For my final project for this management class I have created a website describing a management project that is currently in process where I work at the UNC School of Medicine. It revolves around the creation of a multimedia database that will consolidate a number of resources at the school and serve a number of audiences in and around the School of Medicine. Here is the link:
http://www.ils.unc.edu/~moynihan/rubysite/management%20final/mmdb_index.html
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Personality Tests
Today I took both the Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram test, and the results are that I am an ENTP ("The Inventor") and "Type 7: The Generalist. The enthusiastic, productive type". I was surprised to find that the descriptions of this type were quite accurate to my personality. I was skeptical of this approach partially because it seems to me there are too many variables involved. On the question level, it bothered me a bit: how should I interpret this question? Does either of these choices really appeal to me? Also, once the type was figured out, did that mean that I am supposed to be 100% "x" and 0% "y". I was glad to see that for both tests they had some way of showing you the different degrees to which you fit one category or another. I thought it added a lot of perspective, especially since some of my percentages for a specific category were much more strongly correlated than others.
I also found it interesting that the job types it suggested included engineer (something I have never really considered) and "Information Systems specialist" which seems particularly apt since I am now in an information science program. Especially since this is a career-change for me that only happened a year ago!
Another thing that struck me is that I am pretty sure that if I took this test 10 years ago I might have given different answers. This also seems to correlate with the idea that you can actually *physically* change your mind by engaging in different behaviors and/or thinking different thoughts. Even so, I imagine that most of these qualities would not have changed very much since my youth.
Given that I was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy and even advice surrounding my own assessments, I think these personality tests could actually be helpful information to use when dealing with others, for instance in a management situation. It strikes me that many arguments people have with each other involve a differing set of ideal norms that they carry with them in their heads, and often people get upset when someone violates those unspoken inner principles. If both parties were more aware of how someone else might be of a different type (not with rigidly defined borders, of course) then they might be able to see that there is no one single norm that is right for both of them, and come to a better understanding of the situation and how to solve it. I would suggest these tests to others. Even if you don't agree with the findings, it will no doubt give you some food for thought. It is a very rich area indeed.
I also found it interesting that the job types it suggested included engineer (something I have never really considered) and "Information Systems specialist" which seems particularly apt since I am now in an information science program. Especially since this is a career-change for me that only happened a year ago!
Another thing that struck me is that I am pretty sure that if I took this test 10 years ago I might have given different answers. This also seems to correlate with the idea that you can actually *physically* change your mind by engaging in different behaviors and/or thinking different thoughts. Even so, I imagine that most of these qualities would not have changed very much since my youth.
Given that I was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy and even advice surrounding my own assessments, I think these personality tests could actually be helpful information to use when dealing with others, for instance in a management situation. It strikes me that many arguments people have with each other involve a differing set of ideal norms that they carry with them in their heads, and often people get upset when someone violates those unspoken inner principles. If both parties were more aware of how someone else might be of a different type (not with rigidly defined borders, of course) then they might be able to see that there is no one single norm that is right for both of them, and come to a better understanding of the situation and how to solve it. I would suggest these tests to others. Even if you don't agree with the findings, it will no doubt give you some food for thought. It is a very rich area indeed.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Five Ethical Principles for Employees of Fictional University Library
While looking for a set of ethical principles that I might want to employ for my (fictional) organization, I found myself moved by the ACM's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, particularly as it addressed the ethical challenges related to information professionals and those who work with technology. The words and ideas below were largely culled from that document, which is available at http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics. In my adaptation, I strove to focus on brevity, core principles, and language that directly related to the work we do in our organization and the kind of work environment I myself would like to inhabit.
1. Avoid harm to others.
"Harm" means injury or negative consequences, such as undesirable loss of information, loss of property, property damage, or unwanted environmental impacts. This principle prohibits use of information technology in ways that result in harm to any of the following: users, the general public, employees, employers. Harmful actions include intentional destruction or modification of files and programs leading to serious loss of resources or unnecessary expenditure of human resources such as the time and effort required to purge systems of "computer viruses."
