Grate - or food prcess -some carrot, white cabbage etc in the evening whilst doing your cooking and stick it in a bowl in the fridge, - I think ASDA actually have this already prepared in a bag alongside their salad stuff - then you can add mayo, and anything else you fancy, like cheese at lunchtime and put it into a warmed pitta bread, although when I'm in a hurry its also usually cheese and biscuits. I usually put together a friut bowl of prepared stuff though, like kiwi, grapes etc. to give me something to nibble on - although not to sound too healthy, I've also been known to have some of those special K bite things, which are surprisingly OK despite the advert, and other such goodies... and the odd bit of choc...or the few raisins or oher dried fruit, or the crisps left in the packet. Last time I was on holiday from school, and therefore working a lot on writing I tried that special K diet, as I thought this would be easy and quick and would save me having to think of things to eat but it didn't work for me at all, in fact I put weight on even though I stuck to their portion size :-(.

sometimes it is necessary to use the jargon of the subject, for example you might want to refer to a scientific law, but if this is used it should be used with restraint. Often I feel that the language is used as a 'look at me, I'm so clever and my points are so intellectually challenging that only those who can also understand these words should read this, the rest of you, well never mind, just get back to your knitting'  (the knitting this was just something that sprang to mind I KNOW knitting can be complicated too... and has its own language...and is challenging.. and...well you get my drift) I find people like Marx a pain to read, and unnecessarily complicated, yes, you can read it at surface level, but to find what they really mean takes ages. Those sentences that go on and on, so you forget what they were on about at the beginning, the use of phrases which I have to look up in the dictionary every single time - is it only me, or do others find that they have to look up the meaning of some words several times, its like the goldfish thing - I've now bought an address book and made my own dictionary of 'most used words and phrases', which saves a lot of time. some do say that in order to be accepted academically it is necessary to use the 'correct' terminology, but this will limit the readership and whilst it might be approved by the gentlemen' s club, if it something that should really be out there with the real world, then to make it unintelligible is defeating the object, it is no good coming up with some profound revelation if those who might be affected by it cannot access the material because of the language. It is also a way of keeping the peasants at bay whilst proving their own intellectual ability.

I've decided to ditch the wooly hat now, and declared 'almost spring' so have chosen a cap instead, hope this isn't tempting fate and we get snow tomorrow. :$

i walk the dog, so that's some exercise, I spend every school day running around here and there, and always take the stairs rather than the lift- funnily enough the students perfer the lift if they can get away with it, so I am quite active, and I've bought myself a Wii fit thing, the trainer one, and I try to get in 3x 30min sessions a week. I use it more during the school hols, and maybe miss one or two during school times because of meetings etc. Often I feel I can't be bothered to start with, but I am pleased when I've done it. I do run occasionally, but it isn't somrthing I enjoy, mainly because I am a useless runner, but I suppose it gives the bystanders a laugh. :$:-)

Just a note - put your details, name, where you can be contacted, etc. on your memory stick, it means it can easily be returned to you if you leave it somewhere. I suggest this only after having tried to locate the owners of numerous USBs in school. Now I have made a point of suggesting all students do this - and the teachers too catually, saves a lot of panic, and prevents me ending up with even more USB sticks in my drawer/on my desk which are never likely to be returned to their owners.

I have loads of endnotes, it is kind of expected, and I need the extra words. The thing is, they are supposed to add information to expand upon a point you have made in your text, rather than being germaine to the argument. so for example I have said at one point that even when working on a joint project, craftsmen still felt pride in their work and the part they played in the whole. The end note contains a bit more information about this, and adds that this was noted when the resoration process was going on in York Minster, where workers had carved their names into their contribution, as a sort of permanent record. You could take the point in the main text as written, or you could look in the endnote to see the justification. you need to choose endnotes or footnotes, and find which one you should be using in your discipline.

Working in a school - for girls - and because they all do science I have come across loads of names. i would caution against the odd spellings (they always seem to be the naughty ones!) and things spelt with a K when they ought to have a C, they also drive teachers to distraction. Beware of anything too exotic for a first name as these can result in bullying, you can always use that as a second name so they can use it if they want, whilst at school children like to fit in with others. Pick a name that grows up, some names always remind me of little children rather than adults. Oh and nothing popular at the moment like 'pop stars' this will make them instantly datable in later life, which will be no joke if they want to claim to be younger/older than they really are. My daughters are called Jennifer, Georgina and Stephanie for their first names, but have another one in case they want something different.  whatever you choose though, its bound to be shortened even if you think it can't be done, or they get a nickname, which is how one of mine ended up being called ceebit (best not to ask :$)

