Getting the Gist
I can’t believe it’s been more than a week since I blogged, but I’ve been buried in prelims reading and taking notes via Word. Annette has set up a wiki prelims that I’ll participate in by uploading my notes. But I wonder what changes will have to be made to my notes in the migration.
Anyway, since I just gathered another stack of texts from the library, I thought the moment right to ask these questions: “Must I read everything? And what does everything mean? I’ve seen a pattern in responses from those I’ve spoken to face to face. Basically, with the prelim exams changes here, we now have to read a core list of 40 items, with a list of 40 our own making–the old system required, I believe, 150 items from the standing lists. Of course, with all the writing required in the portfolio system we’ll leave, presumably, with a fuller understanding of the core list items (and our own). But is that really the case?
The old binge and purge exams apparently led to a lot of “read the intro, read the conclusion, and read a chapter from the middle that interests you.” And, you could always slide by without readings many titles. The new system, I think, is prone to similar problems. And, I’ll only speak for myself, here.
Under the new, write-a-couple-essays/portfolio system, it would be easy to simply not read many of the texts on the core list. In a 20 page essay, it’s difficult to include everything, and the faculty understands that you won’t necessarily include every core text in either of your essays. In many cases, I could easily get away with reading some review essays and using the B/ST.M Bib. I’ve used both to prep for reading.
I’ll admit to not reading every core list text all the way through; I’m getting the gist. I ask if this enough simply because during my reading I have been resistant to read a significant portion of a core list text (or two), but once I get going and thinking about the faculty question, I see why this item is on the list and understand what I’d miss if I simply read a review (or two).
These concerns go beyond my prelims in the direction of my future research and the need for interdisciplinary study. Can we ever read everything? If not, how much is enough? Who gets to judge? But, I agree, the has to be some kind of system set up to prepare us–for us to prepare. But what happens when those that don’t read everything get through?
We’ve all read the essays, where after, the author is taken to task by others. Then the others are taken to task by still others. Usually, all because someone missed some piece of information.
I’ve gone on too long already, but I’ll end with this thought, one I got by blogging about my prelims today—perhaps we and our students tend too often to see the work we’ve done (the results we obtained) and the work we draw upon as more than contingent (if that’s the right word for what I’m thinking). I can only do my best to do my best and keep working toward something more ___________ .
Well, with my drop 10 add 20 list, I actually had closer to 180 texts to read - especially with those lines that included more than one book by an author. And I read almost all of them. On each of the three lists, I had single digits left to read, and if I hadn’t run out of time, I would have read them. I’ve read most of them since. I think that it was valuable to read them. Yes, I read some more quickly than others, but I did read the whole text. Maybe I was just paranoid that the sections I might skip would be the most important. I don’t know for sure. But I’m glad I did all of that reading.
It is funny to hear everyone doing the ‘new’ system talk about how much reading they need to do. I was talking to someone at slis who took prelims in a way that is similar to our ‘old’ way (they have a portfolio-like system now). She said that she is glad that she read from the massive reading lists, because she feels so well grounded in the different areas of LIS. I’m not sure what I prefer. The current system seems much more humane and practical. But I wonder what gets lost, especially in a field as interdisciplinary as ours, when the reading requirement is cut in half. Maybe not all that much. Again, I don’t know.
By the way, the wiki sounds great! I was the only one taking prelims when my time came, so I basically had myself to study with. It worked for me - I passed - but I think that the more support the better. I have to admit that I went low-tech with most of my notes. I actually took them long-hand and I now I possess a file box filled with color-coded folders filled with notes.
Comment by K8 — March 13, 2007 @ 2:42 am