Third time lucky?

Over 10 years ago I enrolled into a PhD program. Sadly, things didn't work out and eventually I withdrew from the program. After a couple of years of phaffing around, I enrolled into an EdD at Otago University because I felt a more structured approach to my studies would ensure my motivation and completion. However, my move to Australia, and changing jobs from education to industry has made me think that an EdD no longer has relevance to my life. So I have withdrawn from that program.

In the meantime, I have had a very interesting chat with Profs Deborah Davis and Keith Lyons at the University of Canberra. They have suggested that I apply to do a PhD with a thesis by publications. This would entail writing/submitting four papers for publication, and tying them together in a thesis with a literature, introduction and conclusion.

I love this idea because it really is more like a portfolio-approach to a PhD. It will allow me to take all the work I have done over the last six years and bring them together and make sense of the themes, track my learning and growth over the years, and help me work how where to go from here, now that my working context has changed so drastically.

This is my "third time lucky". If I don't get on and complete with this enrolment, then I have to kiss the whole PhD thing goodbye. But I am also a tad embarrassed that I'm still working at it....13 years later!

Does anyone know what the record is for number of enrolments, or time it took to complete a PhD?! I hoping I am not one of the worse!? 

Using Scribd to publish my research

I have been following a conversation on Twitter, #phdchat, about the value of blogging about one's research, and came across a very interesting blog post by Melissa Terras called "Is blogging and tweeting about research papers worth it? The Verdict"

I'll leave you to read the whole article to get the nitty gritty, but long story short...Melissa has shown that by blogging and tweeting her published articles, she is attracting far more downloads, than if they were just left in the university repository. I highly recommend that you read her article if you are an academic or researcher.

This has spurred me on to being a little more proactive about disseminating my publications, especially as I have one or two coming out this year.

Up to now I have used Internet Archive for storing my work. But it isn't the sexiest looking website, or easiest to use, although is it extremely stable. So for a change, I have started experimenting with Scribd as a repository to store my documents. It is extremely easy to use, and integrates well with other social media. To get an idea of what it looks like, go to the page that presents my latest publication about the midwives and social networking: http://www.scribd.com/doc/88224294/International-networking-connecting-midwives-through-social-media

Do you use Scribd? How have you got on with it?