Dream A Little Dream

How to Flourish in Graduate School?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:16:58 -0500

How to flourish in graduate school? To me, this is a question equaling how to manage your graduate period of life. To do well in graduate school is no different from to do well in our own life.
Finding the meaning to life, in other words, finding the interest to PhD life, is most important to us. As we all know, research is vital for the success to graduate students. Thus, we should look for topics which can inspire our endless interest and only in this way, can we go through all the difficulties and challenges on the PhD life. Also, something that can interest you must have close relation with your past experience. As a result, your interest, rather than other unfamiliar topics, can give you more control of what you are learning and researching.

The second important thing to flourish in graduate school is to learn how to organize our time, both in and out of school. We don't have to go to work from 9am to 5pm. Besides taking courses on campus, most of our time is up to ourselves to manage. So it becomes important to turn the time into achievements. We should work hard in private time, on the other hand, we should also not fill our time with too much stress. Time managing is important to every graduate student, and it is also an art worth learning.

The third important thing to flourish in graduate school is to find a goal, knowing what you want to do after graduation and for the rest of your life. With this aim, we will know to in what aspect we need to improve and it will be easier for our many decision-makings. As to students who want to work in academia, publication and the direction of research is very important. As to students who want to find a job in industry, plenty of intern experience is very important. Otherwise, our graduate lives will be distracted by many other things and this will do nothing for future.

My Clubs

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:59:23 -0500

I'm always attracted by various fascinating activities going on campus, from sport, cultural, academic to political activities. But as a graduate student, you know, there is comparatively less time which can be devoted into activities. So I will write few clubs here but my interest in clubs are far beyond what I can express here.

Right now I am taking part in the book club organized by ISS. Every week, female students from different countries will sit together and discuss books or topics we are interested in. I am not a feminist, but I am so interested in what females think from different culture background. I like this club. It gives great pleasure, making more friends and inspire my thought always.

The second activity, maybe I should not call it a "club", is the LateNight held by the HUB every week. I will attend it as long as I have time. There is a creative art session in this activity, in which we can paint on different objects every time, for example, a wooden box, a water bottle, a clock and so on. Here I can freely use my imagination, colored pens in my hand, and all those beautiful memories in my childhood. There is another session I became interested recently, the LateNight film. Everyweekend, there would a recent film shown in the hall, like Wall-E, Hancock, the Dark Knight and so on.

If I have more time, I would consider joining a movie club, yoga club and a photography club. There are all closely connected with my personal interest. As to the photography club, I think I should buy a professional camera first. And, I should save my money first....

The Person I Think Highly Of

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:52:21 -0500

Anthony Giddens is a famous British Sociologist. He was born in Jan. 18th, 1938 and he received a bachelor degree in Sociology and Psychology, Hull University in 1959. After that, he continued his study in Sociology and got a master degree from London School of Economics and a PhD degree from Cambridge. Giddens worked as professor of Sociology and a Fellow of King's College at Cambridge University for many years. From 1997 to 2003, he worked as the Director of LSE, one of the most important institutes in the world. For his personal interest, Giddens is a keen supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.

Dedicated for academia for so many years, Giddens is remembered for many contributions, among which, the Structuation Theory and the Third Way idea are mostly well-known. In one of his recent interviews, Giddens divided his life into two parts, the first 30 years of academic research and the second phase of 15 years political practice.

The Structuation Theory is the best representative of his first 30 years. By introducing this theory, Giddens researched individual acts, or major social forces, can bring change and shape society. His theory was then expanded into many other majors and areas. Giddens has published more than 34 books, 200 articles. His book "Sociology" has been published for the 5th version and greatly influenced the teaching and writing of Sociology in many countries.

The Third Way idea was also popularized by Giddens and it strongly influenced the development of New Labour in the UK and other social democratic parties. This idea helped Tony Blair and the New Labour won the election in 1997. He himself has been worked as consultant for Tony Blair, too. Giddens has given lectures around the world and received warm welcome wherever he went.

The reason I think highly of Anthony Giddens is because he is a successful and honest scholar. He's successful because he initiated many important ideas which have enormous influence around the world. He is not just sitting at home doing research. His knowledge and wisdom has practical use for the development of the real world. The other reason I respect him is that he's very honest. Although people always label him with Structuation Theory or Third Way, he himself does not mention them any more. He says the world is changing fast and ideas may fall behind and need to revise or abandon. He thinks it is important for scholars to devote into society to check their ideas and revise from time to time. I can not agree with him in this respect any more.

