your entry into academia Research your entry into academia

What does it mean to be an academic?

First let’s start with... Associates degree is 2 years Bachelor’s degree is 4 years Master’s degree is another 2-3 years PhD or doctorate is 4-5 years

What does a college degree really mean? Associates degree is 2 years which is your basic core education classes (the classes that everyone in college has agreed that we all need) VERY BROAD Bachelor’s degree is 4 years. Your next two years are focused on your major. You select a school that offers the program that you want to study. NARROWER As you might know many of those with bachelor's degrees don’t necessarily go into the field that they study. Some fields require higher degrees to work in the field. For example, a BA or BS in psychology does not mean you can become a psychologist. Many of those who have bachelor’s degrees must start at the entry level for work. However, their education will impact whether they are considered for higher positions.

So then... (Master’s and PhD) and the thesis Master’s degree is another 2-3 years. Master’s degree programs offer students the opportunity to continue their studies, further focusing on a particular vein of their discipline, for example a child psychology. Many individuals with master’s degrees qualify for credentialing. Also, many individuals with master’s degrees teach at community colleges (like me!). EVEN NARROWER PhD or doctorate is 4-5 years. Like students in master’s programs, PhD’s spend most of their education working closely with highly regarded experts in their field. Nearly every person who teaches in a university holds a PhD. This is the typical route. PhD’s take the focus of their masters and extend it further the psychological impacts of immigration on children.

Why are you telling us this? What does this have to do with me??? First of all, you know you have to write many paper to receive a bachelor’s degree! However, to receive a master’s or doctorate, students must write a thesis or dissertation on the very particular focus of their study. A thesis or dissertation is a VERY long research argument. 100-300 pages!

So the point is... Through this class, you are entering into academia by writing a mini thesis. These small papers that you are assigned in college are meant to prepare you both for your professional goals and for future academic goals. Remember, it doesn’t matter how brilliant you are if you can’t communicate your ideas!!

Research Papers are critical to academic evolution Why do I have to do research? To cure cancer, you don’t just wander into the Amazon to pull a leaf of a tree. You have to find out all the other ways that people who wandered into the Amazon before you did, so you don’t repeat their mistakes and you can use their data to break new ground. Every discipline depends on people to move the edge of their field out further. FASHION. MATH. MUSIC. COMPUTER SCIENCE. NURSING. However, to move forward you have to know where people have been.

This makes research a critical process of education! But where or where do I find research??? Inside your heart Inside the Library Under your chair That’s right!

Universities have the BIGGEST libraries. Why? Libraries are for students to do research. Yes, but there is more! More? Let’s go back to slides 4 and 5. I mentioned earlier that these doctorate have a tendency to become professors.

What are professors? Professors in universities usually teach only 2 or 3 classes a semester. That means 6 or 9 hours a week. They also have TA’s who grade paper and deal with student questions. Sound like an easy job right? No. What else do they do with their time?

What are universities? Universities are schools. However, they are also institutions that survive on their reputations. Students compete to go to the best universities. How do you create a strong reputation as a university? You have strong faculty(teachers). Yes? What does it mean to have a strong faculty? You hire professors that are doing the most interesting and important work.

What is interesting and important work? It’s being at the cutting edge. It’s experimental. It’s relevant. It’s aware of all the other important work going on. How do you know if a person is doing this work? University professors have a saying “publish or perish.” This means that if they don’t publish their research/ideas/work, then they will perish aka get fired.

What does all of this have to do with research? Professors must do research to support and develop their work. They use libraries to do the research.

What is a librarian? To identify yourself as a librarian, you will need to get a master’s degree in Library Science. What does that mean? Are they getting degrees in shushing and alphabetizing? No. Think of librarians as DETECTIVES for INFORMATION. Detectives must have excellent memories and a certain determination to keep looking until the find what they are looking for.

Say, you are going somewhere and want to look chic Say, you are going somewhere and want to look chic. Where are going to get ideas about what to wear? A book? No, books -take years to publish, which is perfect if you want the history of fashion. Therefore, if you are looking for cutting edge fashion ideas it is better to look in a.... Periodical aka magazines Periodical is just a fancy word for magazine. They are called periodicals because they come out....periodically. Get it? Also, newspapers would be considered periodicals, same reason.

Book v Periodicals Academic face the same issue as YOU when they are doing research. They want the latest and greatest data. But where are they going to publish their research? Academic have magazines too! They are called academic journals or scholarly journals.

Libraries have... Librarians! Books! Journals and magazines and newspapers! Databases that you can use to access more books and magazines and newspapers that they don’t own.