, and circulation specialists for a successful direct marketing company which has a growing catalog division and a need for an experienced manager to oversee marketing and promotions, generate new business, design renewal campaigns, develop email and direct mail campaigns, do list selection, and integrate innovative technologies to their circulation operations. Archival Researcher for a Small Publishing Firm in Switzerland, March 2001 I was hired to collect the names of old and new catalogues of publishing houses from all over the world. My client then planned to request hard copies of each or at least a facsimile. Catalogues from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxemburg, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, and the USA were some of the ones I discovered. National libraries and archives were important sources for the information I was asked to find, but I also made contact with private collectors to do my research. Another component to this project was researching the history of publishing and advertising. The collection of catalogues helps to preserve the business history of publishing and provides us with a pictorial history of catalogue design, as well as insight into the evolution of books and what people read the last number of decades. Researcher and Writer for the National Research Council of Canada, January - March 2001 My research work centered on taking a look at where people and virtual communities believe interactive digital video and visualizationVRvirtualized reality will be by 2010. I used online resources, communicated with some of the finest scientists in the field, and conducted a small survey during the course of the project. I then wrote a report that summarized my findings. Researcher and Writer (NDA in Place), January - February 2001 I did value-added research and some writing for an international cosmetics corporation. Client and Market Database Researcher and Creator (NDA in Place), December 2000 - February 2001 My job was to sweep the Internet to uncover a large number of appropriate contacts to be used by an Internet start-up as a foundation for the generation of contracts. I then created a multi-field online database and inputted all the data. Website AccessibilityUsability Evaluator for Seven Federally-Controlled Canadian Corporations, December 2000 - January 2001 I was hired to evaluate seven websites to check for barriers to accessibility. Corporations such as CBC wanted to know if their website had limitations that prevented people with certain disabilities from using it to the fullest extent. They wanted to make sure that they had strategies in place to help the disabled overcome the limitations of the media. Some of the things I checked for were text equivalents for every non-text element, including images, image maps, and animations ensure that all information conveyed with color was also available without color use of descriptive link text, not just click here to ensure that each link made sense when it was read out of context, or by a screen reader and the provision of clear and consistent navigation and links. In addition, I ran usability tests on all sites, checking for over-use of cutting-edge technology, long scrolling pages, illogical navigation structure, long download times, and dead links. Finally, I checked to make sure that the websites had a privacy statement that the privacy policy used the word privacy in the link name that there was a link to the privacy policy from the home page the privacy policy identified exactly what data was being collected and that the privacy policy identified the intended use of the collected data. My findings were collated into reports and sent to the corporations for next steps. Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates, December 2000 I was hired to find the contact information for a Grammy-award winning song writer, living in Nashville, Tennessee. My client was interested in hiring him to work on a Broadway musical play. After many false starts, I was able to get his private phone number and put him in contact with my client. Meta Tag Creator and Web Content Reviewer for Rheingold Associates. December 2000 I created customized meta tags and keywords for every page of the new home of Howard Rheingolds international group of associates. I also reviewed the content, assisting the editorial staff with website copy revisions. Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates, November 2000 I was contracted to find library science listservs and library school alumni organizations. These resources will be used by a head hunter to identify possible candidates with MLIS degrees to fill positions in Silicon Valley start-ups. Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates, November 2000 I was hired to find advertising sales managers or advertising salespeople working in the magazine industry. The client is a dynamic publishing and direct marketing concern with unique products in print and online. Website Accessibility Consultant for GEIS, October - December 2000 I was hired to redesign the site and make the changes necessary to obtain Priority 1 Accessibility status. Client and Market Researcher for Cameron Halifax Associates, October 2000 My client specializes in recruiting talent in Information Science, Knowledge Engineering, Ontology, and related fields. His clients are primarily in Cupertino, Mountain View, and San Francisco. My job was to identify a number of possible candidates for various positions, including a copy of their resumes and their contact information. Researcher and Writer for AOL, October 2000 I researched and created a PowerPoint deck and a five-page handout for a business presentation on the provision of accessible Internet-related products and services for people with disabilities and the development and implementation of AOL services that would enable deaf people to communicate via the Internet using TTYs and Internet appliances. Since text telephones (TTYs) use outdated and incompatible technology, many deaf people have no access to the Internet. As a result, companies and governments are looking for cost-effective and cutting-edge ways to provide accessible services to deaf consumers. Providing access requires significant annual expenses, but there is significant pressure on organizations to become accessible to people with disabilities with the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Internet offers huge potential to the deaf population for education, training, employment, and empowerment, a new kind of freedom and independence. The creation of a deaf global village can be a reality. The timing is great for moving the entire deaf population onto the Internet. An Internet-TTY Gateway would enable deaf consumers to switch to the Internet without losing contact with the TTY-using community. The deaf population would benefit by having more opportunities for education, training, and employment, without all of the expense. Providing a way to communicate with hearing people via email and messaging would also make deaf people more employable. The anticipated parallel development of wireless instant messaging extends this model to enable direct TTY-to-wireless-phone messaging capability. Researcher for Rheingold Associates, September 2000 I was hired to collect and format public domain images for a corporate strategy game based on Charles Camerons thought tool, HipBone Games. The deliverables were used during an international online conference. Researcher for the National Research Council of Canada, August - November 2000 I collaborated with a senior strategist to develop an online survey that focused on an innovation-oriented group, aged 35 years old or younger to explore what their assumptions and expectations were in regards to the driving factors for Science and Technology (SampT) for the first decade of the 21st century. I, as the researcher, carried out and oversaw the survey study. I had to decide where to post the survey and research which individuals I would email it to directly. I also collected some informed intellectual speculations from experts and scientists in the area of future scenario work, and some of the latest information gleaned from Internet sources. I collocated them into a ten page report, highlighting some of the more important trends, insights, and issues. Additional deliverables included a copy of the survey questionnaire, all completed surveys, the reports generated from the survey software, and a collocation of answers for each essay-type question included in the survey. The purpose of the project was to survey a group of Science and Technology future-oriented individuals, focusing on those who are young and actively involved in leading edge developments in SampT fields. The survey included questions about the dominant issues and controversies involved in SampT, their impact on research facilities, such as the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), and the critical priorities for technology and skill development. Furthermore, it endeavored to ascertain the most innovative or consequential fieldssub-fields of SampT, as well as the changes needed to improve the SampT system for the world of the 21st Century, along with other queries. The links between science and research outcomes and socio-economic progress are complex and uncertain, however, future scenario work offers promise as a means to help ensure that science, engineering, and technology contribute to national objectives through the identification of priority areas in research and development for both economic and social benefit. There is value in using scenarios as a tool in managing change and to address broad issues of skills, culture, innovation, and communications, so as to develop alternative perspectives on Canadas longer-term requirements for science and technology and how we might better position ourselves to respond to the challenges of shaping our future. It allows managers to consider strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a dynamic context provided by long-term perspectives, bringing together many factors crucial to competitiveness and innovation, such as helping to identify commercially valuable research areas and indicating emerging market needs. By looking forward to possible future developments and their implications for research, the economy, and society, we can obtain valuable alternative perspectives on our present activities. We live in a complex world where technologies that did not exist a few decades ago are playing key roles in our social and economic life. We now understand that the development, acquisition, and application of knowledge through science, technology, and innovation can create new sources of wealth and improve the quality of our lives. Knowledge and skills have become key factors in developing and sustaining international competitiveness. Research in science and engineering gives Canada a strategic capacity to compete in the knowledge-based global economy, an economy whose rapid pace of change owes much to the pace of advances in science and technology. Scientific discoveries are key drivers of economic growth and have a vital influence on the quality of our lives in providing personal success and prosperity, and for economic growth and social development. Accordingly, scientific and technological research is one of the best investments government can make for the future because it contributes to growing an economy that has more high-skilled workers, high-wage jobs, a cleaner environment, a healthier population, advanced information technology infrastructures, a stronger, more competitive private sector able to maintain a place in world markets, an educational system that is challenging, and an inspired scientific and technological research community focused on improving the quality of life and on successfully meeting global problems through cooperation with other countries. The most important measure of success for SampT is the ability to make a difference in the lives of people: to harness SampT to improve the quality of life and the economic strength of a country. Science and technological industries have changed the way people work, live, and learn. There is a need to build a forward-looking science and technology system. Since the strategic direction, skills and knowledge generated by SampT will impact on our ability to meet our future needs, our SampT system must look ahead and be open and responsive to early and possibly weak, signals of change. Collecting and combining information and gathering opinions in such a survey will help to build perspectives on possible futures to 2010, providing a broad context for identifying future needs, while enabling us to assess how well our current science, engineering, and technology system is positioning itself to meet these needs. We need a society that can make informed choices, one that is technologically literate, and one able to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship. This study will aim to provide an information base to assist NRC in making better informed longer-term decisions on the development and application of science and technology. Researcher and Senior Editor for Internet Start-Up, Good Enough Information Systems, July 2000 - April 2001 My work focused on helping organizations and corporations integrate the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines into their website designs and content structure to allow a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. Other duties included performing website usability assessments and helping non-profits and small businesses employ technology to become more effective, primarily using the ASPWebware model. I also researched and wrote internal reports, developed and templated company processes, and wrote or edited articles, press information, and proposals. I was also the manager of the website. Good Enough Information Systems Inc. is a completely virtual consulting company that is dedicated to making organizations, particularly non-profits and small businesses, more effective through the appropriate use of technology. We focus on providing solutions that offer impact and simplicity rather than over-elaborate code or animated extravaganzas. We work for clients all over Canada and the United States on individual consulting and development projects. One of the big problems with technology investments is that cutting-edge today is obsolete tomorrow, and the solution you spent 50,000 on this year will cost 1,000 in two years. Good Enough Information Systems Inc. specializes in helping an organization build a good enough system to meet its requirements without paying for more than it really needs. Researcher for University of Toronto (NDA in Place), April - June 2000 Researcher for an Upcoming Book on Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Other Civil Society Movements, February - March 2000 My role was to examine the information that was available online, in academic journals, newspapers, and books on the international organization, La Francophonie. I evaluated sources, summarized findings, and wrote a lengthy report to facilitate the authors work. In this age of globalization, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society movements and coalitions have become vastly more diverse and influential. This book explores the crucial role that efficient, skilful use of information and communications technology and news media has played in increasing the influence and enhancing the work of civil society organizations. Rich in case study material, it examines NGOs and other civil society organizations in the policy fields of development, security, international law, human rights, and humanitarian action. In addition, the book examines the relationship between civil society and intergovernmental institutions such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the G7G8. Information is power. In the last twenty years, citizens movements have used information to expose, mobilize, and persuade. By doing so, they have irreversibly altered the relationship between citizens and those who govern. Designer and Website Content Developer for a Conference Center and Reception Hall, Lafayette, LA, January - February 2000 Client and Market Researcher for Higher Mind Productions, December 1999 The age old