. 幻灯片 8幻灯片 7

幻灯片 6

My future publication outlets

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:59:23 -0500

In the future years, I 'd like to publish several research papers on the following publication outlets:

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems is a leading journal on management, business and organizational fields. It mainly focus on the the introduction and utilization of information systems as a strategic tool in a global context, the organizations' strategic thinking, strategy alignment and management of change issues. I am interested in the following topics: i) the nature of business in the context of emerging IT; ii) the organizational implications of IT; iii) how organizations have been transformed as a result of the astute management and application of IT.

Information Systems Research is an important international journal focusing on information systems in organizations, institutions, the economy, and society. I hope I can do research on the following topics: the productive application of information technologies to human organizations; ii) how these technologies improve economic and social welfare.

Academic Communities

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:33:45 -0500

I 'd like to introduce several academic communities I am familiar with: IJEBR, ICIS.

IJEBR stands for International Journal of E-Business Research, which tries to provide an international forum for researchers and practitioners in the field of electronic business. It encourages People in this community to advance the knowledge and practice of all facets including Emerging e-business theories, architectures, and technologies are emphasized to stimulate and disseminate cutting-edge information into research and business communities in a timely fashion. Importantly, as we ISTers are trying to do, IJEBR are building a comprehensive framework of e-business by integrating a multidisciplinary approach to understanding e-business and its implications on technologies, people and social aspects.

Source: http://www.igi-global.com/journals/details.asp?id=4294

ICIS, International Conference on Information Systems, is another conference on Computer and Information Science. It encourages the researches in the field of information sciences to exchange and share their new ideas,experiences, and research results about all aspects (theory, applications and tools) of computer and information science, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted.

Interview with Louis-Marie Ngamassi

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:25:17 -0500

Louis-Marie Ngamassi, a third year PhD student of IST, is looking for a NGO job after graduation and is hard working with academic project and publication. I am happy to share his thoughts and experience in his office.

1. His project and dissertation

Guided by his advisor Carleen Maitland and other professors of IST, Louis is diligently working on the COHORT project. This is a perfect project for him, a combination and extention of his previous work in UN and research interest in NGO. Stemed from this project, Louis is thinking of narrowing down his final dissertation topic, which is assumed to be fulfilled in the end of this semester. Louis has passed through the tough first PhD year which we are all experiencing now. However, he said he's still under certain stress from time to time, thinking of how to turn project and report into high valued papers. "You have to find specific things from these reports and make them deeper and researchable", he said, "and it is very important to get feedback from faculties in the project. Work hard and their guidance will keep pushing you forward."

2. His conferences and papers

Based on the COHORT project, Louis came up with several publications which can been seen on his personal website www.personal.psu.edu/lxn141. Apart from the project, he also published papers on his own interest about ICT and HIV issues. As to the conferences, he has joined ISCRAM, TPRC, IFIP, ICT AFRICA and so on. To him, attending conferences with his advisor is a very interesting experience. Dr. Maitland will show him around, meet different people, happy and sweet.

3. His view of academic life
Located on the third floor of IST building, Louis from time to time has talks with first year graduate students. He also experienced the tough beginning of PhD life, especially the first semester. Going through all this, Louis now thinks the first year is a good accumulation for future research and all students can survive with unnoticed progress finally. Finishing all the courses and assignments, Louis now is in a new stage of PhD life, in which research and publications become the most important thing. Although he is looking for a non academic career, he still work hard in research for two reasons: one is publication is vital for every PhD students, the second is by publication and joining conferences, he will get acquaintance with people in the particular area he will work with.

4. His view of himself

Louis describes himself as an "Outlier". Why? He has a long work experience, much longer than other students in IST. He thinks he has limitations, like slow reading and should work harder. He has a family, lovely children and has more responsibilities. These reasons make him think himself as "outlier". I am happy that Louis and I have the same advisor, which gives me more chances of talking with him. Louis has set up a very good example to me, no matter in study or in life. Compared with Louis, my experience are simpler and my life are simpler. And our research interests are different. However, there are two things I think we all should possess, a diligent attitude and calm mood. Louis has possessed both and I'm still searching in the way.

My Cool Advisor

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:25:54 -0500

I see my advisor Carleen Maitland as a cool woman who possesses both beauty and intelligence. I think her personality is also in accordance with her horoscope Archer very much, energetic! My advisor grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and has received higher education both in United States and Europe.

