Criticisms of PKM

Not everyone agrees that the focus on the individual is a good thing, or that PKM is anything more than a new wrapper around personal information management (PIM). Most notably, some argue that knowledge is never an individual product – that it emerges through connections, dialog and social interaction.

Weblogs and wikis are emerging as important elements of some organizational ‘bottom-up’ PKM systems. Other useful tools include Open Space Technology, cultural anthropology, social bookmarking, stories and narrative, mind maps, concept maps, eco-language, and similar visualization techniques, just- in-time canvassing tools, automated knowledge harvesting tools, and Google Desktop and similar desktop content management tools. All these tools are selforganizing and self-managing tools, introduced ad hoc by self-forming groups within an organization to facilitate knowledge sharing and personal content management.

The use of Media Wiki as a combination of knowledge management/project tracker/note taking/document generation software has been suggested (retrieved from: [10]).

Task 19. Try to remember the following phrases and continue the sentences:

1.While the focus is the individual, the goal of the movement is to…

2.This frequently implies technology, but…

3.PKM has recently been linked to…

4.Personal Productivity Improvement – ‘knowledge fairs’ and one-on-one training sessions to help each employee…

5.Information literacy…

6.All these tools are self-organizing and self-managing tools, introduced ad hoc by…

Task 20. Answer the questions using word combinations from the text you’ve read:

1.What is the concept of Personal Knowledge Management?

2.What is PKM focused on?

3.What is the traditional view of KM?

4.Why do workers of different companies need KM?

5.Which ‘systems’ do some organizations introduce? (briefly)

6.What skills do you need to have a Personal Knowledge

Management system?

7.What is the evaluation of PKM nowadays? How do you consider it?

Task 21. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate form of a given word from the text:

6.“Once is like never,” ……… the young lady. TO IMPLY Yet the doctor implied: “twins.”

7. After the success of my transformation, EFFECTIVE this group was selected to demonstrate

the ……… of the procedure across the broad range of races, ages, and sexes.

8.These compliments ……… me to continue. TO ENCOURAGE However, there’s still a long way to go.

Summing-up

Task 22. Make a list of your own Personal Management skills. Think about the skills you have to work with. How do you think, which of them will help you in your future career?

UNIT IV. ACADEMIC WRITING

Vocabulary and Word Study

Task 1. Read and analyze the words. Make sure you know their meanings:

Organizing Your Writing

A. Openings

Look at these openings from students’ written work, and note the items in bold:

This assignment will address the problem of socio-economic data in health studies.

This dissertation is concerned with individual differences in the ability to connect thoughts and emotions.

The aim of this paper is to explore constant acceleration formulae, with a focus on motion along a slope.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate the use of focus group interviews.

This thesis consists of four parts. Each part describes a different set of experiments which contribute to the final results.

This assignment is divided into three sections, with each section devoted to a different aspect of world trade.

Don’t confuse first(ly) with at first. At first means ‘at the beginning’, and refers to situations which change: At first there was no increase in temperature, but later, the temperature rose by 0.5°C. Say as can be seen in Figure I, NOT as it can be seen in Figure I.

Task 2. Choose a word from A to fill in the missing words in this introduction to a paper:

The (1) ……… of this paper is to consider the nature of moral education in Soviet children’s literature. It is particularly

(2) ……… with the moral values presented in books published with the (3) ……… of teaching reading at primary school. The thesis (4) ……… of four parts. The first part attempts to (5) ………

a number of general questions relating to children’s literature from any historical period. Parts 2, 3 and 4 are (6) ………

specifically to the Soviet example. Part 2 is (7) ……… into three main sections, the first of which discusses the nature of the Soviet value system with a particular (8) ……… on the work ethic.

Task 3. Read the sentences and answer the questions about them:

1.Tolstoy’s most famous novels are War and Peace and Anna Karenina, the former being first published between 1865 and 1869 and the latter between 1875 and 1877.

Which of Tolstoy’s novels was published in the 1860s?

2.More precise data can be found in Table 3 below.

Does Table 3 appear before or after this sentence?

3.Let us now turn to the question of the country’s economic situation.

Has the writer already begun discussing the country’s economic situation or not?

4.The brothers, Olaf and Erik, would go on to become professors of archaeology and Greek, respectively.

Which brother taught archaeology?

5.The preceding example is taken from Atakano (1991). Does the example come before or after this sentence?

Task 4. Choose the correct word in italics to complete each sentence:

1.Take/Put/Look, for example, the case of Megginson which was described in Chapter 2.