problem of not having enough time or money to identify new markets is a real challenge for many companies, not just start-ups. Lack of trained in-house staff and not enough time for them to learn market research methodologies, has many companies hiring freelance client researchers like me to find new clients and to recommend new business directions. Working on a limited budget, I considered my clients current priorities, did some research, and identified new markets for the company. I also delivered strategic market and customer insights by analyzing impacts on marketing and product strategy. Website Designer and Content Developer for a Real Estate Firm in Jennings, Louisiana, November - December 1999 Researcher for Howard Rheingolds Revised Edition of his Best-Selling, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier that was released in November 2000 by MIT Press, October 1999 - April 2000 My work consisted of compiling an extensive new bibliography that is meant to serve as a guide to further research on virtual communities and the issues that surround online life. In addition, I carried out a literature review. wrote a report, was a fact checker, and acted as a bibliographic assistant to the author. Researcher and Project Manager for an Academic Study, October 1999 - February 2000 This research project was developed to find out the condition of email reference service in Canadian public libraries. My part of the project included working with the principal researcher to develop the questions used in the study deciding which libraries to include and collecting their ask a librarian contact information creating the email addresses that were used to send the inquiries to the libraries sending out the email reference questions each week and collecting the answers researching articles written about email reference and compiling an annotated bibliography based on them. I also asked the libraries used in the study for their email reference service policy if they had one. I then compiled all the answers. With more and more libraries offering to answer questions electronically, the researchers were interested in studying the accuracy of the answers that were supplied by the surveyed librarians, their timeliness in answering, and the overall effectiveness of digital reference desks and ask a librarian programs. We were also interested in finding out why libraries were offering email reference and if its integration changed reference departments. The offering of email reference service is a significant step in the development of the concept of a virtual library. The continuing growth in the number of libraries with access to electronic data networks is beginning to impact the way these organizations conduct their business. For library clients, this promises both more convenient access to information and to library professionals. Clients will increasingly expect to access information and the services of librarians at work and at home. Libraries will increasingly have new opportunities to deliver services, such as reference services, to users who now find it difficult or inconvenient to visit the library. However, if remote reference services are to become common, it is necessary for the information profession to prepare now by identifying both advantages and problems for clients and reference intermediaries alike. One problem in providing reference service over an electronic data network is replacing the face-to-face reference interview, which allows for immediate clarification because of its interactive nature. Can an electronic interaction be equally effective Verbal and non-verbal channels, such as inflections and paralinguistic devices are often equally important in a reference interview. Many of these cues are, of course, not present in an electronic interview. New and rich protocols for communicating non-verbal signals will no doubt develop to fill the void. Here is a sample of the questions used in the study: When did Kitchener, Ontario change its name from Berlin Would you happen to know what the date was for the so-called Fog Bowl It was a football game in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Would you able to tell me how many Grammy Awards that Celine Dion has won I am looking for the postal address of the British Records Office in London, England. It is the office that handles public records. On what date will Easter 2067 fall Could you tell me what the Consumer Price Index was for September 1999 in Canada and I am trying to find out the date when and the place where the tidal wave hit Newfoundland. For comparison purposes, this unobtrusive study was repeated during the Winter of 2002. Meta Tag Creator, Search Engine Optimizer, Website Content Developer, and Editor for a South Louisiana Arts Portal, September - October 1999 I created a series of meta tags, including the Dublin Core sets, for a large number of websites under the umbrella of the portal, and wrote contentedited all websites. Researcher for the National Research Council of Canada, July - December 1999 This was an extensive research project that included a sweep of the Internet, academic databases, and library OPACs for the latest information on virtual communities, scenario planning. online culture. innovazione. future scenarios. systems thinking. and avatar technology. I read all materials, wrote several reports, and developed a series of PowerPoint slide decks for use in federal government departments. Researcher and Website Content Developer for a Louisiana Art Consortium, July - August 1999 Primarily, my job was to research American copyright law as it pertains to artists. I also helped to design the website, create the content, and develop the meta tags. Search engine submission and optimization were also a part of the project. Researcher for the CanLearn Educational Database, February - September 1999 The nature of my work was to sweep the Internet for websites featuring Canadian educational businesses, organizations, associations, scholarships, student loans, schools, indices, language training courses, literacy centers, and other education choices, such as home schooling and private school programs. I also helped to develop the categorization schema used for classification, and worked with the programmers to create the interface for an online database that was eventually used to input all websites. Once I found an appropriate website, I created an annotated record for it and then inputted the data into the database. I was also expected to evaluate the process on an ongoing basis. CanLearn is the only online post-secondary education resource that provides Canadians with the information and services they need to decide what and where to study and how to cover the costs. The CanLearn site was developed by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments and Canadian learning and career development organizations. It provides all the necessary resources, from interactive planning tools to information about savings programs, student loans, and scholarships, to Canadians facing important decisions when saving for, selecting and financing their post-secondary education. It also provides Canadian governments, learning institutions, and other organizations with the means to collaborate on the provision of information and planning tools for Canadians. Researcher for the National Research Council of Canada. February 1999 For this project, I was required to perform both a literature review and a sweep of the Internet for particular deliverables that helped to prepare a strategic government analyst for a European conference on information and knowledge management. I read all the articles and pulled important points from each. I then wrote a paper on KM to summarize my findings. The literature review, the articles, and the report were all sent to the client. Above all, companies, governments, and large corporations often do not know what they know. Knowledge management attempts to prevent problems such as lost knowledge or lost income by establishing human and technological networks capable of harnessing a companys collective expertise and experience. The move from an industrial-based economy to a knowledge or information-based one demands a top-notch knowledge management system to secure a competitive edge and a capacity for learning. An organizations ability to quickly tap into its internal wisdom gives it a competitive edge in the marketplace. As a result, knowledge is displacing capital, natural resources, and labor as the basic economic resource. Governments know this all too well. Researcher for the Canadian Directorate of Museums, December 1998 - January 1999 My job was to find out how many international museums have an online presence and then establish what these institutions offered as far as web-based educational materials. I was also required to do a literature review for the latest research on visual literacy, in hopes of making a case for including visual art in school curricula, regardless of the size and means of the school district. I printed off all relevant articles and mailed them to the executive director. Part of the research was used in preparation for a speech given at an American Association of Museums conference for educators in the United States. Researcher for Indexing Research. New York, November 1998 This project was centered around finding out how many United States public and academic libraries index their local newspapers. I visited hundreds of library websites looking for the information and made several phone calls to library directors asking if their libraries indexed the local newspapers. Many did. The information was needed for the value-added component of a proposal submitted to the federal government for a major legacy indexing project of American newspapers. I also ran some statistics and wrote a report of the findings. Researcher for Unobtrusive Evaluation of Reference Service and Individual Responsibility: The Canadian Experience. April - December 1998 The nature of my work was to conduct a literature review of the latest materials published on a wide range of topics, including reference services and American and Canadian government information policies. Primarily, I used Dialog. LexisNexis. Library Literature. the Internet, and library catalogues for the various literature reviews I compiled, but also manually reviewed many journals and books for the needed information. I then read, evaluated the materials, and wrote one to two page summaries for over two hundred separate works. You can view some of my research notes for this book at Government Documents Research. If democracy is dependent upon governments providing equitable, free, and easy access to its information resources, then programs such as the Federal Depository Library Program must be considered integral components of the governments dissemination machine. The most important argument against a one hundred percent electronic universe for government information is that it prevents many users from having access to important government information. From lack of technological finesse, lack of money to buy the necessary equipment, to lack of training, there are many reasons why individuals will be prevented from having access. Furthermore, many depository libraries do not have the needed equipment, the infrastructure, nor enough trained staff to facilitate the transition to electronic government information. There has been inadequate federal planning and policy directives to ensure that libraries and their staff can move from a traditional model of librarianship to one which makes resources available to the public in electronic formats. Librarians need to be able to access, use, and communicate network literacy to the population, if the strategies of NII and NREN (National Research and Education Network) are to be successful and widespread throughout society. Therefore, strategies must be developed to ensure that electronic technologies will become integral in the 21st Century, as well as capable of bringing different segments of society together (i. e. the haves and the have-nots) able to promote social equity in terms of network literacy and enhance the role of libraries and educators to bring about the desired objectives. Researcher and Writer, Current Events Awareness Study, February - August 1998 The study attempted to find out the state of information access to current event inquiries as it pertains to national newspaper articles in public library settings. My duties included assisting in developing the areas of inquiry, helping to create the questions used in the study, and making over three hundred phone calls to a series of public libraries across Canada. Subsequently, I wrote a detailed report of the findings. In this study, we discuss, from a historical perspective, the value of reading newspapers as an integral part of reference service provision. We then examine, through an unobtrusive test of telephone reference service at twenty-one public libraries in Canada, whether reference staff are paying attention to newspapers in their work. We drew questions requiring short factual answers from the national paper of record, The Globe and Mail . We asked these questions 231 times. We found that respondents answered 19.5 percent of these questions accurately, and made referrals to external agencies about one quarter of the time. When we followed up on these referrals, we found that 60 percent of them led to accurate answers. Patrons who ask telephone reference questions can therefore expect to get an accurate answer at a rate of 34.2 percent, including successful referrals to external sources. This relatively low level of accuracy could cause the loyalty of patrons to their public libraries to erode, since at least one management study of high-level business executives has suggested that accuracy is the most important factor in determining service quality. Libraries might want to institute policies that provide time for their reference staff to read newspapers and magazines. Schools of library and information science might wish to stress the value of keeping up with current events in the syllabi of any reference courses that they offer. Patrons have many reasons for making a telephone reference inquiry rather than a physical visit to the library. Certainly, many patrons could come into the library, but there are just as many patrons who are unable to visit the library. They might be strapped for time, or they might be unable to get to the library because of physical constraints or the lack of transportation. In these instances, a reference staff member who suggests that a patron come into the library to look for an answer might not be offering a real alternative. In the study reported here, 36.4 percent of telephone reference inquiries ended in the patron being told to visit the library. In light of this, Canadian public libraries may wish to consider instituting a telephone reference system of the kind Tour described, when visiting the library to get an answer is not a requirement. These are the eleven questions used in the study. Following each question is the bibliographical information for each news story: 1.) Do you know where I could find a copy of the official CIA report about the Bay of Pigs (C. I.A. Bares Own Bungling in 61 Report on Bay of Pigs, New York Times . Feb. 22, 1998, A1, A6 Secret Report Blames CIA for Bay of Pigs Fiasco, The Globe and Mail . Feb. 23, 1998, A11.) 2.) Can you give me some information about whether the musical work Symphony No. 3 by the British composer Sir Edward Elgar has ever been finished (A Change of Heart Brings a New Elgar Work, New York Times . Mar. 12, 1998, B1, B9 Pomp and Circumstance, The Globe and Mail . Mar. 14, 1998, C17.) 3.) Can you tell me the name of the architect for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC (Museum of the Indian Drops its Designer, New York Times . Apr. 4, 1998, A13, A15 Cardinal Ignores Dismissal Notice, The Globe and Mail . Apr. 7, 1998, C1, C2.) 4.) Could you provide me with any kind of list of all the plants that are endangered globally (One in Every 8 Plant Species is Imperiled, a Survey Finds, New York Times . April 9, 1998, A1, A22 Plant Species Threat Cited, The Globe and Mail . Apr. 9, 1998, A15.) 