No, it's not a dream. It's real. It's called COPAC. I use it all the time, it's great. But annoying that my library doesn't have half the stuff I need.

http://copac.ac.uk/

Hey Eska, I just wondered what your background was a you mentioned fashion and costume. Also what is your research on - is it related? I only ask as I'm working on medieval costume. Send me a PM if you don't want to say too much on the forum.

Hurrah, I have just had a draft chapter returned by my supervisor and I had felt it was make or break time. But she says my written work has improved and I've taken into account all the things she had been criticising before. She even said 'well done'. It's only a first draft but I feel I've turned a corner now and I can write to PhD standard.

Interestingly it was the first piece of work which included my ideas on my subject rather than a lit review, or a case study I was forced to work on which wasn't really relevant. I managed to research and write it much faster than other pieces I'd done, so hopefully my panel will now let me get on with my research rather than making me do stuff they want for the panels. I think I have shown that my ideas and research are actually valid and maybe even interesting!!

When I first started marking I was taking an hour per essay and I felt the same as you. I know which uni you are at and which course you are marking, as we are both in the same department, although I actually hang out more in the English Dept. But last year I marked second year essays in our dept and was amazed at the low standard of work, it was as if they had learnt nothing in their first year. I had to fail a few, some because it did not even make sense. And yes there are students whose first language isn't English but it isn't usually them who are writing badly.
Last semester I was marking first year English students and the standard of writing was much better, which I suppose you would expect from English Lit students. But their referencing, use of sources (one had taken everything from just one website) and structure was pretty bad. Although they were first years and it would have been their first essay I still pulled them up heavily on it. They are supposed to have done a course on how to write essays but it appeared that most of them hadn't gone.
Yes, earlier markers, should have flagged things up, but either they didn't or the student took no notice. I'd carry on with what you are doing, be harsh, be a pedant and fail those that don't deserve to pass, it's the only way they will learn.

You are not going mad, and it's perfectly normal to feel like this, after a month, two months, a term, a year, two years and even when you are about to submit, if posts on this forum are anything to go by. If you search through some of the previous threads, you will see that this is a common worry. Try looking for the Imposter Syndrome.

Thanks A116, I have been trying to sort something out. Student Services told me they could not help but after contacting the research officer for my school and being directed to an AHRC liaison person, she is now dealing directly with the head of student services, who surprise surprise do have a way of helping me out and hopefully I should get my money tomorrow or Wednesday. I get so annoyed with people who just don't know stuff, or can't be bothered to do their job properly not realising that their actions affect people's lives.

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I'm so annoyed and poor! I've just been told by student services that my AHRC funding won't go into my account till the end of next week because of some new system they are using but also because I have only just registered (I was a January starter). I registered as soon as I could as my details weren't updated on the system until the end of last week. But now it seems I still have to wait for my money, which is causing serious financial problems. January starters are penalised, and PhD students who actually are working from the beginning of January rather than undergraduates who start when the semester starts seem to lose out as well.
My funding was supposed to go in on January 1 but only if I had registered, which I was not physically able to do until Jan 3. I'm up that creek without a paddle!

Hi Eska, can you get on a training course for speed reading? Your uni should offer training courses like this for researchers. I did one but found that I read quite fast anyway. But there were lots of other tips on how to get the most from your reading. I don't have the course notes to hand at the moment but could look them out and post some more info if you want. One thing I will say is that you shouldn't be reading all of a 350 page book. On the course we all had to bring in a book and then swap it with the person next to us. Then we were given 20 minutes or thereabouts to 'read' it. Then we had to tell the other person what it was all about. It's amazing how much you can pick up in such a short time. The aim was to show us that you have to be selective. Read the contents, the conclusion, the index, the introduction and the chapter headings and maybe the first paragraph or page of each chapter and work out what you really do need to read properly and what you can miss out. I don't think I have read one book cover to cover in two years of PhD. Would others agree?

I am going to get tough with myself and other people and put my foot down more. I want to stop feeling guilty if I don't do things for other people but work on my PhD instead. For example I am always giving my sister lifts because she doesn't drive, but from now on if I don't have time then she will have to get the train. I have a friend who is always late so if she doesn't turn up on time then I will go to the library instead of hanging around in cafes for her. I will leave the house in a mess rather than trying to tidy up after teenagers and they can do it themselves!

Hi Yoplew - sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there will be so many people out there who do have teaching experience who you will be competing against.
I've always been told that obviously you need the PhD but unless you have publications and teaching experience you won't even get on the short list. Is there some teaching (at your university or any others within travelling distance) that you could maybe do next semester. It might be worth getting in touch with the relevant departments. Then you can at least put in your job applications that you are teaching.
Have a look at this website http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers/articles/
There are some really useful articles about what to do after your PhD, how to write an academic CV and what is needed to get a lecturer job. There may be some tips on how you can get round not having done any teaching by focusing on your other skills or areas which you could class as teaching in some form if you have done any work with undergraduates.
Good luck, it's a tough world out there. I'm getting worried about now, and I won't be applying for jobs for another year yet.

I'm in the same boat as everybody else. I have been marking essays, yet have a really important piece of work to do for my review panel next year. If I don't do a good job I won't get through. But I can't not mark the essays, then I have to do some stuff for xmas, but I'm trying to do as much as possible in quick time. There will be no relaxing over the festive season, except perhaps time off for xmas dinner, but I'll be reading articles while others are watching Morecambe and Wise Xmas Special 1978, and The Snowman!

Hi BB,

I don't know what discipline you are in but I think this covers all areas
http://chronicle.com/jobs/

and this is for humanities/social sciences
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/

Hope they might be of some help.

I need to show my supervisor that I can write a high standard piece of work but so far she says I'm not even up to MA standard. Everyone says I am very capable of doing the work. So why can't I do it. I'm beginning to worry that I may not make it into my final year. I think one of the problems is that so far all the work that I have been asked to do is for review panels and I end up writing things that I didn't really want to do or didn't feel ready for then have to cobble it together when I would rather be doing something else. I don't know how to get my motivation back and actually produce some good work. I feel I am asked to write something and given two or three weeks which I don't think is long enough because I need to do more research into areas as I haven't concentrated on those bits yet. My supervisor for my first year was crap and never asked me to write anything apart from my lit review which she didn't even know what it was and then told me it was OK, only for my panel to say it was rubbish. My supervisor now is fantastic and she is trying to help me. We are having a meeting on Thursday and I need to think about why things aren't going so well. I know it won't make any difference now but can I say that I feel I am behind because my other supervisor was no help? Personally, during my first year my mum died, I bought a house and then split up with my husband, and recently I have just moved 150 miles from my uni so have a lot of travelling to do (not every day!). I know these are excuses but they may explain why things aren't going well and I need to now look forward but I'm having a crisis of confidence.

I always think it is ironic when people spell grammar incorrectly - Rjb203!! I'm a complete pedant but I think Bailey's comment was out of order. And Rjb203, no offence meant to you. I get so annoyed when I see spelling mistakes etc, then I read something I've just written and find I've put 'there' instead of 'their' and realise I'm a derr brain! Point is we can all get things wrong, especially when typing fast and exhausted. OK, yes in the thesis everything needs to be perfect, but along the way,things are bound to have mistakes now and then.But it's no big deal!