2.At first/Firstly I would like to discuss the nature of 16th century English and then the impact that this had on the works of Shakespeare.

3.The article concerns/devotes/addresses the issue of the relationship between religion and politics in the modern world.

4.Look at Figure 3 under/below/beneath for more detailed information.

5.In the following/preceding section we shall deal with this issue in more detail.

6.For more detailed information see/go/turn Appendix B.

7.Let us now deal/see/consider Figure 2.1.

8.This aspect of the problem will be discussed latter/later/lastly in this article.

Task 5. Rewrite the parts in bold using a phrase which includes the word in brackets:

1.As Table V shows there has been an increase in the numbers of students in higher education. (SEEN)

2.In Section 3 we take up again some of the arguments from Section 2. (PRECEDING)

3.Now let us turn our attention to developments in Constantinople. (POINT)

4.The country consists of six provinces. (DIVIDED)

5.Let us now consider the issue of the reunification of Germany. (TURN)

Reading and Speaking

Task 6. Do you know how to structure an academic paper? What are the general rules? Read the text:

HOW TO STRUCTURE AN ACADEMIC PAPER

For many students, writing an academic paper may be a daunting task. Thankfully, there are writing structures to help make writing an academic paper a successful and perhaps, enjoyable endeavor. The information below describes a simple structure that may be useful for many types of academic papers.

Keep in mind as you write your essay, structure is not the only important element of a successful paper. Be sure your content is well organized and you begin your writing well in advance of the assignments due date to ensure you have time to conduct thorough research, write several drafts, and carefully edit your paper.

Overall Structure of Academic Papers

Basic academic papers have three main parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Each of these three parts typically serves its own purpose.

The introduction introduces and creates context for the subject and topic, it describes the structure of the essay, and establishes the paper’s central argument or thesis.

The body follows the structure outlined in the introduction and covers topics pertinent to proving the paper’s thesis.

The conclusion restates the central argument in a new way, reviews the paper’s central topics and main points, and explains the papers relevance and importance.

A. INTRODUCTION

Introductions are generally divided into three parts and serve three main purposes:

(1)Create context for the subject and topic

(2)Describe the structure of the essay

(3)Introduce the author’s central argument

Creating Context

Authors should ease their readers into their papers by creating context for the paper in the introduction. Authors can create context by giving the readers information illustrating the overall subject, central topic(s), and argument.

Some methods you can use to create context include:

•Telling a story

•Giving historical or background information

•Giving statistics, facts, or other hard data

•Offering key definitions

•Posing questions pertinent to the topic

•Describing the Structure of the Essay

Describing the structure of the essay may help the reader establish basic expectations for the organization of the paper. This helps them “relax” into the information and notice important details without being distracted by surprise topics and disorganized or unexpected information. This section of the introduction serves as a road-map for the reader – it allows them to proceed with the confidence of knowing what’s to come. This portion of the introduction focuses on introducing the central points and describing the authors plan for supporting them. Two common phrases used in this portion of the introduction are:

“This essay will…” “In this essay I will…”

These phrases might be continued using verbs describing the action to be taken in the paper. Some key verbs include: describe, analyze, prove, distinguish, argue, and provide

Introducing the Central Argument

In academic writing, the central argument, or the thesis, is often the most important component of the paper. Therefore, making a central argument successfully and immediately is important.

A central argument is not necessarily designed to convince the reader. Rather, it is designed to make a central claim that the reader, after reviewing the essay, is better equipped to understand. Much of academic writing is designed with the intention of allowing readers to gain a better understanding of a particular subject.

B. BODY

The body of the paper lays out the evidence and information proving your central argument, or thesis.

There are two main things to remember about the body of your paper: first, each paragraph typically follows a particular form; and second, those paragraphs generally follow some of the rules for writing academically

Paragraphs

Paragraphs often have three parts:

(1) A topic sentence

The topic sentence lays out the paragraph’s topic. It tells your reader what the paragraph is going to be about.

(2) A set of explanatory sentences

The explanatory sentences explain, clarify, and help readers better understand the topic.

(3) A set of analysis sentences

The analysis sentences provide readers with an analysis of the paragraphs importance. They explain the paragraphs relationship to the central argument of the paper.

C. CONCLUSION

Conclusions generally have three main parts:

(1)Restatement of the thesis

(2)Review of the main points made (or topics covered) in the

body

(3)Explanation of the papers relevance, significance, and importance

The Restatement of the Thesis

The thesis statement captures the central argument of the paper. It is introduced in the introduction and repeated – with new language – in the beginning of the conclusion. It is repeated