5.) Has there ever been a credit union owned by blacks in Canada If so, could you provide me with some details (A Community Loses its Line of Credit, The Globe and Mail . May 1, 1998, A2.) 6.) Do you know of any publication that provides a list of abandoned communities (towns, villages, outports) in Newfoundland (Whats Lost and Whats in Danger, The Globe and Mail . May 4, 1998, A13 op-ed page.) 7.) Are there any statistics available on how many children have been using Ritalin in Quebec in the last few years (Ritalin Raises Alarm in Quebec, The Globe and Mail . May 27, 1998, A1, A5.) 8.) Are you aware of any studies that link how well CEOs of companies play golf with how well their companies perform on the stock market (Duffers Need Not Apply, New York Times . May 31, 1998, Section 3, p. 1 Study Links Golf to Great Returns, The Globe and Mail . Jun. 2, 1998, B12.) 9.) Can you give me some information about the first person to circumnavigate the world solo (A Hero Except Back Home, The Globe and Mail . Jul. 17, 1998, A2 Canadas Own Ancient Mariner, The Globe and Mail . Jul. 18, 1998, D16 front page of weekend book section.) 10.) Could you give me some information as to whether it is legal to sell the manganese-based gasoline octane booster MMT in Canada (Threat of NAFTA Case Kills Canadas MMT Ban, The Globe and Mail . Jul. 20, 1998, A1, A5 Gas War: The Fall and Rise of MMT, The Globe and Mail . Jul. 24, 1998, A1, A5.) 11.) Id like some information about the approximate number of native artifacts that have to be returned by Canadian museums under the terms of the Nisgaa treaty with the federal government and British Columbia. (A Time for Giving Back, The Globe and Mail . Aug. 1, 1998, C1, C8.) See findings in: Dilevko, J. and E. Dolan. Reference Work and the Value of Reading Newspapers: An Unobtrusive Study of Telephone Reference Service . Reference amp User Services Quarterly 39 . no. 1 (1999): 71-81 . Researcher, Website Evaluation Study, Fall 1997Summer 1998 With the assistance of students from two government documents classes at the University of Western Ontario library school. a comparative study was done on a large number of American and Canadian government information websites. We were investigating how well the sites did when it came to scope, currency, accuracy, ease of use, organization, appeal, search capabilities, quality of online materials, and learning factors. My primary duties included entering the data into Excel, creating graphs and charts, and collocating the written summaries. For statistical purposes, the websites were classified into the following categories: 1. Finance: treasury, finance, commerce, auditor general, management and budget, privatization, management board secretariat, the GAO, and revenue 2. Justice: crime, attorney general, justice, and solicitor general 3. Public Services: transport, health, social services, communications, education, census, energy, consumerism, citizen and culture, housing, travel, heritage, statscan, defense, veteran affairs, and women 4. Environment: environment, natural resources, fisheries, the department of the interior, Indian affairs, agriculture, and the EPA 5. International Affairs: foreign, international industry, immigration, and international trade and 6. Economic Development: opportunity agency, labour, economic development, human resources, industry, and ACOA. Research Assistant, November 1997 - May 1998 I was the researcher for a study carried out on behalf of the Federal Depository Services Program, Public Access Services Division (Bruno Gnassi). Providing Canadian citizens with free, equitable, timely, and uncomplicated access to federal government information is a national and worthy goal. Now that official publications in print form are gradually being replaced by electronic documents increasingly available on the Internet, systematic examination of the capabilities of federal depository libraries to provide permanent access and quality reference service to the Canadian public is essential. The study reported here was funded by the Depository Services Program (DSP), Public Works and Government Services, Canada, and undertaken by researchers in the Program of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario. For this investigation, a set of government documents-related questions were developed and tested for use in an unobtrusive evaluation of full and selective depositories in academic and public libraries located across the five geographic and socio-cultural regions of Canada. The purpose of this study was to investigate how well library staff members in Canadian federal depository libraries are answering government documents reference questions and whether they are using Internet-accessible and web-based sources to do so. Research questions were formulated as follows: what is the degree of accuracy of government reference service in Canadian academic and public libraries that participate in the Depository Services Program, as measured by the number of complete answers supplied by library personnel to specific questions To what extent do staff members in these libraries make use of electronic information sources such as CD-ROMs and the range of websites made available by the Canadian federal government and which categories of government reference questions are the most difficult to answer for library personnel at depository libraries While there are legislative libraries with full depository status in most provinces, public access to government documents is most readily achieved through public and academic libraries. Accordingly, the research questions developed for this study were examined through the lens of four categories of depository libraries: academic full depositories, academic selective depositories, public full depositories, and public selective depositories. This study was conducted using paid proxies in a cross-country unobtrusive evaluation of reference service at academic and public depositories. The quality of reference service was operationally defined as the percentage of complete or combined complete and partially complete answers to 15 government documents questions. Selection of tested libraries was based on a proportionally stratified cluster sample. In the first instance, proportional stratification was effected on the basis of the five geographic areas of Canada. On the second level, clusters of cities and towns within the geographic areas were identified, and a sample of public and academic depository libraries was taken to reflect the proportion of these libraries in the depository system as a whole. Fifteen different questions were asked a total of 488 times at 104 libraries in 30 metropolitan census areas as defined by Statistics Canada. Each proxy package consisted of 15 different questions and a brief survey form. Proxies were recruited from students enrolled in the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program of the University of Western Ontario (UWO). Questions were asked from 10 December 1997 to 10 February 1998 - a period during which many students traditionally return to their hometowns for the holiday season. To a certain extent, cities chosen for the study were determined by the travel plans of the proxies. My specific duties included collection of the survey data, inputting it all into Excel, creating a series of tables and charts, and helping to analyze the findings. In addition, I was expected to follow-up on over two hundred referrals received from the initial inquiries made by our proxies. ( See findings in the government document entitled: Government Documents Reference Service in Canada: Implications for Electronic Access Ottawa, Ont. Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1999. - vii, 100 p. 111 p. vii). Halvorson, Ray (2011). Finding Your Way Home . Dawson MediaNavPress. Halvorson, Ray (2011). The Worlds Fourth Great Religion . Dawson MediaNavPress. Aretha, David (2009). Glacier National Park . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Mason, Moya K. (2010). The History of Female Roman Gladiators. Mason, Moya K. (2009). The Perils and Rewards of Incorporating the Master Cleanse into Your Diet. Young, Jeff C. (2009). Inspiring African-American Inventors: Nine Extraordinary Lives . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Streissguth, Thomas (2008). Americas Security Agencies: The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, NSA, and CIA (Federal Government) . MyReportlinksJankowski, Susan (2008). Everglades National Park: Adventure, Explore, Discover . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Mason, Moya K. (2008). Profile on German Insurance Market. OShei, Tim (2008). Philo T. Farnsworth: Visionary Inventor of Television . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Mason, Moya K. (2008). Profile on Colombian Insurance Market. Bozonelis, Helen Koutras (2008). A Look at the Nineteenth Amendment Women Win the Right to Vote . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Mason, Moya K. (2008). Profile of the South Korean Insurance Market. Mason, Moya K. (2008). Nanotechnology and the Cosmetics Industry. Aretha, David (2007). Power in Pinstripes: The New York Yankees . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Favor, Lesli J. Ph. D. (2007). Weighing in: Nutrition and Weight Management . Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books. Feinstein, Stephen (2007). The Bighorn Sheep: Help Save This Endangered Species . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Favor, Lesli J. Ph. D. (2007). Food As Foe: Nutrition and Eating Disorders . Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books. Graham, Amy (2007). A Look at the Eighteenth and Twenty-first Amendments The Prohibition and Sale of Intoxicating Liquors . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Holtzman, David (2006). Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy . New York, NY: John Wiley amp Sons, Inc. Fletcher, Marty, and Glenn Scherer (2006). The Green Sea Turtle . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Feinstein, Stephen (2005). Ancient Mesopotamia . MyReportlinksHansen, Mark Victor, and Robert Allen (2005). Cracking the Millionaire Code: Your Key to Enlightened Wealth . New York: Harmony Books. Ka-wai Fan. Searching for Chinese History Journals Online . The Electronic Library 23(5): 603-613 (2005).Connelly, Elizabeth Russell (2005). Predatory Drugs Busted . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Palenque, Stephanie Maher (2005). Crack Cocaine Busted . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. OConnell, Kim A. (2005). Pluto . Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. Mason, Moya K. (2004). What Can We Learn from the Rest of the World A Look at International Electronic Health Record Best Practices . (Canada Health Infoway report).Ka-wai Fan and Celine Yuen Yan Lai. Review of the Web Sites for Chinese Archaeology . New Information Perspectives 56(4):255-264 (2004).Lieurance, Suzanne (2004). The Ancient Maya . MyReportlinksSmith, Jack and Moya K. Mason. Learning From Technology Foresight Connections . Presented at the EU-US Scientific Seminar, 13-14 May 2004 in Seville, Spain. Mason, Moya K. Jack Smith, and Hassan Masum (editors). Science and Technology Foresight Web Conference . (government report, July 2003).Dilevko, J. and L. Gottlieb (2004). Reading and the Reference Librarian: The Importance to Library Service of Staff Reading Habits . Jefferson, NC: McFarland amp Co. Dilevko, J. and L. Gottlieb (2003). Weed to Achieve: A Fundamental Part of the Public Library Mission . Library Collections, Acquisitions, amp Technical Services . 27(1), 73-96.Ka-wai Fan. Electronic Resources for Chinese Studies and East Asian Libraries . New Library World . Vol. 104, No. 1193, pp. 404-411 (2003).Dilevko, J. and K. Dali (2002). The Challenge of Building Multilingual Collections in Canadian Public Libraries . Library Resources amp Technical Services . Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 116-137.Dilevko, J. (2002). The Working Life of Southern NGOs: Juggling the Promise of Information and Communication Technologies and the Perils of Relationships With International NGOs (pp. 67-94). In Peter Hajnal (ed.), Civil Society in the Information Age . Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. Rheingold, Howard (2002). Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution . New York, NY: Perseus Publishing. Dilevko, Juris (2000). Unobtrusive Evaluation of Reference Service and Individual Responsibility: The Canadian Experience . Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers. Rheingold, Howard (2000). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier . revised edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Dilevko, Juris. La Francophonie: An Emerging International Governmental Organization . In International Information, Volume 2: Documents, Publications, and Electronic Information of International Organizations . 2a ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. pp. 108-137.Mason, Moya K. Scenario Planning, Science and Technology, National Research and Societal Considerations . (government report, September 2000).Dilevko, J. and M. Mason. Why You Should Read the Papers: Improving Reference Service in Public Libraries . Public Libraries . Vol. 39, No. 2 (MarchApril 2000).Dilevko. Juris. What Patrons Say About Library Staff When Asking Government Documents Reference Questions at Depository Libraries . Journal of Government Information 27 (2000) 299-323.Dilevko, J. and Elizabeth Dolan. Government Documents Reference Service in Canada: A Nationwide Unobtrusive Study of Public and Academic Depository Libraries . Library and Information Science Research . Vol. 22, No. 2, June 2000, pp. 185-222(38).Mason, Moya K. Avatar Technology (government report, November 1999).Dilevko, J. and E. Dolan. Reference Work and the Value of Reading Newspapers: An Unobtrusive Study of Telephone Reference Service . Reference amp User Services Quarterly . Vol. 39, No. 1 (1999): 71-81.Mason, Moya K. Knowledge Management: The Essence of the Competitive Edge (government report, September 1999).Mason, Moya K. Future Scenarios: The Art of Storytelling (government report, August 1999).Dilevko, J. and E. Dolan. Government Documents Reference Service in Canada: Implications for Electronic Access . Ottawa, Ont. Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1999. - vii, 100 p. 111 p. viii. Click to submit poems to DayPoems, comment on DayPoems or a poem within, comment on other poetry sites, update links, or simply get in touch. DayPoems Forum . Project Gutenberg. a huge collection of books as text, produced as a volunteer enterprise starting in 1990. This is the source of the first poetry placed on DayPoems. Tina Blues Beginners Guide to Prosody. exactly what the title says, and well worth reading. Epicanthic Fold. If a guy somewhere in Asia makes a blog and no one reads it, does it really exist popomo. miniature, minimalist-inspired sculptures created from industrial cereamics, an art project at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. pink. popomo. More projects from Portland oarena. Furby, Eliza, MrFriss and MissFriss. Save Point 0.8.1. a Portland, Oregon, exhibit, Aug. 13-Sept. 5, 2004, at Disjecta. Song of Myself By Walt Whitman I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, formd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. Creeds and schools in abeyance, Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten, I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy. Houses and rooms are full of perfumes, the shelves are crowded with perfumes, I breathe the fragrance myself and know it and like it, The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it. The atmosphere is not a perfume, it has no taste of the distillation, it is odorless, It is for my mouth forever, I am in love with it, I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked, I am mad for it to be in contact with me. The smoke of my own breath, Echoes, ripples, buzzd whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine, My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air through my lungs, The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and dark-colord sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn, The sound of the belchd words of my voice loosd to the eddies of the wind, A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms, The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag, The delight alone or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hill-sides, The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun. Have you reckond a thousand acres much have you reckond the earth much Have you practisd so long to learn to read Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems, You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, But I do not talk of the beginning or the end. There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now. Urge and urge and urge, Always the procreant urge of the world. Out of the dimness opposite equals advance, always substance and increase, always sex, Always a knit of identity, always distinction, always a breed of life. To elaborate is no avail, learnd and unlearnd feel that it is so. Sure as the most certain sure, plumb in the uprights, well entretied, braced in the beams, Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical, I and this mystery here we stand. Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul. Lack one lacks both, and the unseen is proved by the seen, Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn. Showing the best and dividing it from the worst age vexes age, Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things, while they discuss I am silent, and go bathe and admire myself. Welcome is every organ and attribute of me, and of any man hearty and clean, Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile, and none shall be less familiar than the rest. I am satisfied--I see, dance, laugh, sing As the hugging and loving bed-fellow sleeps at my side through the night, and withdraws at the peep of the day with stealthy tread, Leaving me baskets coverd with white towels swelling the house with their plenty, Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my eyes, That they turn from gazing after and down the road, And forthwith cipher and show me to a cent, Exactly the value of one and exactly the value of two, and which is ahead Trippers and askers surround me, People I meet, the effect upon me of my early life or the ward and city I live in, or the nation, The latest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors old and new, My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues, The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love, The sickness of one of my folks or of myself, or ill-doing or loss or lack of money, or depressions or exaltations, Battles, the horrors of fratricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events These come to me days and nights and go from me again, But they are not the Me myself. Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am, Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary, Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest, Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next, Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it. Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders, I have no mockings or arguments, I witness and wait. I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself to you, And you must not be abased to the other. Loafe with me on the grass, loose the stop from your throat, Not words, not music or rhyme I want, not custom or lecture, not even the best, Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice. I mind how once we lay such a transparent summer morning, How you settled your head athwart my hips and gently turnd over upon me, And parted the shirt from my bosom-bone, and plunged your tongue to my bare-stript heart, And reachd till you felt my beard, and reachd till you held my feet. Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth, And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own, And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own, And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers, And that a kelson of the creation is love, And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields, And brown ants in the little wells beneath them, And mossy scabs of the worm fence, heapd stones, elder, mullein and poke-weed. A child said What is the grass fetching it to me with full hands How could I answer the child I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owners name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation. Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic, And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, Growing among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same. And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves. Tenderly will I use you curling grass, It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men, It may be if I had known them I would have loved them, It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mothers laps, And here you are the mothers laps. This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers, Darker than the colorless beards of old men, Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths. O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues, And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing. I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women, And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps. What do you think has become of the young and old men And what do you think has become of the women and children They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceasd the moment life appeard. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier. Has any one supposed it lucky to be born I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it. I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-washd babe, and am not containd between my hat and boots, And peruse manifold objects, no two alike and every one good, The earth good and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good. I am not an earth nor an adjunct of an earth, I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself, (They do not know how immortal, but I know.) Every kind for itself and its own, for me mine male and female, For me those that have been boys and that love women, For me the man that is proud and feels how it stings to be slighted, For me the sweet-heart and the old maid, for me mothers and the mothers of mothers, For me lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears, For me children and the begetters of children. Undrape you are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded, I see through the broadcloth and gingham whether or no, And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken away. The little one sleeps in its cradle, I lift the gauze and look a long time, and silently brush away flies with my hand. The youngster and the red-faced girl turn aside up the bushy hill, I peeringly view them from the top. The suicide sprawls on the bloody floor of the bedroom, I witness the corpse with its dabbled hair, I note where the pistol has fallen. The blab of the pave, tires of carts, sluff of boot-soles, talk of the promenaders, The heavy omnibus, the driver with his interrogating thumb, the clank of the shod horses on the granite floor, The snow-sleighs, clinking, shouted jokes, pelts of snow-balls, The hurrahs for popular favorites, the fury of rousd mobs, The flap of the curtaind litter, a sick man inside borne to the hospital, The meeting of enemies, the sudden oath, the blows and fall, The excited crowd, the policeman with his star quickly working his passage to the centre of the crowd, The impassive stones that receive and return so many echoes, What groans of over-fed or half-starvd who fall sunstruck or in fits, What exclamations of women taken suddenly who hurry home and give birth to babes, What living and buried speech is always vibrating here, what howls restraind by decorum, Arrests of criminals, slights, adulterous offers made, acceptances, rejections with convex lips, I mind them or the show or resonance of them--I come and I depart. The big doors of the country barn stand open and ready, The dried grass of the harvest-time loads the slow-drawn wagon, The clear light plays on the brown gray and green intertinged, The armfuls are packd to the sagging mow. I am there, I help, I came stretchd atop of the load, I felt its soft jolts, one leg reclined on the other, I jump from the cross-beams and seize the clover and timothy, And roll head over heels and tangle my hair full of wisps. Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt, Wandering amazed at my own lightness and glee, In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to pass the night, Kindling a fire and broiling the fresh-killd game, Falling asleep on the gatherd leaves with my dog and gun by my side. The Yankee clipper is under her sky-sails, she cuts the sparkle and scud, My eyes settle the land, I bend at her prow or shout joyously from the deck. The boatmen and clam-diggers arose early and stopt for me, I tuckd my trowser-ends in my boots and went and had a good time You should have been with us that day round the chowder-kettle. I saw the marriage of the trapper in the open air in the far west, the bride was a red girl, Her father and his friends sat near cross-legged and dumbly smoking, they had moccasins to their feet and large thick blankets hanging from their shoulders, On a bank lounged the trapper, he was drest mostly in skins, his luxuriant beard and curls protected his neck, he held his bride by the hand, She had long eyelashes, her head was bare, her coarse straight locks descended upon her voluptuous limbs and reachd to her feet. The runaway slave came to my house and stopt outside, I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the woodpile, Through the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limpsy and weak, And went where he sat on a log and led him in and assured him, And brought water and filld a tub for his sweated body and bruisd feet, And gave him a room that enterd from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes, And remember perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness, And remember putting piasters on the galls of his neck and ankles He staid with me a week before he was recuperated and passd north, I had him sit next me at table, my fire-lock leand in the corner. Twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore, Twenty-eight young men and all so friendly Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome. She owns the fine house by the rise of the bank, She hides handsome and richly drest aft the blinds of the window. Which of the young men does she like the best Ah the homeliest of them is beautiful to her. Where are you off to, lady for I see you, You splash in the water there, yet stay stock still in your room. Dancing and laughing along the beach came the twenty-ninth bather, The rest did not see her, but she saw them and loved them. The beards of the young men glistend with wet, it ran from their long hair, Little streams passd all over their bodies. An unseen hand also passd over their bodies, It descended tremblingly from their temples and ribs. The young men float on their backs, their white bellies bulge to the sun, they do not ask who seizes fast to them, They do not know who puffs and declines with pendant and bending arch, They do not think whom they souse with spray. The butcher-boy puts off his killing-clothes, or sharpens his knife at the stall in the market, I loiter enjoying his repartee and his shuffle and break-down. Blacksmiths with grimed and hairy chests environ the anvil, Each has his main-sledge, they are all out, there is a great heat in the fire. From the cinder-strewd threshold I follow their movements, The lithe sheer of their waists plays even with their massive arms, Overhand the hammers swing, overhand so slow, overhand so sure, They do not hasten, each man hits in his place. The negro holds firmly the reins of his four horses, the block swags underneath on its tied-over chain, The negro that drives the long dray of the stone-yard, steady and tall he stands poisd on one leg on the string-piece, His blue shirt exposes his ample neck and breast and loosens over his hip-band, His glance is calm and commanding, he tosses the slouch of his hat away from his forehead, The sun falls on his crispy hair and mustache, falls on the black of his polishd and perfect limbs. I behold the picturesque giant and love him, and I do not stop there, I go with the team also. In me the caresser of life wherever moving, backward as well as forward sluing, To niches aside and junior bending, not a person or object missing, Absorbing all to myself and for this song. Oxen that rattle the yoke and chain or halt in the leafy shade, what is that you express in your eyes It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life. My tread scares the wood-drake and wood-duck on my distant and day-long ramble, They rise together, they slowly circle around. I believe in those wingd purposes, And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me, And consider green and violet and the tufted crown intentional, And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else, And the in the woods never studied the gamut, yet trills pretty well to me, And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me. The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night, Ya-honk he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation, The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listening close, Find its purpose and place up there toward the wintry sky. The sharp-hoofd moose of the north, the cat on the house-sill, the chickadee, the prairie-dog, The litter of the grunting sow as they tug at her teats, The brood of the turkey-hen and she with her half-spread wings, I see in them and myself the same old law. The press of my foot to the earth springs a hundred affections, They scorn the best I can do to relate them. I am enamourd of growing out-doors, Of men that live among cattle or taste of the ocean or woods, Of the builders and steerers of ships and the wielders of axes and mauls, and the drivers of horses, I can eat and sleep with them week in and week out. What is commonest, cheapest, nearest, easiest, is Me, Me going in for my chances, spending for vast returns, Adorning myself to bestow myself on the first that will take me, Not asking the sky to come down to my good will, Scattering it freely forever. The pure contralto sings in the organ loft, The carpenter dresses his plank, the tongue of his foreplane whistles its wild ascending lisp, The married and unmarried children ride home to their Thanksgiving dinner, The pilot seizes the king-pin, he heaves down with a strong arm, The mate stands braced in the whale-boat, lance and harpoon are ready, The duck-shooter walks by silent and cautious stretches, The deacons are ordaind with crossd hands at the altar, The spinning-girl retreats and advances to the hum of the big wheel, The farmer stops by the bars as he walks on a First-day loafe and looks at the oats and rye, The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum a confirmd case, (He will never sleep any more as he did in the cot in his mothers bed-room) The jour printer with gray head and gaunt jaws works at his case, He turns his quid of tobacco while his eyes blurr with the manuscript The malformd limbs are tied to the surgeons table, What is removed drops horribly in a pail The quadroon girl is sold at the auction-stand, the drunkard nods by the bar-room stove, The machinist rolls up his sleeves, the policeman travels his beat, the gate-keeper marks who pass, The young fellow drives the express-wagon, (I love him, though I do not know him) The half-breed straps on his light boots to compete in the race, The western turkey-shooting draws old and young, some lean on their rifles, some sit on logs, Out from the crowd steps the marksman, takes his position, levels his piece The groups of newly-come immigrants cover the wharf or levee, As the woolly-pates hoe in the sugar-field, the overseer views them from his saddle, The bugle calls in the ball-room, the gentlemen run for their partners, the dancers bow to each other, The youth lies awake in the cedar-roofd garret and harks to the musical rain, The Wolverine sets traps on the creek that helps fill the Huron, The squaw wrapt in her yellow-hemmd cloth is offering moccasins and bead-bags for sale, The connoisseur peers