My advisor has a very happy family. Her husband also works in Penn State at College of Engineering and they have a lovely daughter.

Dr. Maitland joined IST as assistant professor in 2002. She also served on the advisory board of Women in Science & Engineering Institute (WISE) from the fall 2002 until August 2005. During 2001 and 2002, Dr. Maitland worked as an assistant professor in section of information and communication technologies, Delft University of Technology.

Carleen has also served for several enterprises, such as outside plant engineer and a network cost analyst for Nynex, network cost analyst for Pacific Bell, government affairs intern at TCI, and research consultant for Daimler Benz.

As to me, the most amazing thing in my advisor's previous experience is that she had joined U.S Peace Corps Volunteer in 1991 in Malawi in southern Africa. How fantastic the stories would be! I really want to hear more when I meet her next time....

My thoughts about IST

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:20:58 -0500

The interdisciplinary flavor of IST
The week before last I went to the Student Health Centre. When I told the doctor that I am from IST, she said with a surprising tone "Wow, you are a computer girl"! Well, as I had done many times before, I explained to her tha I am not from computer sciences background. It is understandable that to many people in this university, the concept of IST is still vague. But it is a pity because they don't know that IST is one of the leading pioneers in interdisciplinary exploration among I-Schools in the nation.

This is true because I have compared all the I-schools on the website. (http://www.ischools.org/oc/schools.html). I found many I-Schools are either concentrate on computer science or library science. And IST is one of the few schools that cover a large range of interdisciplinary researches. I have another proof from our ongoing project of IST faculty collaboration for IST511. The background of IST faculty is really broad and the research of faculty expands many areas to other disciplinaries.

I think this interdisciplinary flavor of IST will be stronger because our school is going to open a B.A program. As a student who got both B.A and M.A in my previous education, I'm so curious and excited to know this news. How the new program is going to be like? Can we bring imaginary and aesthetic sense to information science? Can we investigate deeper in human nature to optimize technology? What are the curriculums? Will it lead to a M.A program in future? I even can not wait to see. I even begin to think of what I can do in this new domain.

The flexivity of IST
IST has a very flexible structure for both faculty and students. Unlike many other schools which use departments to separate sections, IST sets up many labs and research centers for particular research interests. As for me, I may find my place in both Center for Information Society and Enterprise Informatics and Integration Center. And for some other students whose research interests still wavers from Social Informatics and HCI, both Center for Information Society and Penn State Center for Human-Computer Interaction will work. I think there are many new coming PhDs who can not decide what special area he/she will do and the lab/center pattern can give them more flexibility than department pattern do. As for the faculty, one faculty may work in several labs or centers according to different projects, so the lab/center pattern can guarantee the efficient flow of research resource and break up boundaries existing among normal departments. I think this flexibility is especially important for an interdisciplinary research school.

Suggestion for IST
I think IST could make some adjustment in current course design. My reason is as follows: Students in IST are from various backgrounds. As a result, the level of understanding to a certain area is different with each student. For example, the technical content in some core courses are too deep for social science students and these too technique knowledge will not have much to do with their social research. Thus I think it may be possible for IST to develop several levels of core courses. Take the social science students for example again. They will take a less difficult tech core course while taking a more demanding social science core course. Vise versa with the technique background students. I think this adjustment will reduce course pressure and inspire more enthusiasm and productivity on students.

Study in An I-School

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:04:00 -0500

On the "I"(Information)-"T"(Technology)-"P"(People) triangle IST presents, I may lie at the highest point of "P" side. This is not because I am good at researching on people or society, but because compared with "P", my knowledge on both "I" and "T" are limited. But this will not last long. As a student in I-school, I have already started my interdisciplinary journey. For the past three weeks of study, I have absorbed a broad knowledge related to information that I never imagined. This is a challenge because I have to conquer one and another hill of technological issues which I'm not familiar with. But this also opens a door for me, telling me how fantastic the technical world. As a I-school student, like everyone else, I will be equipped with a broad knowledge span fromComputer Science, Library Science, Business, Psychology, and Sociology.