Well-intended actions, including those that accomplish assigned duties, may lead to harm unexpectedly. In such an event the responsible person or persons are obligated to undo or mitigate the negative consequences as much as possible. One way to avoid unintentional harm is to carefully consider potential impacts on all those affected by decisions made during design and implementation.
2. Be honest and trustworthy.
Honesty is an essential component of trust. Without trust an organization cannot function effectively. The honest employee will not make deliberately false or deceptive claims about a system or system design, but will instead provide full disclosure of all pertinent system limitations and problems.
3. Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
The values of equality, tolerance, respect for others, and the principles of equal justice govern this imperative. Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin, or other such factors is an explicit violation of Fictional University Library policy and will not be tolerated.
Inequities between different groups of people may result from the use or misuse of information and technology. In a fair society,all individuals would have equal opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, the use of computer resources regardless of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin or other such similar factors. However, these ideals do not justify unauthorized use of computer resources nor do they provide an adequate basis for violation of any other ethical imperatives of this code.
4. Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the process and products of professional work. This includes articulating and supporting policies that protect the dignity of users and others affected by our organization.
Excellence is perhaps the most important obligation of a professional. Technology and information professionals must strive to achieve quality and to be cognizant of the serious negative consequences that may result from poor quality in a system.
5. Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
Honoring one's commitments is a matter of integrity and honesty. For the computer professional this includes ensuring that system elements perform as intended. Also, when one contracts for work with another party, one has an obligation to keep that party properly informed about progress toward completing that work.
An information professional has a responsibility to request a change in any assignment that he or she feels cannot be completed as defined. Only after serious consideration and with full disclosure of risks and concerns to the employer or client, should one accept the assignment. The major underlying principle here is the obligation to accept personal accountability for professional work. On some occasions other ethical principles may take greater priority.
1. Avoid harm to others.
"Harm" means injury or negative consequences, such as undesirable loss of information, loss of property, property damage, or unwanted environmental impacts. This principle prohibits use of information technology in ways that result in harm to any of the following: users, the general public, employees, employers. Harmful actions include intentional destruction or modification of files and programs leading to serious loss of resources or unnecessary expenditure of human resources such as the time and effort required to purge systems of "computer viruses."
Well-intended actions, including those that accomplish assigned duties, may lead to harm unexpectedly. In such an event the responsible person or persons are obligated to undo or mitigate the negative consequences as much as possible. One way to avoid unintentional harm is to carefully consider potential impacts on all those affected by decisions made during design and implementation.
2. Be honest and trustworthy.
Honesty is an essential component of trust. Without trust an organization cannot function effectively. The honest employee will not make deliberately false or deceptive claims about a system or system design, but will instead provide full disclosure of all pertinent system limitations and problems.
3. Be fair and take action not to discriminate.
The values of equality, tolerance, respect for others, and the principles of equal justice govern this imperative. Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin, or other such factors is an explicit violation of Fictional University Library policy and will not be tolerated.
Inequities between different groups of people may result from the use or misuse of information and technology. In a fair society,all individuals would have equal opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, the use of computer resources regardless of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin or other such similar factors. However, these ideals do not justify unauthorized use of computer resources nor do they provide an adequate basis for violation of any other ethical imperatives of this code.
4. Strive to achieve the highest quality, effectiveness and dignity in both the process and products of professional work. This includes articulating and supporting policies that protect the dignity of users and others affected by our organization.
Excellence is perhaps the most important obligation of a professional. Technology and information professionals must strive to achieve quality and to be cognizant of the serious negative consequences that may result from poor quality in a system.
5. Honor contracts, agreements, and assigned responsibilities.
Honoring one's commitments is a matter of integrity and honesty. For the computer professional this includes ensuring that system elements perform as intended. Also, when one contracts for work with another party, one has an obligation to keep that party properly informed about progress toward completing that work.