along the exhibition-gallery with half-shut eyes bent sideways, As the deck-hands make fast the steamboat the plank is thrown for the shore-going passengers, The young sister holds out the skein while the elder sister winds it off in a ball, and stops now and then for the knots, The one-year wife is recovering and happy having a week ago borne her first child, The clean-haird Yankee girl works with her sewing-machine or in the factory or mill, The paving-man leans on his two-handed rammer, the reporters lead flies swiftly over the note-book, the sign-painter is lettering with blue and gold, The canal boy trots on the tow-path, the book-keeper counts at his desk, the shoemaker waxes his thread, The conductor beats time for the band and all the performers follow him, The child is baptized, the convert is making his first professions, The regatta is spread on the bay, the race is begun, (how the white sails sparkle) The drover watching his drove sings out to them that would stray, The pedler sweats with his pack on his back, (the purchaser higgling about the odd cent) The bride unrumples her white dress, the minute-hand of the clock moves slowly, The opium-eater reclines with rigid head and just-opend lips, The prostitute draggles her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck, The crowd laugh at her blackguard oaths, the men jeer and wink to each other, (Miserable I do not laugh at your oaths nor jeer you) The President holding a cabinet council is surrounded by the great Secretaries, On the piazza walk three matrons stately and friendly with twined arms, The crew of the fish-smack pack repeated layers of halibut in the hold, The Missourian crosses the plains toting his wares and his cattle, As the fare-collector goes through the train he gives notice by the jingling of loose change, The floor-men are laying the floor, the tinners are tinning the roof, the masons are calling for mortar, In single file each shouldering his hod pass onward the laborers Seasons pursuing each other the indescribable crowd is gatherd, it is the fourth of Seventh-month, (what salutes of cannon and small arms) Seasons pursuing each other the plougher ploughs, the mower mows, and the winter-grain falls in the ground Off on the lakes the pike-fisher watches and waits by the hole in the frozen surface, The stumps stand thick round the clearing, the squatter strikes deep with his axe, Flatboatmen make fast towards dusk near the cotton-wood or pecan-trees, Coon-seekers go through the regions of the Red river or through those draind by the Tennessee, or through those of the Arkansas, Torches shine in the dark that hangs on the Chattahooche or Altamahaw, Patriarchs sit at supper with sons and grandsons and great-grandsons around them, In walls of adobie, in canvas tents, rest hunters and trappers after their days sport, The city sleeps and the country sleeps, The living sleep for their time, the dead sleep for their time, The old husband sleeps by his wife and the young husband sleeps by his wife And these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them, And such as it is to be of these more or less I am, And of these one and all I weave the song of myself. I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise, Regardless of others, ever regardful of others, Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man, Stuffd with the stuff that is coarse and stuffd with the stuff that is fine, One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the largest the same, A Southerner soon as a Northerner, a planter nonchalant and hospitable down by the Oconee I live, A Yankee bound my own way ready for trade, my joints the limberest joints on earth and the sternest joints on earth, A Kentuckian walking the vale of the Elkhorn in my deer-skin leggings, a Louisianian or Georgian, A boatman over lakes or bays or along coasts, a Hoosier, Badger, Buckeye At home on Kanadian snow-shoes or up in the bush, or with fishermen off Newfoundland, At home in the fleet of ice-boats, sailing with the rest and tacking, At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the Texan ranch, Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North-Westerners, (loving their big proportions,) Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat, A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest, A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons, Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion, A farmer, mechanic, artist, gentleman, sailor, quaker, Prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician, priest. I resist any thing better than my own diversity, Breathe the air but leave plenty after me, And am not stuck up, and am in my place. (The moth and the fish-eggs are in their place, The bright suns I see and the dark suns I cannot see are in their place, The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.) These are really the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me, If they are not yours as much as mine they are nothing, or next to nothing, If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle they are nothing, If they are not just as close as they are distant they are nothing. This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the water is, This the common air that bathes the globe. With music strong I come, with my cornets and my drums, I play not marches for accepted victors only, I play marches for conquerd and slain persons. Have you heard that it was good to gain the day I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won. I beat and pound for the dead, I blow through my embouchures my loudest and gayest for them. Vivas to those who have faild And to those whose war-vessels sank in the sea And to those themselves who sank in the sea And to all generals that lost engagements, and all overcome heroes And the numberless unknown heroes equal to the greatest heroes known This is the meal equally set, this the meat for natural hunger, It is for the wicked just same as the righteous, I make appointments with all, I will not have a single person slighted or left away, The kept-woman, sponger, thief, are hereby invited, The heavy-lippd slave is invited, the venerealee is invited There shall be no difference between them and the rest. This is the press of a bashful hand, this the float and odor of hair, This the touch of my lips to yours, this the murmur of yearning, This the far-off depth and height reflecting my own face, This the thoughtful merge of myself, and the outlet again. Do you guess I have some intricate purpose Well I have, for the Fourth-month showers have, and the mica on the side of a rock has. Do you take it I would astonish Does the daylight astonish does the early redstart twittering through the woods Do I astonish more than they This hour I tell things in confidence, I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you. Who goes there hankering, gross, mystical, nude How is it I extract strength from the beef I eat What is a man anyhow what am I what are you All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own, Else it were time lost listening to me. I do not snivel that snivel the world over, That months are vacuums and the ground but wallow and filth. Whimpering and truckling fold with powders for invalids, conformity goes to the fourth-removd, I wear my hat as I please indoors or out. Why should I pray why should I venerate and be ceremonious Having pried through the strata, analyzed to a hair, counseld with doctors and calculated close, I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones. In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barley-corn less, And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them. I know I am solid and sound, To me the converging objects of the universe perpetually flow, All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means. I know I am deathless, I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenters compass, I know I shall not pass like a childs carlacue cut with a burnt stick at night. I know I am august, I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood, I see that the elementary laws never apologize, (I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my house by, after all.) I exist as I am, that is enough, If no other in the world be aware I sit content, And if each and all be aware I sit content. One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself, And whether I come to my own to-day or in ten thousand or ten million years, I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait. My foothold is tenond and mortisd in granite, I laugh at what you call dissolution, And I know the amplitude of time. I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul, The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me, The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into new tongue. I am the poet of the woman the same as the man, And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man, And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men. I chant the chant of dilation or pride, We have had ducking and deprecating about enough, I show that size is only development. Have you outstript the rest are you the President It is a trifle, they will more than arrive there every one, and still pass on. I am he that walks with the tender and growing night, I call to the earth and sea half-held by the night. Press close bare-bosomd night--press close magnetic nourishing night Night of south winds--night of the large few stars Still nodding night--mad naked summer night. Smile O voluptuous cool-breathd earth Earth of the slumbering and liquid trees Earth of departed sunset--earth of the mountains misty-topt Earth of the vitreous pour of the full moon just tinged with blue Earth of shine and dark mottling the tide of the river Earth of the limpid gray of clouds brighter and clearer for my sake Far-swooping elbowd earth--rich apple-blossomd earth Smile, for your lover comes. Prodigal, you have given me love--therefore I to you give love O unspeakable passionate love. You sea I resign myself to you also--I guess what you mean, I behold from the beach your crooked fingers, I believe you refuse to go back without feeling of me, We must have a turn together, I undress, hurry me out of sight of the land, Cushion me soft, rock me in billowy drowse, Dash me with amorous wet, I can repay you. Sea of stretchd ground-swells, Sea breathing broad and convulsive breaths, Sea of the brine of life and of unshovelld yet always-ready graves, Howler and scooper of storms, capricious and dainty sea, I am integral with you, I too am of one phase and of all phases. Partaker of influx and efflux I, extoller of hate and conciliation, Extoller of amies and those that sleep in each others arms. I am he attesting sympathy, (Shall I make my list of things in the house and skip the house that supports them) I am not the poet of goodness only, I do not decline to be the poet of wickedness also. What blurt is this about virtue and about vice Evil propels me and reform of evil propels me, I stand indifferent, My gait is no fault-finders or rejecters gait, I moisten the roots of all that has grown. Did you fear some scrofula out of the unflagging pregnancy Did you guess the celestial laws are yet to be workd over and rectified I find one side a balance and the antipedal side a balance, Soft doctrine as steady help as stable doctrine, Thoughts and deeds of the present our rouse and early start. This minute that comes to me over the past decillions, There is no better than it and now. What behaved well in the past or behaves well to-day is not such wonder, The wonder is always and always how there can be a mean man or an infidel. Endless unfolding of words of ages And mine a word of the modern, the word En-Masse. A word of the faith that never balks, Here or henceforward it is all the same to me, I accept Time absolutely. It alone is without flaw, it alone rounds and completes all, That mystic baffling wonder alone completes all. I accept Reality and dare not question it, Materialism first and last imbuing. Hurrah for positive science long live exact demonstration Fetch stonecrop mixt with cedar and branches of lilac, This is the lexicographer, this the chemist, this made a grammar of the old cartouches, These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas. This is the geologist, this works with the scalper, and this is a mathematician. Gentlemen, to you the first honors always Your facts are useful, and yet they are not my dwelling, I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling. Less the reminders of properties told my words, And more the reminders they of life untold, and of freedom and extrication, And make short account of neuters and geldings, and favor men and women fully equipt, And beat the gong of revolt, and stop with fugitives and them that plot and conspire. Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son, Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding, No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them, No more modest than immodest. Unscrew the locks from the doors Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs Whoever degrades another degrades me, And whatever is done or said returns at last to me. Through me the afflatus surging and surging, through me the current and index. I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy, By God I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms. Through me many long dumb voices, Voices of the interminable generations of prisoners and slaves, Voices of the diseasd and despairing and of thieves and dwarfs, Voices of cycles of preparation and accretion, And of the threads that connect the stars, and of wombs and of the father-stuff, And of the rights of them the others are down upon, Of the deformd, trivial, flat, foolish, despised, Fog in the air, beetles rolling balls of dung. Through me forbidden voices, Voices of sexes and lusts, voices veild and I remove the veil, Voices indecent by me clarified and transfigurd. I do not press my fingers across my mouth, I keep as delicate around the bowels as around the head and heart, Copulation is no more rank to me than death is. I believe in the flesh and the appetites, Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle. Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touchd from, The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer, This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds. If I worship one thing more than another it shall be the spread of my own body, or any part of it, Translucent mould of me it shall be you Shaded ledges and rests it shall be you Firm masculine colter it shall be you Whatever goes to the tilth of me it shall be you You my rich blood your milky stream pale strippings of my life Breast that presses against other breasts it shall be you My brain it shall be your occult convolutions Root of washd sweet-flag timorous pond-snipe nest of guarded duplicate eggs it shall be you Mixd tussled hay of head, beard, brawn, it shall be you Trickling sap of maple, fibre of manly wheat, it shall be you Sun so generous it shall be you Vapors lighting and shading my face it shall be you You sweaty brooks and dews it shall be you Winds whose soft-tickling genitals rub against me it shall be you Broad muscular fields, branches of live oak, loving lounger in my winding paths, it shall be you Hands I have taken, face I have kissd, mortal I have ever touchd, it shall be you. I dote on myself, there is that lot of me and all so luscious, Each moment and whatever happens thrills me with joy, I cannot tell how my ankles bend, nor whence the cause of my faintest wish, Nor the cause of the friendship I emit, nor the cause of the friendship I take again. That I walk up my stoop, I pause to consider if it really be, A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. To behold the day-break The little light fades the immense and diaphanous shadows, The air tastes good to my palate. Hefts of the moving world at innocent gambols silently rising freshly exuding, Scooting obliquely high and low. Something I cannot see puts upward libidinous prongs, Seas of bright juice suffuse heaven. The earth by the sky staid with, the daily close of their junction, The heavd challenge from the east that moment over my head, The mocking taunt, See then whether you shall be master Dazzling and tremendous how quick the sun-rise would kill me, If I could not now and always send sun-rise out of me. We also ascend dazzling and tremendous as the sun, We found our own O my soul in the calm and cool of the daybreak. My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach, With the twirl of my tongue I encompass worlds and volumes of worlds. Speech is the twin of my vision, it is unequal to measure itself, It provokes me forever, it says sarcastically, Walt you contain enough, why dont you let it out then Come now I will not be tantalized, you conceive too much of articulation, Do you not know O speech how the buds beneath you are folded Waiting in gloom, protected by frost, The dirt receding before my prophetical screams, I underlying causes to balance them at last, My knowledge my live parts, it keeping tally with the meaning of all things, Happiness, (which whoever hears me let him or her set out in search of this day.) My final merit I refuse you, I refuse putting from me what I really am, Encompass worlds, but never try to encompass me, I crowd your sleekest and best by simply looking toward you. Writing and talk do not prove me, I carry the plenum of proof and every thing else in my face, With the hush of my lips I wholly confound the skeptic. Now I will do nothing but listen, To accrue what I hear into this song, to let sounds contribute toward it. I hear bravuras of birds, bustle of growing wheat, gossip of flames, clack of sticks cooking my meals, I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice, I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following, Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night, Talkative young ones to those that like them, the loud laugh of work-people at their meals, The angry base of disjointed friendship, the faint tones of the sick, The judge with hands tight to the desk, his pallid lips pronouncing a death-sentence, The heaveeyo of stevedores unlading ships by the wharves, the refrain of the anchor-lifters, The ring of alarm-bells, the cry of fire, the whirr of swift-streaking engines and hose-carts with premonitory tinkles and colord lights, The steam-whistle, the solid roll of the train of approaching cars, The slow march playd at the head of the association marching two and two, (They go to guard some corpse, the flag-tops are draped with black muslin.) I hear the violoncello, (tis the young mans hearts complaint,) I hear the keyd cornet, it glides quickly in through my ears, It shakes mad-sweet pangs through my belly and breast. I hear the chorus, it is a grand opera, Ah this indeed is music--this suits me. A tenor large and fresh as the creation fills me, The orbic flex of his mouth is pouring and filling me full. I hear the traind soprano (what work with hers is this) The orchestra whirls me wider than Uranus flies, It wrenches such ardors from me I did not know I possessd them, It sails me, I dab with bare feet, they are lickd by the indolent waves, I am cut by bitter and angry hail, I lose my breath, Steepd amid honeyd morphine, my windpipe throttled in fakes of death, At length let up again to feel the puzzle of puzzles, And that we call Being. To be in any form, what is that (Round and round we go, all of us, and ever come back thither,) If nothing lay more developd the quahaug in its callous shell were enough. Mine is no callous shell, I have instant conductors all over me whether I pass or stop, They seize every object and lead it harmlessly through me. I merely stir, press, feel with my fingers, and am happy, To touch my person to some one elses is about as much as I can stand. Is this then a touch quivering me to a new identity, Flames and ether making a rush for my veins, Treacherous tip of me reaching and crowding to help them, My flesh and blood playing out lightning to strike what is hardly different from myself, On all sides prurient provokers stiffening my limbs, Straining the udder of my heart for its withheld drip, Behaving licentious toward me, taking no denial, Depriving me of my best as for a purpose, Unbuttoning my clothes, holding me by the bare waist, Deluding my confusion with the calm of the sunlight and pasture-fields, Immodestly sliding the fellow-senses away, They bribed to swap off with touch and go and graze at the edges of me, No consideration, no regard for my draining strength or my anger, Fetching the rest of the herd around to enjoy them a while, Then all uniting to stand on a headland and worry me. The sentries desert every other part of me, They have left me helpless to a red marauder, They all come to the headland to witness and assist against me. I am given up by traitors, I talk wildly, I have lost my wits, I and nobody else am the greatest traitor, I went myself first to the headland, my own hands carried me there. You villain touch what are you doing my breath is tight in its throat, Unclench your floodgates, you are too much for me. Blind loving wrestling touch, sheathd hooded sharp-toothd touch Did it make you ache so, leaving me Parting trackd by arriving, perpetual payment of perpetual loan, Rich showering rain, and recompense richer afterward. Sprouts take and accumulate, stand by the curb prolific and vital, Landscapes projected masculine, full-sized and golden. All truths wait in all things, They neither hasten their own delivery nor resist it, They do not need the obstetric forceps of the surgeon, The insignificant is as big to me as any, (What is less or more than a touch) Logic and sermons never convince, The damp of the night drives deeper into my soul. (Only what proves itself to every man and woman is so, Only what nobody denies is so.) A minute and a drop of me settle my brain, I believe the soggy clods shall become lovers and lamps, And a compend of compends is the meat of a man or woman, And a summit and flower there is the feeling they have for each other, And they are to branch boundlessly out of that lesson until it becomes omnific, And until one and all shall delight us, and we them. I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars, And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren, And the tree-toad is a chef-doeuvre for the highest, And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven, And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery, And the cow crunching with depressd head surpasses any statue, And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels. I find I incorporate gneiss, coal, long-threaded moss, fruits, grains, esculent roots, And am stuccod with quadrupeds and birds all over, And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons, But call any thing back again when I desire it. In vain the speeding or shyness, In vain the plutonic rocks send their old heat against my approach, In vain the mastodon retreats beneath its own powderd bones, In vain objects stand leagues off and assume manifold shapes, In vain the ocean settling in hollows and the great monsters lying low, In vain the buzzard houses herself with the sky, In vain the snake slides through the creepers and logs, In vain the elk takes to the inner passes of the woods, In vain the razor-billd auk sails far north to Labrador, I follow quickly, I ascend to the nest in the fissure of the cliff. I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-containd, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession. I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them Myself moving forward then and now and forever, Gathering and showing more always and with velocity, Infinite and omnigenous, and the like of these among them, Not too exclusive toward the reachers of my remembrancers, Picking out here one that I love, and now go with him on brotherly terms. A gigantic beauty of a stallion, fresh and responsive to my caresses, Head high in the forehead, wide between the ears, Limbs glossy and supple, tail dusting the ground, Eyes full of sparkling wickedness, ears finely cut, flexibly moving. His nostrils dilate as my heels embrace him, His well-built limbs tremble with pleasure as we race around and return. I but use you a minute, then I resign you, stallion, Why do I need your paces when I myself out-gallop them Even as I stand or sit passing faster than you. Space and Time now I see it is true, what I guessd at, What I guessd when I loafd on the grass, What I guessd while I lay alone in my bed, And again as I walkd the beach under the paling stars of the morning. My ties and ballasts leave me, my elbows rest in sea-gaps, I skirt sierras, my palms cover continents, I am afoot with my vision. By the citys quadrangular houses--in log huts, camping with lumber-men, Along the ruts of the turnpike, along the dry gulch and rivulet bed, Weeding my onion-patch or hosing rows of carrots and parsnips, crossing savannas, trailing in forests, Prospecting, gold-digging, girdling the trees of a new purchase, Scorchd ankle-deep by the hot sand, hauling my boat down the shallow river, Where the panther walks to and fro on a limb overhead, where the buck turns furiously at the hunter, Where the rattlesnake suns his flabby length on a rock, where the otter is feeding on fish, Where the alligator in his tough pimples sleeps by the bayou, Where the black bear is searching for roots or honey, where the beaver pats the mud with his paddle-shaped tall Over the growing sugar, over the yellow-flowerd cotton plant, over the rice in its low moist field, Over the sharp-peakd farm house, with its scallopd scum and slender shoots from the gutters, Over the western persimmon, over the long-leavd corn, over the delicate blue-flower flax, Over the white and brown buckwheat, a hummer and buzzer there with the rest, Over the dusky green of the rye as it ripples and shades in the breeze Scaling mountains, pulling myself cautiously up, holding on by low scragged limbs, Walking the path worn in the grass and beat through the leaves of the brush, Where the quail is whistling betwixt the woods and the wheat-lot, Where the bat flies in the Seventh-month eve, where the great goldbug drops through the dark, Where the brook puts out of the roots of the old tree and flows to the meadow, Where cattle stand and shake away flies with the tremulous shuddering of their hides, Where the cheese-cloth hangs in the kitchen, where andirons straddle the hearth-slab, where cobwebs fall in festoons from the rafters Where trip-hammers crash, where the press is whirling its cylinders, Wherever the human heart beats with terrible throes under its ribs, Where the pear-shaped balloon is floating aloft, (floating in it myself and looking composedly down,) Where the life-car is drawn on the slip-noose, where the heat hatches pale-green eggs in the dented sand, Where the she-whale swims with her calf and never forsakes it, Where the steam-ship trails hind-ways its long pennant of smoke, Where the fin of the shark cuts like a black chip out of the water, Where the half-burnd brig is riding on unknown currents, Where shells grow to her slimy deck, where the dead are corrupting below Where the dense-starrd flag is borne at the head of the regiments, Approaching Manhattan up by the long-stretching island, Under Niagara, the cataract falling like a veil over my countenance, Upon a door-step, upon the horse-block of hard wood outside, Upon the race-course, or enjoying picnics or jigs or a good game of base-ball, At he-festivals, with blackguard gibes, ironical license, bull-dances, drinking, laughter, At the cider-mill tasting the sweets of the brown mash, sucking the juice through a straw, At apple-peelings wanting kisses for all the red fruit I find, At musters, beach-parties, friendly bees, huskings, house-raisings Where the mocking-bird sounds his delicious gurgles, cackles, screams, weeps, Where the hay-rick stands in the barn-yard, where the dry-stalks are scatterd, where the brood-cow waits in the hovel, Where the bull advances to do his masculine work, where the stud to the mare, where the cock is treading the hen, Where the heifers browse, where geese nip their food with short jerks, Where sun-down shadows lengthen over the limitless and lonesome prairie, Where herds of buffalo make a crawling spread of the square miles far and near, Where the humming-bird shimmers, where the neck of the long-lived swan is curving and winding, Where the laughing-gull scoots by the shore, where she laughs her near-human laugh, Where bee-hives range on a gray bench in the garden half hid by the high weeds, Where band-neckd partridges roost in a ring on the ground with their heads out, Where burial coaches enter the archd gates of a cemetery, Where winter wolves bark amid wastes of snow and icicled trees, Where the yellow-crownd heron comes to the edge of the marsh at night and feeds upon small crabs, Where the splash of swimmers and divers cools the warm noon, Where the katy-did works her chromatic reed on the walnut-tree over the well, Through patches of citrons and cucumbers with silver-wired leaves, Through the salt-lick or orange glade, or under conical firs, Through the gymnasium, through the curtaind saloon, through the office or public hall Pleasd with the native and pleasd with the foreign, pleasd with the new and old, Pleasd with the homely woman as well as the handsome, Pleasd with the quakeress as she puts off her bonnet and talks melodiously, Pleasd with the tune of the choir of the whitewashd church, Pleasd with the earnest words of the sweating Methodist preacher, impressd seriously at the camp-meeting Looking in at the shop-windows of Broadway the whole forenoon, flatting the flesh of my nose on the thick plate glass, Wandering the same afternoon with my face turnd up to the clouds, or down a lane or along the beach, My right and left arms round the sides of two friends, and I in the middle Coming home with the silent and dark-cheekd bush-boy, (behind me he rides at the drape of the day,) Far from the settlements studying the print of animals feet, or the moccasin print, By the cot in the hospital reaching lemonade to a feverish patient, Nigh the coffind corpse when all is still, examining with a candle Voyaging to every port to dicker and adventure, Hurrying with the modern crowd as eager and fickle as any, Hot toward one I hate, ready in my madness to knife him, Solitary at midnight in my back yard, my thoughts gone from me a long while, Walking the old hills of Judaea with the beautiful gentle God by my side, Speeding through space, speeding through heaven and the stars, Speeding amid the seven satellites and the broad ring, and the diameter of eighty thousand miles, Speeding with taild meteors, throwing fire-balls like the rest, Carrying the crescent child that carries its own full mother in its belly, Storming, enjoying, planning, loving, cautioning, Backing and filling, appearing and disappearing, I tread day and night such roads. I visit the orchards of spheres and look at the product, And look at quintillions ripend and look at quintillions green. I fly those flights of a fluid and swallowing soul, My course runs below the soundings of plummets. I help myself to material and immaterial, No guard can shut me off, no law prevent me. I anchor my ship for a little while only, My messengers continually cruise away or bring their returns to me. I go hunting polar furs and the seal, leaping chasms with a pike-pointed staff, clinging to topples of brittle and blue. I ascend to the foretruck, I take my place late at night in the crows-nest, We sail the arctic sea, it is plenty light enough, Through the clear atmosphere I stretch around on the wonderful beauty, The enormous masses of ice pass me and I pass them, the scenery is plain in all directions, The white-topt mountains show in the distance, I fling out my fancies toward them, We are approaching some great battle-field in which we are soon to be engaged, We pass the colossal outposts of the encampment, we pass with still feet and caution, Or we are entering by the suburbs some vast and ruind city, The blocks and fallen architecture more than all the living cities of the globe. I am a free companion, I bivouac by invading watchfires, I turn the bridgroom out of bed and stay with the bride myself, I tighten her all night to my thighs and lips. My voice is the wifes voice, the screech by the rail of the stairs, They fetch my mans body up dripping and drownd. I understand the large hearts of