I’ve been a little quiet of late… but it is because I had a mission.

I realised that I had two or three different e-folders where I had dumped documents and journal articles that I wanted to read and had forgotten what was there.  On top of that I had a box file of hard copy documents and then various docs and articles slotted in amongst the bookshelf of OU materials.  In essence I had lost track and it was time for a sort out.

So, I’ve started using Zotero – a great add-on for Firefox (my web browser).  And have had the long drawn out task of cataloging all the things I want to keep and categorising/tagging then so I know what I can find them in the future.  Getting rid of duplicates – both e-copy and hard copy..making it all manageable…and getting rid of things that I have moved on from.

On the one hand tedious but on the other hand an interesting reminder of half-explored interests – the notion of ‘leadership’ in a partnership/collaborative environment seems to be one theme;  issues of discourse in work settings – how it affects how we think and do but also how stories and language can be used as part of change; and, one area I dabbled in but now have a new fascination for – the notion of strategy-as-practice.  I’m left wondering – amongst it all – is there the kernel of an idea for my research project.  Even though I did not know it at the time, they all seem linked to systems practice so there may be something relevant.

The other thing it made me think about is ‘keeping in touch’ with published literature.  What journals should I get regular email alerts for?  Which authors should I keep an eye out for?  The one downside of the OU module approach is you don’t learn to research for yourself and how to keep up to date and in touch with the ongoing developments in the field.  Perhaps they should recommend particular journals as the end of a module.

Anyway – got to go – got a bit of reading to catch up on!  🙂