Studying in I-school is also a trend. Before entering IST, I also thought about applying other schools or departments. My interests are broad, media, internet, social psychology, policy, management. I think no single department can combine all these except IST. This is true. In IST, everyone of us, no matter from which background, can see a chance of conducting great research according to our own characteristics. But how about students in other schools? Well, I have met a student from education department. Her research focues on professional training and she is planning to take HCI course in IST because good user design is essential to training software. I have also met students from computer science or other departments who are trying to transfer to IST. Why is that? I think the answer is that we can not just ignore the power of information. As information technology is playing a more and more important role in our lives, pure traditional study of either people or technology became insufficient. The problems we met cannot be addressed from a single disciplinary perspective anymore. Understanding and resolving the new emerging problems require a new lens. This is why I-school emerges.

So as to me, study in an I-school is a really an adventure. I have to draw new knowledge, strengthen diversity, discard individual disciplinary biases and finally develop a new Information vision. Maybe I-schools are new, and maybe we need a breathing space to better our education designing, I firmly believe the direction is right. Our persuit in I-school can be proved its worth over time.

What drives me?

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:14:11 -0500

    My passion lies in the curiosity to discover the unknowns. That's why I chose my previous major Journalism. I think reporter is the particular position which help me get access to a variety of things. And it's why I come here and challenge myself as a PhD student, to find numerous possibilities information can do with our lives.

    My passion lies in serving the society. When working in the government, I found great satisfaction in helping others by making and implementing administrative decisions. So I hope my future job would also encompass this factor, with which I can combine my speciality and welfare of the society together.

    My passion lies in my family and friends. This is the most important thing to me. We care about each other, trust and help each other go through all the difficulties in our endeavors. I'm so thankful to have them in my life and be an trustful friend of them, too.

    My passion lies in my own inner world. I like music, movies, poems... everything that can inspire feelings for the richness and beauty of life. I sense, therefore I am.

Who am I academically?

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:11:32 -0500

There is a path for the development of my research interests. I used to be very interested in liberal arts. So I chose Literature as my bachelor degree major. While buried in all the works of famous writers, I felt a hugedistance from the society. What literature cares is the inner side of people's heart, having little connection with outside world. So I transfer to Journalism as my master degree major and had really good opportunities to devote into media work and explore what real society is like. At that time, my minor research speciality was in Broadcast Journalism. But during my study and professional work, I found the power of Internet, say the fourth media besides traditional newspaper, radio and television is becoming more and more evident. I became gradually interested in online communication researches. This is an important reason I came to IST. My research in IST will be primarily concerned with information technologies and their social impacts. I will focus on Social Informatics, Supply Chain Effectiveness and Information Policy.

video-sharing sites are struggling ?

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:20:18 -0500

Webcast technology and its services is a rising topic that has been talked about by business for recent years and many websites have been set up under the rule of video streaming. Among which, "Youtube.com" is undoubtedly the most successful one. The miracle of becoming a millionaire overnight has inspired many young engineers to devote into this industry. Research has shown that in 2006, more than 200 online video websites were set up in China and the number of online viewers has reached to 63 million, which took up 47% of the whole Internet subscribers. Meanwhile, up to 100 million dollars venture capital have been invested into the industry from IDG (International Data Group), Sequoia Capital, SIG (Susquehanna International Group) and other international companies. The culture has been set up when young people favored variety and self-presentation. However, pure video sharing is not enough to sustain a long-stand website operation in today's fierce competition world. In the end of 2006, more than 50% of online websites have been closed for lacking of profit prospect.

How to make profit from webcast technology is the most important topic for those websites. Some typical cases include Toodou.com focuses on hot video topics to draw click rates, while 56.com focuses on providing video teaching lessons to encourage users to join its video production. Sina.com keeps its profitability by presenting video news that correlates closely with its daily world news. Online video advertisement is also a major way to make profit. However, for most commerce services, they are still stayed in advertisement level. Very few profitable business models have been developed for online video technology yet. As the online video show market is near full, It is really critical to find new ways of keeping business stay in the black.

About Me

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:02:09 -0500

I am Rong Chen, you can call me Angela :-)

I am a graduate student in College of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University .

I started my Ph.D study in Penn State from August, 2008. Prior to this, I spent two years in a Chinese government working on policy making issues. I got a Master degree in Broadcast Journalism at Communication University of China and a Bachelor degree in Chinese Literature at Nanjing Normal University.

I am currently working with Dr. Carleen Maitland. My research focuses on Social Informatics, Supply Chain Effectiveness and Information Policy. I also have great interests in telecommunication markets and organizational innovation among Asian Countries. My previous researches include business potential of mobile video services, cultural analysis of online communication, global strategy of TV companies and so on.