heroes, The courage of present times and all times, How the skipper saw the crowded and rudderless wreck of the steamship, and Death chasing it up and down the storm, How he knuckled tight and gave not back an inch, and was faithful of days and faithful of nights, And chalkd in large letters on a board, Be of good cheer, we will not desert you How he followd with them and tackd with them three days and would not give it up, How he saved the drifting company at last, How the lank loose-gownd women lookd when boated from the side of their prepared graves, How the silent old-faced infants and the lifted sick, and the sharp-lippd unshaved men All this I swallow, it tastes good, I like it well, it becomes mine, I am the man, I sufferd, I was there. The disdain and calmness of martyrs, The mother of old, condemnd for a witch, burnt with dry wood, her children gazing on, The hounded slave that flags in the race, leans by the fence, blowing, coverd with sweat, The twinges that sting like needles his legs and neck, the murderous buckshot and the bullets, All these I feel or am. I am the hounded slave, I wince at the bite of the dogs, Hell and despair are upon me, crack and again crack the marksmen, I clutch the rails of the fence, my gore dribs, thinnd with the ooze of my skin, I fall on the weeds and stones, The riders spur their unwilling horses, haul close, Taunt my dizzy ears and beat me violently over the head with whip-stocks. Agonies are one of my changes of garments, I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person, My hurts turn livid upon me as I lean on a cane and observe. I am the mashd fireman with breast-bone broken, Tumbling walls buried me in their debris, Heat and smoke I inspired, I heard the yelling shouts of my comrades, I heard the distant click of their picks and shovels, They have cleard the beams away, they tenderly lift me forth. I lie in the night air in my red shirt, the pervading hush is for my sake, Painless after all I lie exhausted but not so unhappy, White and beautiful are the faces around me, the heads are bared of their fire-caps, The kneeling crowd fades with the light of the torches. Distant and dead resuscitate, They show as the dial or move as the hands of me, I am the clock myself. I am an old artillerist, I tell of my forts bombardment, I am there again. Again the long roll of the drummers, Again the attacking cannon, mortars, Again to my listening ears the cannon responsive. I take part, I see and hear the whole, The cries, curses, roar, the plaudits for well-aimd shots, The ambulanza slowly passing trailing its red drip, Workmen searching after damages, making indispensable repairs, The fall of grenades through the rent roof, the fan-shaped explosion, The whizz of limbs, heads, stone, wood, iron, high in the air. Again gurgles the mouth of my dying general, he furiously waves with his hand, He gasps through the clot Mind not me--mind--the entrenchments. Now I tell what I knew in Texas in my early youth, (I tell not the fall of Alamo, Not one escaped to tell the fall of Alamo, The hundred and fifty are dumb yet at Alamo,) Tis the tale of the murder in cold blood of four hundred and twelve young men. Retreating they had formd in a hollow square with their baggage for breastworks, Nine hundred lives out of the surrounding enemies, nine times their number, was the price they took in advance, Their colonel was wounded and their ammunition gone, They treated for an honorable capitulation, receivd writing and seal, gave up their arms and marchd back prisoners of war. They were the glory of the race of rangers, Matchless with horse, rifle, song, supper, courtship, Large, turbulent, generous, handsome, proud, and affectionate, Bearded, sunburnt, drest in the free costume of hunters, Not a single one over thirty years of age. The second First-day morning they were brought out in squads and massacred, it was beautiful early summer, The work commenced about five oclock and was over by eight. None obeyd the command to kneel, Some made a mad and helpless rush, some stood stark and straight, A few fell at once, shot in the temple or heart, the living and dead lay together, The maimd and mangled dug in the dirt, the new-comers saw them there, Some half-killd attempted to crawl away, These were despatchd with bayonets or batterd with the blunts of muskets, A youth not seventeen years old seizd his assassin till two more came to release him, The three were all torn and coverd with the boys blood. At eleven oclock began the burning of the bodies That is the tale of the murder of the four hundred and twelve young men. Would you hear of an old-time sea-fight Would you learn who won by the light of the moon and stars List to the yarn, as my grandmothers father the sailor told it to me. Our foe was no sulk in his ship I tell you, (said he,) His was the surly English pluck, and there is no tougher or truer, and never was, and never will be Along the lowerd eve he came horribly raking us. We closed with him, the yards entangled, the cannon touchd, My captain lashd fast with his own hands. We had receivd some eighteen pound shots under the water, On our lower-gun-deck two large pieces had burst at the first fire, killing all around and blowing up overhead. Fighting at sun-down, fighting at dark, Ten oclock at night, the full moon well up, our leaks on the gain, and five feet of water reported, The master-at-arms loosing the prisoners confined in the after-hold to give them a chance for themselves. The transit to and from the magazine is now stopt by the sentinels, They see so many strange faces they do not know whom to trust. Our frigate takes fire, The other asks if we demand quarter If our colors are struck and the fighting done Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain, We have not struck, he composedly cries, we have just begun our part of the fighting. Only three guns are in use, One is directed by the captain himself against the enemys main-mast, Two well servd with grape and canister silence his musketry and clear his decks. The tops alone second the fire of this little battery, especially the main-top, They hold out bravely during the whole of the action. Not a moments cease, The leaks gain fast on the pumps, the fire eats toward the powder-magazine. One of the pumps has been shot away, it is generally thought we are sinking. Serene stands the little captain, He is not hurried, his voice is neither high nor low, His eyes give more light to us than our battle-lanterns. Toward twelve there in the beams of the moon they surrender to us. Stretchd and still lies the midnight, Two great hulls motionless on the breast of the darkness, Our vessel riddled and slowly sinking, preparations to pass to the one we have conquerd, The captain on the quarter-deck coldly giving his orders through a countenance white as a sheet, Near by the corpse of the child that servd in the cabin, The dead face of an old salt with long white hair and carefully curld whiskers, The flames spite of all that can be done flickering aloft and below, The husky voices of the two or three officers yet fit for duty, Formless stacks of bodies and bodies by themselves, dabs of flesh upon the masts and spars, Cut of cordage, dangle of rigging, slight shock of the soothe of waves, Black and impassive guns, litter of powder-parcels, strong scent, A few large stars overhead, silent and mournful shining, Delicate sniffs of sea-breeze, smells of sedgy grass and fields by the shore, death-messages given in charge to survivors, The hiss of the surgeons knife, the gnawing teeth of his saw, Wheeze, cluck, swash of falling blood, short wild scream, and long, dull, tapering groan, These so, these irretrievable. You laggards there on guard look to your arms In at the conquerd doors they crowd I am possessd Embody all presences outlawd or suffering, See myself in prison shaped like another man, And feel the dull unintermitted pain. For me the keepers of convicts shoulder their carbines and keep watch, It is I let out in the morning and barrd at night. Not a mutineer walks handcuffd to jail but I am handcuffd to him and walk by his side, (I am less the jolly one there, and more the silent one with sweat on my twitching lips.) Not a youngster is taken for larceny but I go up too, and am tried and sentenced. Not a cholera patient lies at the last gasp but I also lie at the last gasp, My face is ash-colord, my sinews gnarl, away from me people retreat. Askers embody themselves in me and I am embodied in them, I project my hat, sit shame-faced, and beg. Enough enough enough Somehow I have been stunnd. Stand back Give me a little time beyond my cuffd head, slumbers, dreams, gaping, I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake. That I could forget the mockers and insults That I could forget the trickling tears and the blows of the bludgeons and hammers That I could look with a separate look on my own crucifixion and bloody crowning. I remember now, I resume the overstaid fraction, The grave of rock multiplies what has been confided to it, or to any graves, Corpses rise, gashes heal, fastenings roll from me. I troop forth replenishd with supreme power, one of an average unending procession, Inland and sea-coast we go, and pass all boundary lines, Our swift ordinances on their way over the whole earth, The blossoms we wear in our hats the growth of thousands of years. Eleves, I salute you come forward Continue your annotations, continue your questionings. The friendly and flowing savage, who is he Is he waiting for civilization, or past it and mastering it Is he some Southwesterner raisd out-doors is he Kanadian Is he from the Mississippi country Iowa, Oregon, California The mountains prairie-life, bush-life or sailor from the sea Wherever he goes men and women accept and desire him, They desire he should like them, touch them, speak to them, stay with them. Behavior lawless as snow-flakes, words simple as grass, uncombd head, laughter, and naivete, Slow-stepping feet, common features, common modes and emanations, They descend in new forms from the tips of his fingers, They are wafted with the odor of his body or breath, they fly out of the glance of his eyes. Flaunt of the sunshine I need not your bask--lie over You light surfaces only, I force surfaces and depths also. Earth you seem to look for something at my hands, Say, old top-knot, what do you want Man or woman, I might tell how I like you, but cannot, And might tell what it is in me and what it is in you, but cannot, And might tell that pining I have, that pulse of my nights and days. Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself. You there, impotent, loose in the knees, Open your scarfd chops till I blow grit within you, Spread your palms and lift the flaps of your pockets, I am not to be denied, I compel, I have stores plenty and to spare, And any thing I have I bestow. I do not ask who you are, that is not important to me, You can do nothing and be nothing but what I will infold you. To cotton-field drudge or cleaner of privies I lean, On his right cheek I put the family kiss, And in my soul I swear I never will deny him. On women fit for conception I start bigger and nimbler babes. (This day I am jetting the stuff of far more arrogant republics.) To any one dying, thither I speed and twist the knob of the door. Turn the bed-clothes toward the foot of the bed, Let the physician and the priest go home. I seize the descending man and raise him with resistless will, O despairer, here is my neck, By God, you shall not go down hang your whole weight upon me. I dilate you with tremendous breath, I buoy you up, Every room of the house do I fill with an armd force, Lovers of me, bafflers of graves. Sleep--I and they keep guard all night, Not doubt, not decease shall dare to lay finger upon you, I have embraced you, and henceforth possess you to myself, And when you rise in the morning you will find what I tell you is so. I am he bringing help for the sick as they pant on their backs, And for strong upright men I bring yet more needed help. I heard what was said of the universe, Heard it and heard it of several thousand years It is middling well as far as it goes--but is that all Magnifying and applying come I, Outbidding at the start the old cautious hucksters, Taking myself the exact dimensions of Jehovah, Lithographing Kronos, Zeus his son, and Hercules his grandson, Buying drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus, Brahma, Buddha, In my portfolio placing Manito loose, Allah on a leaf, the crucifix engraved, With Odin and the hideous-faced Mexitli and every idol and image, Taking them all for what they are worth and not a cent more, Admitting they were alive and did the work of their days, (They bore mites as for unfledgd birds who have now to rise and fly and sing for themselves,) Accepting the rough deific sketches to fill out better in myself, bestowing them freely on each man and woman I see, Discovering as much or more in a framer framing a house, Putting higher claims for him there with his rolld-up sleeves driving the mallet and chisel, Not objecting to special revelations, considering a curl of smoke or a hair on the back of my hand just as curious as any revelation, Lads ahold of fire-engines and hook-and-ladder ropes no less to me than the gods of the antique wars, Minding their voices peal through the crash of destruction, Their brawny limbs passing safe over charrd laths, their white foreheads whole and unhurt out of the flames By the mechanics wife with her babe at her nipple interceding for every person born, Three scythes at harvest whizzing in a row from three lusty angels with shirts baggd out at their waists, The snag-toothd hostler with red hair redeeming sins past and to come, Selling all he possesses, traveling on foot to fee lawyers for his brother and sit by him while he is tried for forgery What was strewn in the amplest strewing the square rod about me, and not filling the square rod then, The bull and the bug never worshippd half enough, Dung and dirt more admirable than was dreamd, The supernatural of no account, myself waiting my time to be one of the supremes, The day getting ready for me when I shall do as much good as the best, and be as prodigious By my life-lumps becoming already a creator, Putting myself here and now to the ambushd womb of the shadows. A call in the midst of the crowd, My own voice, orotund sweeping and final. Come my children, Come my boys and girls, my women, household and intimates, Now the performer launches his nerve, he has passd his prelude on the reeds within. Easily written loose-fingerd chords--I feel the thrum of your climax and close. My head slues round on my neck, Music rolls, but not from the organ, Folks are around me, but they are no household of mine. Ever the hard unsunk ground, Ever the eaters and drinkers, ever the upward and downward sun, ever the air and the ceaseless tides, Ever myself and my neighbors, refreshing, wicked, real, Ever the old inexplicable query, ever that thornd thumb, that breath of itches and thirsts, Ever the vexers hoot hoot till we find where the sly one hides and bring him forth, Ever love, ever the sobbing liquid of life, Ever the bandage under the chin, ever the trestles of death. Here and there with dimes on the eyes walking, To feed the greed of the belly the brains liberally spooning, Tickets buying, taking, selling, but in to the feast never once going, Many sweating, ploughing, thrashing, and then the chaff for payment receiving, A few idly owning, and they the wheat continually claiming. This is the city and I am one of the citizens, Whatever interests the rest interests me, politics, wars, markets, newspapers, schools, The mayor and councils, banks, tariffs, steamships, factories, stocks, stores, real estate and personal estate. The little plentiful manikins skipping around in collars and taild coats I am aware who they are, (they are positively not worms or fleas,) I acknowledge the duplicates of myself, the weakest and shallowest is deathless with me, What I do and say the same waits for them, Every thought that flounders in me the same flounders in them. I know perfectly well my own egotism, Know my omnivorous lines and must not write any less, And would fetch you whoever you are flush with myself. Not words of routine this song of mine, But abruptly to question, to leap beyond