looks good to me too, Iam nowhere near that yet, I'm having a horrible time trying to wade through Marx's Capital (but not as someone asked me - which capital is that then, London? :-)) which I find very hard going, but I'm determined to finish it tomorrow so that I can get on with rewriting a chapter. just when you think you have nearly finished it...super suggests a change of emphasis. anyway the only thing I think you need to add is 'check the references', make sure they are all there, and you haven't left some in you have now discarded, when we had someone in to talk to us about vivas, that one thing he said he always did, that and creating grids so he could see how often each one had beenused and where...I think some people have no life!!!

You could use s.l. (sine loco) although that is usually used for publications that have no place name in hte basic information. you could use it though I suppose, or no page no. best probably to ask one of the librarians if you want the definitive answer.

try the library...or the canteen. just be careful to defend your method of collection in your methodology chapter, otherwise someone (examiner) may well pick you up on it - and I don't think 'they were the only ones I could get' would cut much ice!

New PhD students? Find out who is the academic librarian in your area, and introduce yourself. Find time at the beginning of your research to get to know the library, where thigns are, how the system works, what journals they stock, what other facilities they have to offer. Try a few searches for books, so you can get help if you have a problem finding your way round. Try some journal searches using the online facility and make sure you know how that works. Check upon interlibrary loans, how to request them etc.

I don't spend much time in the libray, and definately not as much as i used to as they have gone down the party route, there is eating of cold food, drinking of cold drinks and the noise is horrendous, except during the breaks when the undergrads have gone home! I miss the formal atmosphere, there was always talking, but it was never so loud that it interfered with concentration. There is a supposed silent area, but the open plan nature of the place means that sound travels even into this area

sometimes it is annoying when you find the very article you were searching for, only to find that your library doesn't subscribe to it, so you have to request it, or, most usually in my case abandon it.


I wish they would stop moving things around - it was nice to be able to go straight to the bit you wanted, to find it has been replaced by the photocopier that used to be elsewhere is not good!

Read it, it sounds like everyones worst nightmare of an examiner. How would anyone ever choose her? It appears that she is out to fail rather than pass, and really, should anyone be doing three at once?

you also need to check if the internet site holds the copyright to the picture. If you look at a lot of photos in newspapers etc. the name of the photographer is printed in the corner. They are the ones who hold the copyright and are the ones from whom permission to use has to be sought. The same usual rules apply about use for study, but then you have to be careful about using them in power point presentations or other things that might be used in a public domain, its something your librarian will be able to help you with, our librarian gave us this info when giving us a talk on copyright. This meant for me that I couldn't use a pic that illustrated perfectly what I wanted to show, but I couldn't use it because it would have been part of a presentation and I couldn't get the necessary permission as I couldn't find out who could give this. Pictures in art galleries have a similar problem. you should always reference these things properly from the first time you use them, it might be very difficult to find out later.

My super is also moving, but he is still being my supervisor, but from a distance. Good job we have e-mail these days!!!

I fit in both your categories! :$. The most important thing I have found is that you have to make people realise that part timers cannot always get to things, not because they don't want to, but because the timing is impossible. The place where I work is very unsupportive - although it is in education which is the area I am researching - and I cannot get time off to go to things during the day, because they simply refuse, and that is when most things are held in the faculty of education. However here we have quite a few sessions that start at 5.00 or 6.00  for general post grad stuff, which have been set up since I mentioned this and which I can go to. We also have Saturday schools, which are really good for getting to know other people, it is quite important to get to anything you can, and point out things that you would attend if they were on at a different time, it is understandable that academics forget that people cannot always be available, they have as many things to juggle as the rest of us, so you have to let them know about problems, they can't read minds, so don't keep these things to yourself, just make them aware, and if you can think of a solution they may well take it on board, they do here anyway!

Also, don't worry if you think your work is progressing slowly, I work in chunks of time and write mostly during school holidays, and use the rest of the time for doing the reading. Work is not all writing things down, there is a lot of thinking needed and this can be going on in the background whilst you are working on something else, or even watching the TV, just make sure you have a notepad ready to note down any gems that spring to mind as you go along, get yourself a rough plan though so you realistically write down what you are going to do when as this means if you come across something that will fit nicely into one of your chapters, you can file it away in the appropriate place - um... that's so you can find it again without having to search through many files to find it (I've been there several times).

good luck and as people have already said, welcome to the site!:-)