Wikipedia Articles

Wiki's are an amazing way for people around the world to share information with each other for free. Anyone with internet access can search any topic, and professionals, experts, and enthusiasts can communicate what they know. Instead of having to work around copyright laws and publishing rights, information can be provided free of charge, in an easy to access format. However, readers must be critical of unpublished sources, and ensure that concepts and facts they find in wiki's are backed up with scientific literature or other reliable sources. It's an example of buyer beware: it is up to the web surfer to think before they blindly believe everything they read on the internet. Fellow classmate Meaghan discovered this first-hand, when she realized most of the information she was reading about entire animals on Wikipedia was wrong!

As often as I've used Wikipedia, I never considered contributing to it. While I knew the articles weren't necessarily written by professionals or professors, it never occurred to me that undergraduate students could have written the articles I use everyday! In fact, someone who knows nothing about a topic could do a little research online and create a Wikipedia article. For the most part, this is what I did- while I had learned about PSE meat in some of my Animal Science classes, I had forgotten a lot of the details. So this exercise was very useful for me. Ironically, I knew right away what stub I would chose to write about, because I remembered searching for this topic on Wikipedia before, and being disappointed there wasn't more information.

Learning the Wikipedia code system wasn't as hard as I anticipated. I found that creating bullet points, bolding text, and creating subheadings was quite simple. However, I did struggle a little bit with the references. Getting the footnotes to work properly took a bit of tweaking. Then I ended up manually changing the information within each reference code, to correspond to each of my references. When a source was used more than once, I just copied and pasted the entire code. It surprised me, that while the Wikipedia article pages are very clean, simple, and easy to read, the editing page is not! Personally, I don't think the page could have been more difficult to work with. Everything from the font, to the codes mixed amongst the words, made it very difficult to review and edit your work. Once I had inserted my lengthy reference codes into the edit page, it was almost impossible. However, with a little persistence I was able to cross all my t's and dot my i's, so that the format was the way I wanted it and all references were in place (Fig 1).

Fig 1. christy267 (2012) Wikipedia: PSE meat, [screenshot]. Retreived March 22, 2012 from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75279061@N06/7007710243/in/photostream

You can check out my Wikipedia page here. Feel free to edit, add, and expand! Everyone should get involved in sharing their knowledge. While my PSE article is a substantial improvement over the two lines of stub available before, there is still plenty more information that should be included. In addition, I think my article could be edited to read simpler, with less scientific jargon. I found that after four years of writing technical papers and reports in University, it was hard to appeal to a general audience. Maybe there is an educator out there who will see my article and have some ideas of how to make it simpler and more accessible to the public. If a few people learn something about meat quality and pork production from my article, I'll be ecstatic!

Facebook and Employers

Here's a screen shot of my new professional facebook page!

Screen, a photo by christy267 on Flickr.

It's becoming more and more common for recruiters to do online research about their potential new employees. Therefore, it's important for any graduating student to ensure there is some professional information about themselves available online, rather than just their own facebook profile. Drunk photos and dirty jokes posted on your wall don't do much to impress your future boss. However having an online resume, some appropriate pictures of yourself doing interesting things, and wall posts featuring intelligent conversations can really make you look more mature, responsible, and reliable.

Last semester my friend Hilary posted her blog and facebook page. Reading her post made me realize that it is important to include information and pictures that are not only appropriate, but also represent your interests. For example, if you are hoping to get a position at a company where you need to communicate with farmers about their cattle, you should be demonstrating your excellent writing skills on your page, and including information about yourself that relays your experience with cattle. If the employer sees nothing on your page indicating that you are interested in cows, they might think you are not very committed to the industry. It's also a great idea to show all of your many interests on your facebook page, to convey that you are a diversified individual.

While facebook profiles are public, employers should still use the information on them responsibly and fairly. In a news article by Business Week, Greg Fish says that "...employers should not use information obtained from Facebook, blogs, or other Internet sites in ways that would be intrinsically unethical or illegal". It is the recruiters responsibility to remember that not all information posted on the internet is accurate, and that people use the web to portray themselves in a way that may not necessarily be true. He also states "When companies use these profiles to find not only a professional but also an ideological match for a job, they’re misleading themselves and building ill will with talented prospective employees, who might decline to apply for a job..." Therefore, I think care must be taken on both sides of a facebook profile when it comes time to apply for jobs. The prospective employee should ensure they are portraying a message they don't mind their interviewer seeing, and the interviewer should take everything on the web with a grain of salt, and remain respectful of an individual's personal life.

Introductory Post

Hi everyone! My name is Christy and I'm in my 4th year of an Agriculture degree at the University of Alberta. This blog is designed for my ALES 204 class: Communication Theory and Practice. When I graduate this year, I am hoping to be accepted into vet school in Calgary or Saskatoon. Otherwise, I will use my degree to work in the animal science field. Throughout University, I've been involved in many student clubs including the Pre-Vet/ Animal Health Club. I've also volunteered with the Little Bits Therapeutic Riding Association in Edmonton, and with an equine veterinarian in Wetaskiwin. I love to go horseback riding, travel, watch old movies, and head out to the lake.

Standing in front of the bay in Cienfuegos, Cuba!

During the last four years of my degree, I have really learned to value good communicators. I have sat through enough boring, monotone, and non-relatable lectures to understand the difference between someone who knows how to transfer ideas and concepts, and someone who just rattles off what they know. Over the years, I have had to do my own presentations, and try to improve each time. My writing and critical reading abilities have increased dramatically after having to write papers and essays. During my various summer jobs, I have developed the ability to write informally yet professionally, in a way that is accessible to the general public, as well as scientifically. When I spent a summer speaking with poultry farmers across the province, I had to learn their own jargon, write information and brochures for them, and speak face to face and over the phone. Last summer, I spent three months in a research lab, and became very skilled at writing academically for a scientific journal article.

Communication is key in most careers, including Agriculture. While one might assume that an agrologist would mostly be interacting with plants and animals, they'd be surprised to learn how important verbal and written communication is. Many agriculture specialists work in the area of consulting, such as advising a farmer what  fertilizers to use, suggesting a new kind of feed ingredient to a dairy farmer, or educating a rancher about the government's new traceability requirements. You can even take diploma courses in Agricultural Communications at the University of Guelph! Researcher's in agriculture also have to prepare reports to apply for grants and funding, give presentations at conferences, and sell their new technology or development to companies who can distribute the products. Veterinarians may have animal patients, but they have human clients. Being able to get a patient history, explain tests and procedures, and educate an owner about a diagnosis are the most important roles a vet plays. A vet doesn't just have to talk to a client, they often have to explain microscopic biological processes or internal medicine that the owner can't see. They need to make intangible concepts understandable. All while maintaining a level of professionalism, and often sympathy.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/g/good_communication.asp

It's becoming increasing important to be able to utilize non-traditional forms of communication, including social media. Every business has to have a website, and many organizations update their web pages frequently. A great example is the Edmonton Humane Society, who typically posts new pictures and bio's of their adoptable animals daily. Personally, I couldn't imagine having to do research, look up a phone number, or find an address without the use of the internet and google. My friend Filmon also talked about this last semester in his blog.Organizations also make great use of facebook, including the U of A Pre-Vet/ Animal Health Club. We use our page to post new meetings, organize trips, and discuss vet ethical questions. As a result of this change in technology usage, I've noticed that telephone calls, mailed letters, and face to face visits are starting to be considered "special", and stand out from the ordinary routine of most offices. Therefore, I think these forms of communication will always be important. There's nothing quite like a phone call from an old colleague to brighten up one's day.