By: Amy Walker,
on 11/12/2015
We are used to lines that guide – from those that keep our words straight on the page to those that direct planes down runways or trains along tracks. Moving from lines that guide our direction to guidelines that direct our behaviour, particularly in clinical medicine, is a very exciting time.
The post Tracheal Intubation Guidelines appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Beth,
on 5/19/2015
YALSA is seeking a Member Manager for its upcoming web resource, Teen Programming HQ, The mission of the new site is to provide a one-stop-shop for finding and sharing information about library programs of all kinds for and with teens. The site will promote best practices in programming by featuring user-submitted programs that align with YALSA’s Teen Programming Guidelines and Futures Report. The site will also enable dissemination of timely information about emerging and new practices for teen programming; raise awareness about appropriate YALSA tools to facilitate innovation in teen programming; and provide a means for members and the library community to connect with one another to support and display their efforts to continuously improve their teen programs. The site is expected to have a soft launch in July and a full launch in September. Please note that web developers have been contracted with to build the site. The Member Manager is not expected to have any web site design or development responsibilities.
The Member Manager will work with YALSA's Communications Specialist to ensure the site is relevant, interactive, engaging and meeting member needs for information about innovation in teen programming, as well as participates in the maintenance of the site and work within the guidelines for the site as set by the YALSA Board of Directors. The Member Manager assists with the recruitment of experts and the collection of content for the site; generates ideas for direction and content; helps obtain, analyze and use member and library community feedback about the site; assists with marketing; and assists with ensuring programming related activities, news and resources from YALSA are integrated in the site, and vice versa.
List of Qualifications for the Member Manager:
General Member Manager Responsibilities:
Oversight & Coordination
Seek Out & Manage Content & Contributors
Promotion
Technical Maintenance
The Member Manager will be selected by the YALSA Executive Committee by August 1, 2015. The term of the appointment is one year beginning in August 2015, with an option to renew for a second year, based on performance. The Member Manager will receive an honorarium of $500 per year plus $500 towards travel to each Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting while serving as Member Manager. Candidates must send a cover letter and resume, which includes project management, teen programming, marketing and website maintenance experiences to [email protected]. All resumes, etc. must be submitted via email. The deadline for submission is July 1, 2015. Please note that this is not a salaried staff position, but a member volunteer opportunity. Please direct questions to Anna Lam at [email protected]
By: Cate Gardner,
on 3/25/2011
By: Lauren,
on 10/20/2010
Last fall the Oral History Association approved a new set of ethical guidelines. The goal of the task force that prepared the new General Principles for Oral History and Best Practices for Oral History was to provide a more condensed and usable set of guidelines. The leadership of the Association stressed that the new ethical guidelines would be reviewed periodically to determine if they needed to be amended and/or expanded. To that end President Michael Frisch recently invited oral historians to join in an online dialogue via the Social Network which can be found on the OHA website. There will also be a session on the new Principles and Best Practices at the annual meeting of the Association in Atlanta on Saturday, October 30th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Room CR 123.
The new Principles and Best Practices like ethic codes of most academic disciplines or fields are intended to help practitioners avoid unprofessional conduct and more indirectly the legal difficulties than can arise from serious ethical lapses. Some of the suggested practices and procedures in the new Principles and Best Practices are clearly law based while others are derived solely from ethical considerations. The focus of this is blog is not any specific section of the new code but rather on the absence of any guidelines on the legal standing of interviewers.
From a legal standpoint, there is clearly no seminal court case or specific section of the Copyright Act that designates an interviewer as a joint author. Despite the absence of any black letter law, there are a number of impressive sources that point to the very real possibility that interviewers are in fact joint authors. The most telling support for this position comes from the U.S. Copyright Office. According to their policy manual, Compendium II, “A work consisting of an interview often contains copyrightable authorship by the person interviewed and the interviewer. Each owns the expression the absence of an agreement to the contrary.” There is also at least one lower court decision and several copyright experts who support the position of the Copyright Office.
The point of all this is that the new guidelines should include some reference to the possible copyright interest of interviewers for both ethical and legal reasons. Perhaps the best was to do this would be to add a new Principle: Interviewers may also hold a copyright interest in the interviews that they conduct and should always be so informed by the program or archive for which they work or volunteer of their potential rights. Programs and archives who utilized interviewers who are not full-time employees must insure that such interviewers understand the extent of their rights to the interview before they are asked to sign a release. Interviewers should also receive appropriate acknowledgement for their work in all forms of citation and usage.
John A. Neuenschwander is professor emeritus of history at Carthage College and a municipal judge for the City of Kenosha, Wisconsin. He is the author of A Guide to Oral History and the Law and lectures nationwide on the legal aspects of oral history.
I’ve been going through a reading spurt lately, after I finished the third (and hefty) Eragon book, and I’ve noticed that you can’t judge the validity of the “rules” of writing based on what’s selling in stores.
