In the week of the Science Festival, I came across a great blog from Ines Cifuentes of the Amercian Geophysical Union who talks about the need for scientists to become storytellers. What does that mean? Instead of relying on giving out information, we have to use emotions, humor, visuals, anything and all to draw people in, hold their attention, and make them learn.
This blog also linked us to the work of Randy Olson who is a scientist turned film maker. In his ‘Benshi Blog’, there is a film about the rare Majestic Plastic Bag: A Mockumentary – we encourage you to take a look. Randy has also written a book called Don’t be such a scientist, talking substance in an age of style – we will be reviewing this book and getting back to you! We have also placed more of Ines Cifuentes’s blog on our New information and knowledge page.
Siwan
Tags: American Geophysical Union, Film, Ines Cifuentes, Information and knowledge management, Randy Olson, Scientists telling stories, Sharing knowledge, Stories, Storytelling, The Benshi blog
Information and knowledge management, Resources | Siwan Lovett | 
20 August 2010 10:36 am | 
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A new Knowledge and Information Framework outlining how regional natural resource management (NRM) knowledge and information needs across Queensland can be better managed has been released by the Regional Groups Collective (RGC), which represents the state-wide interests of the 14 regional NRM bodies in Queensland. To download the framework click here or visit the Collective Projects page of the RGC website.
The collaborative online wiki www.collections.org.au has also been established to document NRM projects and facilitate knowledge and information sharing for NRM groups.
There is so much talk of ‘information overload’ in our society. Are we really overloaded or are we over-consuming? I have been hearing about this concept for so many years now and I was fascinated by this blog posting by Clay Johnson which I fell across this week. Clay’s argument is that we are over-consuming information just the way we over-consume food. It is in our power to control this over-consumption.
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Last week I attended Dave Snowden’s Making Sense of Complexity workshop and, over the next few weeks, I am going to share with you a few of the ‘gems’ I learnt through the experience.
The first of these is about the need to differentiate between people who cook using a recipe book, and chefs, who are able to use whatever ingredients are available at any time, to make a meal. Following a recipe book provides the user with the security of knowing they will get a defined outcome, but it does not allow for creativity, spontaneity and an ability to respond in the moment. A chef creates something in the present, mixing, tasting and modifying as they go along.
In natural resources management I believe we tend to follow recipe books in an attempt to make sure we tick all the right boxes to achieve a set ‘target’. While there is nothing wrong with this, I think it is important to use the recipe book as a guide only, the means to an end, but not the end in itself. Allow yourself the freedom to adapt, reflect and experiment along the way, as this unleashes our creativity and enables us to get even greater personal and professional rewards along the way. For more on complexity theory, click here.
Siwan
This week has been amazing with seven days in New Orleans on the mighty Mississippi River for the annual Special Libraries Association (SLA) conference.
For the last five years I have been attending the SLA conference and have visited some fascinating parts of the USA. However, this year was special. Since starting to work with ARRC I have found a new interest in the rivers of the world, and have now visited the 3rd largest. Just the Amazon and the Nile to go if I want to visit the top three!
SLA is a very large international information and knowledge management professional association with members from across the globe. Last year, during the SLA centennial, I was Chair of the Knowledge Management Division. The KM Division is the fastest growing Division, and is now one of the largest, even though we have only been in existence for 4 years. I also ran my Continuing Education course on evaluation using narrative techniques, which for the second year in a row was a great success. I will probably be running this again in 2011 in Philadelphia. If you are interested in qualitative evaluation the ARRC could run this course for you here in Australia – please let us know.
Nerida
PS I also managed to fit in a few days in New York – and despite my preconceived ideas about big cities, have found this to be a very pleasant place and will definitely be visiting again.