yet nearer bring This printed and bound book--but the printer and the printing-office boy The well-taken photographs--but your wife or friend close and solid in your arms The black ship maild with iron, her mighty guns in her turrets--but the pluck of the captain and engineers In the houses the dishes and fare and furniture--but the host and hostess, and the look out of their eyes The sky up there--yet here or next door, or across the way The saints and sages in history--but you yourself Sermons, creeds, theology--but the fathomless human brain, And what is reason and what is love and what is life I do not despise you priests, all time, the world over, My faith is the greatest of faiths and the least of faiths, Enclosing worship ancient and modern and all between ancient and modern, Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years, Waiting responses from oracles, honoring the gods, saluting the sun, Making a fetich of the first rock or stump, powowing with sticks in the circle of obis, Helping the llama or brahmin as he trims the lamps of the idols, Dancing yet through the streets in a phallic procession, rapt and austere in the woods a gymnosophist, Drinking mead from the skull-cap, to Shastas and Vedas admirant, minding the Koran, Walking the teokallis, spotted with gore from the stone and knife, beating the serpent-skin drum, Accepting the Gospels, accepting him that was crucified, knowing assuredly that he is divine, To the mass kneeling or the puritans prayer rising, or sitting patiently in a pew, Ranting and frothing in my insane crisis, or waiting dead-like till my spirit arouses me, Looking forth on pavement and land, or outside of pavement and land, Belonging to the winders of the circuit of circuits. One of that centripetal and centrifugal gang I turn and talk like man leaving charges before a journey. Down-hearted doubters dull and excluded, Frivolous, sullen, moping, angry, affected, disheartend, atheistical, I know every one of you, I know the sea of torment, doubt, despair and unbelief. How the flukes splash How they contort rapid as lightning, with spasms and spouts of blood Be at peace bloody flukes of doubters and sullen mopers, I take my place among you as much as among any, The past is the push of you, me, all, precisely the same, And what is yet untried and afterward is for you, me, all, precisely the same. I do not know what is untried and afterward, But I know it will in its turn prove sufficient, and cannot fail. Each who passes is considerd, each who stops is considerd, not single one can it fall. It cannot fall the young man who died and was buried, Nor the young woman who died and was put by his side, Nor the little child that peepd in at the door, and then drew back and was never seen again, Nor the old man who has lived without purpose, and feels it with bitterness worse than gall, Nor him in the poor house tubercled by rum and the bad disorder, Nor the numberless slaughterd and wreckd, nor the brutish koboo calld the ordure of humanity, Nor the sacs merely floating with open mouths for food to slip in, Nor any thing in the earth, or down in the oldest graves of the earth, Nor any thing in the myriads of spheres, nor the myriads of myriads that inhabit them, Nor the present, nor the least wisp that is known. It is time to explain myself--let us stand up. What is known I strip away, I launch all men and women forward with me into the Unknown. The clock indicates the moment--but what does eternity indicate We have thus far exhausted trillions of winters and summers, There are trillions ahead, and trillions ahead of them. Births have brought us richness and variety, And other births will bring us richness and variety. I do not call one greater and one smaller, That which fills its period and place is equal to any. Were mankind murderous or jealous upon you, my brother, my sister I am sorry for you, they are not murderous or jealous upon me, All has been gentle with me, I keep no account with lamentation, (What have I to do with lamentation) I am an acme of things accomplishd, and I an encloser of things to be. My feet strike an apex of the apices of the stairs, On every step bunches of ages, and larger bunches between the steps, All below duly traveld, and still I mount and mount. Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind me, Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I know I was even there, I waited unseen and always, and slept through the lethargic mist, And took my time, and took no hurt from the fetid carbon. Long I was huggd close--long and long. Immense have been the preparations for me, Faithful and friendly the arms that have helpd me. Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful boatmen, For room to me stars kept aside in their own rings, They sent influences to look after what was to hold me. Before I was born out of my mother generations guided me, My embryo has never been torpid, nothing could overlay it. For it the nebula cohered to an orb, The long slow strata piled to rest it on, Vast vegetables gave it sustenance, Monstrous sauroids transported it in their mouths and deposited it with care. All forces have been steadily employd to complete and delight me, Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul. O span of youth ever-pushd elasticity O manhood, balanced, florid and full. My lovers suffocate me, Crowding my lips, thick in the pores of my skin, Jostling me through streets and public halls, coming naked to me at night, Crying by day, Ahoy from the rocks of the river, swinging and chirping over my head, Calling my name from flower-beds, vines, tangled underbrush, Lighting on every moment of my life, Bussing my body with soft balsamic busses, Noiselessly passing handfuls out of their hearts and giving them to be mine. Old age superbly rising O welcome, ineffable grace of dying days Every condition promulges not only itself, it promulges what grows after and out of itself, And the dark hush promulges as much as any. I open my scuttle at night and see the far-sprinkled systems, And all I see multiplied as high as I can cipher edge but the rim of the farther systems. Wider and wider they spread, expanding, always expanding, Outward and outward and forever outward. My sun has his sun and round him obediently wheels, He joins with his partners a group of superior circuit, And greater sets follow, making specks of the greatest inside them. There is no stoppage and never can be stoppage, If I, you, and the worlds, and all beneath or upon their surfaces, were this moment reduced back to a pallid float, it would not avail the long run, We should surely bring up again where we now stand, And surely go as much farther, and then farther and farther. A few quadrillions of eras, a few octillions of cubic leagues, do not hazard the span or make it impatient, They are but parts, any thing is but a part. See ever so far, there is limitless space outside of that, Count ever so much, there is limitless time around that. My rendezvous is appointed, it is certain, The Lord will be there and wait till I come on perfect terms, The great Camerado, the lover true for whom I pine will be there. I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and never will be measured. I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all) My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods, No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair, I have no chair, no church, no philosophy, I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange, But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll, My left hand hooking you round the waist, My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road. Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself. It is not far, it is within reach, Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know, Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land. Shoulder your duds dear son, and I will mine, and let us hasten forth, Wonderful cities and free nations we shall fetch as we go. If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip, And in due time you shall repay the same service to me, For after we start we never lie by again. This day before dawn I ascended a hill and lookd at the crowded heaven, And I said to my spirit When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of every thing in them, shall we be filld and satisfied then And my spirit said No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond. You are also asking me questions and I hear you, I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for yourself. Sit a while dear son, Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink, But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, I kiss you with a good-by kiss and open the gate for your egress hence. Long enough have you dreamd contemptible dreams, Now I wash the gum from your eyes, You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life. Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore, Now I will you to be a bold swimmer, To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and laughingly dash with your hair. I am the teacher of athletes, He that by me spreads a wider breast than my own proves the width of my own, He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. The boy I love, the same becomes a man not through derived power, but in his own right, Wicked rather than virtuous out of conformity or fear, Fond of his sweetheart, relishing well his steak, Unrequited love or a slight cutting him worse than sharp steel cuts, First-rate to ride, to fight, to hit the bulls eye, to sail a skiff, to sing a song or play on the banjo, Preferring scars and the beard and faces pitted with small-pox over all latherers, And those well-tannd to those that keep out of the sun. I teach straying from me, yet who can stray from me I follow you whoever you are from the present hour, My words itch at your ears till you understand them. I do not say these things for a dollar or to fill up the time while I wait for a boat, (It is you talking just as much as myself, I act as the tongue of you, Tied in your mouth, in mine it begins to be loosend.) I swear I will never again mention love or death inside a house, And I swear I will never translate myself at all, only to him or her who privately stays with me in the open air. If you would understand me go to the heights or water-shore, The nearest gnat is an explanation, and a drop or motion of waves key, The maul, the oar, the hand-saw, second my words. No shutterd room or school can commune with me, But roughs and little children better than they. The young mechanic is closest to me, he knows me well, The woodman that takes his axe and jug with him shall take me with him all day, The farm-boy ploughing in the field feels good at the sound of my voice, In vessels that sail my words sail, I go with fishermen and seamen and love them. The soldier campd or upon the march is mine, On the night ere the pending battle many seek me, and I do not fail them, On that solemn night (it may be their last) those that know me seek me. My face rubs to the hunters face when he lies down alone in his blanket, The driver thinking of me does not mind the jolt of his wagon, The young mother and old mother comprehend me, The girl and the wife rest the needle a moment and forget where they are, They and all would resume what I have told them. I have said that the soul is not more than the body, And I have said that the body is not more than the soul, And nothing, not God, is greater to one than ones self is, And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud, And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of the earth, And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod confounds the learning of all times, And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero, And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheeld universe, And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes. And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God, For I who am curious about each am not curious about God, (No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.) I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least, Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself. Why should I wish to see God better than this day I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then, In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass, I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is signd by Gods name, And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoeer I go, Others will punctually come for ever and ever. And as to you Death, and you bitter hug of mortality, it is idle to try to alarm me. To his work without flinching the accoucheur comes, I see the elder-hand pressing receiving supporting, I recline by the sills of the exquisite flexible doors, And mark the outlet, and mark the relief and escape. And as to you Corpse I think you are good manure, but that does not offend me, I smell the white roses sweet-scented and growing, I reach to the leafy lips, I reach to the polishd breasts of melons. And as to you Life I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, (No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.) I hear you whispering there O stars of heaven, O suns--O grass of graves--O perpetual transfers and promotions, If you do not say any thing how can I say any thing Of the turbid pool that lies in the autumn forest, Of the moon that descends the steeps of the soughing twilight, Toss, sparkles of day and dusk--toss on the black stems that decay in the muck, Toss to the moaning gibberish of the dry limbs. I ascend from the moon, I ascend from the night, I perceive that the ghastly glimmer is noonday sunbeams reflected, And debouch to the steady and central from the offspring great or small. There is that in me--I do not know what it is--but I know it is in me. Wrenchd and sweaty--calm and cool then my body becomes, I sleep--I sleep long. I do not know it--it is without name--it is a word unsaid, It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol. Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on, To it the creation is the friend whose embracing awakes me. Perhaps I might tell more. Outlines I plead for my brothers and sisters. Do you see O my brothers and sisters It is not chaos or death--it is form, union, plan--it is eternal life--it is Happiness. The past and present wilt--I have filld them, emptied them. And proceed to fill my next fold of the future. Listener up there what have you to confide to me Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening, (Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.) Do I contradict myself Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab. Who has done his days work who will soonest be through with his supper Who wishes to walk with me Will you speak before I am gone will you prove already too late The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering. I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. The last scud of day holds back for me, It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadowd wilds, It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk. I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun, I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags. I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles. You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood. Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you. DayPoems Poem No. 1900 Comment on DayPoems If you are like us, you have strong feelings about poetry, and about each poem you read. Let it all out Comment on this poem, any poem, DayPoems, other poetry places or the art of poetry at DayPoems Feedback . Wont you help support DayPoems Click here to learn more about how you can keep DayPoems on the Web. The DayPoems web site, daypoems, is copyright 2001-2005 by Timothy K. Bovee. Tutti i diritti riservati. The authors of poetry and other material appearing on DayPoems retain full rights to their work. Any requests for publication in other venues must be negotiated separately with the authors. The editor of DayPoems will gladly assist in putting interested parties in contact with the authors. Support DayPoems. Buy your books here Latest Chapbooks from Powells.
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