There are plenty of “rules” that we hear when we’re just starting. I put the word in quotes because really, they’re not rules, but they’re things that as newbies, we might not be able to get away with as much as an established author. They’re things you’ll hear from fellow writers as well as in critiques, both from agents and editors.
What are the “rules”? Here’s a few that I’ve heard and seen broken in books I recently read:
Stick to one point of view: The first draft of my novel switched POV between my protagonist and his father for the first half of the book, then, after the two story lines had come together, focused on the protagonist. In a critique workshop with an agent, I was told children’s books rarely switch POV and I should rework it to just be from my protagonist’s POV. I did, and it worked out fine. But, if you read bestsellers out now, you’ll see that many don’t do this. Christopher Paolini’s Eragon books are a good example.
Avoid ly words: I’ve heard this one a lot, and as guidelines go, it makes sense. The descriptive ly words can slow down prose. Many times, they’re not needed. This is an extreme example, but you don’t need to write “STOP!” the man said loudly. The STOP! tells us he’s saying it loudly. But, I can’t help enjoying ly words at times. I use them probably more than those who tell the “rules” would like, but I like them. To me, used well, they can be delicious and make a sentence that would have been toast and jam, toast and jam with whipped cream and sprinkles. And guess who uses them a lot: J.K. Rowling. She’s pretty successful. 
Never use the word Suddenly: I’ve heard this one a lot too, and actually, I’ve got to say I agree. Never is a bit strong. There’s probably a time and place when suddenly would spark up a paragraph, but not with sentences like: Suddenly, she grabbed him. Using the word suddenly to describe that something, well, suddenly happens, is fine but it’s easy. It’s the quick go to word, but it’s not the most creative way to move the action. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used this word, and in sentences like my example, plenty of times. But when I see them in my revisions, I try to rewrite them. And most of the time, the context of the story, the action, is moving fine and doesn’t need a suddenly thrown in. Recently, I read the first book in the Sisters Grimm Fairy Tale Detectives series by Michael Buckley and was surprised to see that in the climactic scenes near the end of the book, Suddenly was running around lose and fancy free. Now, I really loved this book. The characters were strong, the story fun and many many times Buckley had me laughing out loud. But, to be honest, all the suddenlys stuck out to me, and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve heard the “rule” so much or what, but it actually slowed the pace of the action. They weren’t needed, because the action was doing fine without them.
For newbie writers trying to get a foot in the business, sure, we have to make sure our manuscripts are Mr. Clean clean. They’re going to be scrutinized more than one from an author whose last book sold 100,000 copies. Do we stick to the “rules” or break them? I say, go with your heart. Ultimately, tell a great story in a great way. If it’s a little unconventional, breaking the “rules” so to speak, it might take a little longer to find the right agent and editor, but you will; if you believe in your story, you will. But it’s good to know the “rules” so you can decide whether you want to break them. Some of them are said for a reason.
What “rules” have you heard and seen ignored in the bestsellers?
Write On!
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By: BookEnds, LLC,
on 10/15/2008
Why do we ask that manuscripts be double-spaced? Obviously it’s easier on the eyes, but actually it’s also easier to edit. Traditionally, copy editing has been done by hand on the page, and for editors to have the space they need to make notes, editing marks, and adjustments the lines need to be double-spaced. It also helps agents edit and critique as well. Often when editing I make notes to either myself or my author on the page, and having more space between lines to do that is easier for everyone to read.
Why do we require page numbers and headers on every page? Have you ever dropped a manuscript all over the floor? Well, that’s obvious, but the other, not-so-obvious reason is that often I print out material to read on the back of old manuscripts. Having a header and page numbers helps me keep track of which side I’m supposed to be reading. Page numbers are also imperative in editing. When writing a revision letter to an author I almost inevitably refer to the page something is on. It makes it easier for us all to find it.
Why do we like submissions unbound? Rarely is reading done in the office and juggling a 400-page manuscript while standing on the subway is nearly impossible. An unbound manuscript can easily be divided and carried around as needed. One piece can go in my checked suitcase while the rest can be carried on.
Why do agents want queries without any other material? Don’t they know that judging a book from a query only is unfair to the author? I receive 25 to 30 email queries each day. Imagine if that were 25 to 30 proposal packages. I wouldn’t have room in my office for anything else. And, truthfully, the query can say a lot. Most of the time I am able to judge the author’s writing, style, and voice from the query alone.
Any other questions?
Jessica
By: Catherine J Gardner,
on 7/31/2008
By: Rebecca,
on 4/21/2008
Alexander R. Lucas, M.D., author of Demystifying Anorexia Nervosa is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and former Head of the Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic. For forty years he has been a recognized authority on anorexia, with a practice that drew patients from around the world. Demystifying Anorexia Nervosa defines anorexia, illustrates how it can evolve and how common it really is, and outlines every part of the treatment process, from the early warning signs that parents should watch out for, to the initial evaluation, to specific treatment plans. In the post below Dr. Lucas questions a French bill which would regulate the promotion of extreme thinness.