An information professional has a responsibility to request a change in any assignment that he or she feels cannot be completed as defined. Only after serious consideration and with full disclosure of risks and concerns to the employer or client, should one accept the assignment. The major underlying principle here is the obligation to accept personal accountability for professional work. On some occasions other ethical principles may take greater priority.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
About my Elevator Speech
In thinking about my elevator speech, I tried to have it be well-structured. That is, I wanted to start out with an unambiguous beginning that summarized the whole speech, and then discuss the rest of it in a structure that brought together my past (educational background and interests), my present (current work at the School of Medicine and classwork at SILS), and my future (an interest in working with educational technologies at a University Library or similar environment). I felt this way of structuring the talk could guide me in what I included, how much detail I should mention, etc.
Saying it out-loud made me realize that this talk needs some work. I don't want to sound too repetitive, and I would like for it to flow freely, like talking to someone in an elevator, perhaps. My speech was well-received by my audience of one. I was told that it was good that it seemed so integrated, but that I might want to work on it some more in order to give a smooth delivery.
Saying it out-loud made me realize that this talk needs some work. I don't want to sound too repetitive, and I would like for it to flow freely, like talking to someone in an elevator, perhaps. My speech was well-received by my audience of one. I was told that it was good that it seemed so integrated, but that I might want to work on it some more in order to give a smooth delivery.
"Elevator Speech" about my Future Career Path
I am interested in educational technology. Over the years I have had a number of jobs related to teaching, whether that be English as a second language, running an afterschool program for elementary school students, or teaching college-level classes as a graduate student. As I was pursuing a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, I found that what really interested me was ways in which I could employ emerging technologies to aid the educational experience for students. This has manifested itself in a number of ways.
I am interested in online classes, yes, but that is only one component of my larger interest in educational technology. I have created wikis for graduate and undergraduate courses, built an online anatomy text book for medical students, helped to create a content management system that would serve the internal interests of administration, departments and student groups at the Medical School. I am presently part of a working group that is forging a multimedia database for the School of Medicine, with the goal of creating a web-accessible source for images, videos, lectures and other materials for greater use and re-use. This summer I will be working at North Carolina State University's main library to work on new ways of building web sites and applications that can be employed to better assist specific courses in accessing the resources available through the library.
My coursework at the School of Information and Library sciences has been guided by an interest in the ways that the creative use of information architecture, databases and web applications can be employed to find new modes for pedagogy and educational support at the university level, through the library or in the classroom. In choosing my courses, I have consistently sought to increase my technical abilities and knowledge in order to enable new avenues for using technology to enhance and improve the educational experience. Because I have a passion for this field, I would love to continue to develop my career in this direction, working at a position, either at a University library or a related job, that would allow me to find creative educational uses for emerging technologies.
I am interested in online classes, yes, but that is only one component of my larger interest in educational technology. I have created wikis for graduate and undergraduate courses, built an online anatomy text book for medical students, helped to create a content management system that would serve the internal interests of administration, departments and student groups at the Medical School. I am presently part of a working group that is forging a multimedia database for the School of Medicine, with the goal of creating a web-accessible source for images, videos, lectures and other materials for greater use and re-use. This summer I will be working at North Carolina State University's main library to work on new ways of building web sites and applications that can be employed to better assist specific courses in accessing the resources available through the library.
My coursework at the School of Information and Library sciences has been guided by an interest in the ways that the creative use of information architecture, databases and web applications can be employed to find new modes for pedagogy and educational support at the university level, through the library or in the classroom. In choosing my courses, I have consistently sought to increase my technical abilities and knowledge in order to enable new avenues for using technology to enhance and improve the educational experience. Because I have a passion for this field, I would love to continue to develop my career in this direction, working at a position, either at a University library or a related job, that would allow me to find creative educational uses for emerging technologies.
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