1. The way you share your ideas across the profession
Writing!
The way you share your ideas across the profession

2. Introduction Again, some get nervous about writing
What if I’m not good enough?
What if everyone hates my work?
What happens if the entire profession, simultaneously, laughs at me????
Fortunately, there is a system to follow!
Systems make everything easier
We are going to look at a formal research or evaluation paper structure – most others will follow a similar formatting
Introduction

3. Start at the beginning…
Let’s assume you have your topic and material already – for example, the research project you just finished!
The introduction section comes first
Hypothesis
Problem statement (why we are bothering to do this at all)
But is frequently written last
You don’t always see where you have been until you get to the end of the journey
Start at the beginning…

4. Other people have talked about your topic (no matter how wacky and out there!), so go see what they did
You may not have to do a research project if someone else already did it!
You might want to revise another project to base it on your work
Or you can see how a piece of it give you information about your work
This is NOT an annotated bibliography! It is a piece of your paper
Literature Review

5. This is the easiest part to write (for me, anyway) – just tell the reader what you did!
I used a Q Method to identify competencies
I used a survey to reach out to libraries across the country
I interviewed fifty people
Whatever you did is what you say here. Then others can see that your work has merit and can be relied on as a basis for their future work
Methodology

6. Results Also a pretty easy part – tell the reader what all you found!
How you report this will depend on your research/evaluation tools:
Quantitative methods will have charts, graphs, numbers, statistical data
Qualitative methods will have reports of interviews, or observations, or other content analysis of documents
Never pretend to find things you did not!! Not only VERY unethical, but not necessary. It is valuable to know “this completely fell apart, small fires started, and no one should every try it again.”
Results

7. This is really the heart of the whole thing – where you tell people what it all means
It can be the easiest and/or the hardest section to write, even within the same report!
Just be honest – talk about the great things you found, the mistakes you made, and what it ultimately all means
Discussion

8. Conclusion Wrap it all up!
Look back to the introduction (it seems like such a long time ago), and point out here that you did everything you said you were going to do
Quick summary
And…done! 
Conclusion

9. Where to publish your work??
First: PUBLISH!! SHARE YOUR IDEAS!!
Okay, now – where?
Peer reviewed journal: most prestigious, but may lack a large audience
Professional/Association journal: sharing your work and experience with similarly-thinking people where it can resonate
Blogs: yours or someone else’s, it can be a way to share ideas back and forth with readers
Where to publish your work??

10. Where else to share your work?
Presentations: not strictly writing, but you do have to write proposals and have everything organized
Community organizations/events
Conferences: state, regional, national, international
Posters: more graphic and visual, can be a great way to share your experiences!
Colin Purrington (the best name ever for LIS! Sadly, he’s a science guy) has good tips: ign
These are science posters, so yours can be less wordy and more visual -> more fun! 
Where else to share your work?

11. I encourage you (VERY VERY MUCH!!) to go out there and share your ideas
Start while you are at Simmons!
NEVER feel like no one will care – if you write and share in a way others can understand, they will DEFINITELY care!
For more info: These guys are great at helping people to write more effectively!
And, in conclusion…