The French parliament’s lower house recently adopted a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to promote extreme thinness. The bill is aimed at magazines, advertisers, and particularly Web sites. Pro-anorexia Web sites (also known as pro-ana) glorify anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than an illness. They are popular sites that advise teenagers and young women how to maintain extreme thinness. They are frequented by anorexics who share their experiences and advise one another about unhealthy practices.
This latest move by the French parliament comes after a Spanish fashion show banned models with a body mass index of less than 18, indicating waif-like abnormal thinness. This was a reaction to the 2006 death of the top Brazilian model Ana Caroline Reston. She weighed only 88 lb. at 5’ 8” and had suffered from anorexia and bulimia. In the U.S. the Council of Fashion Designers of America adopted guidelines for its models to be healthy, not anorexic or bulimic.
The French bill, if passed by the senate, would be the strongest of its kind, and would impose high financial penalties, even imprisonment, if an infraction caused the death of a victim. This raises several questions. Can the avoidance of extreme thinness be legislated? Are voluntary guidelines preferable? And, more crucially, to what extent do cultural influences as conveyed by the media cause anorexia nervosa?
There are many factors that lead to anorexia nervosa. First of all there is a biological predisposition with a genetic basis. Further, the individual developing anorexia nervosa has certain personality characteristics including willful determination and persistence. Individual psychological influences also play a role. Finally, there are the cultural influences, glamorizing extreme thinness. Thus, there is usually no single cause, but a combination of influences that lead to anorexia nervosa. Of these, the cultural influences would seem most easily to be altered, but would require a wholesale change in our society’s attitude, in advertising, and in the messages conveyed by the media.
It is naïve to think that a law will prevent anorexia nervosa. Any efforts, however, to establish healthy guidelines for models could protect them from excessive dieting. Healthier role models would also send the message to teenage girls that extreme thinness is not fashionable.
Writing Guidelines
SCBWI Writers of Lower Fairfield
Founded by Stacy Barnett Mozer
This critique group is for adults dedicated to writing for children. As members of this group we pledge to give each other the needed push necessary to get our work written and out there to be seen by others.
1) Our meetings will be held every three to four weeks. Members can begin to arrive at 7:30 P.M. The meeting will start promptly at 7:40 P.M. allowing ten minutes for small talk, drinks, and snacks.
2) At 7:40 P.M. each member whose work will be critiqued will be given 15 minutes of feedback. A prearranged facilitator will create a schedule for the order in which the works will be critiqued and will keep the group on time.
3) If a group member cannot attend the meeting, they should send the author written feedback by e-mail.
4) To maximize the usefulness of each critique, the author should indicate to the group if there is something specific they want their readers to look for, or if they want a general critique.
5) During the critique session the author may only speak to ask clarifying questions. He or she may not try to explain or defend his or her work. Reads will take turns identifying something specific they admire about the work, and then identify something they feel the author needs to improve.
8) Members who do not wish to share their own writing can still critique the work of others. Members should submit by the Thursday before the next meeting.
9) At the end of the meeting, time will be left for shop talk: what we’ve learned about the market, books or software to recommend, announcements, workshops to recommend, and to celebrate publications.
10) At times we’ll declare a Theme of the Month: query letters, finding agents, an aspect of writing or story telling, and will each bring materials to share around that theme. We may also use meeting time for guest speakers.
11) The point of the group is to help each member become better at their craft while having fun, meeting new people, and making connections. These guidelines are always open for change in order to further that goal.
By: Kelly Herold,
on 6/17/2007
I was out walking amongst the fireflies (the single most wonderful thing about Smalltown) when I suddenly realized I never recapped Day Two of the Children's Literature Association conference. So here's what I found most interesting on Day Two:
It was a great conference overall. Highly recommended!
By: Kelly Herold,
on 6/14/2007
Today was day one of the Children's Literature Association Annual Conference located this year in Newport News, Virginia. I've never been in this area of Virginia before (near Williamsburg) and let me say that it is just beautiful. Trees, trees, and more trees.
Today I gave a paper on Baba Yaga in Anglo-American picture books and attended a number of interesting panels. Here's what I found most interesting on day one:
More tomorrow...
I agree entirely.
Also: one thing to keep in mind is that all those bestsellers–usually these books that are selling out aren’t their first ones. The writer has proven himself before with past books. It’s part of another “rule”: You’ve got to know the rules before you break them. I’ve beta read a lot of stuff that just was…wrong…and part of that was because I didn’t trust the writer to know the rule.
When Cormac McCarthy doesn’t punctuate his book, I don’t have a problem with it. He’s proven before that he CAN, so when he doesn’t, I know he’s not doing it on purpose. When Joe Schmoe unpublished writer doesn’t, I’m afraid to say I don’t give him the benefit of the doubt.
[...] By Day Writer Balancing work, life and the desire to create « The writing rules Two more rules broken May 30, 2009 Yesterday I wrote about the so-called [...]
Thanks, Beth. I know what you mean. I put up two more broken rules today. Enjoy.