Answering the 7W's for my thesis simulation

My boss has given me advice on what terms in my abstract I should have solid answers for. I set those up on my wiki for answers I find I can use. I would like to have a good solid 7w's approach to the topic too. The 7W's method is something I have not often applied but I will use it for the paper. I am inspired by the Clerk of the Privy Council's report on renewal of the pubic service as his text relates to my thesis. I am now thinking of using his text for an opening quote to answer the why question. So that leaves 6w's to go.

Here is the section's beginning from section III of the clerk's report that fits with my paper and answers why.

Lynch, Kevin G. (2008) Fifteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada section III (http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/index.asp?lang=eng&page=information&sub=publications&doc=ar-ra/15-2008/rpt_e.htm#1, accessed April 26, 2008).

III. The Framework for Public Service Renewal

In last year’s Report, four broad priority areas for renewal were identified. These were planning, recruitment, employee development and enabling infrastructure.

Planning

The foundation for shaping the public service workforce we need is a clear understanding of what skills and knowledge are needed to meet departments’ business objectives, both now and into the future. Business planning and human resource planning have to go hand in hand. Without this, recruitment and employee development will be largely ad hoc and short term.

As an example of the importance of integrated planning, over the past 25 years there has been a striking shift in the occupational makeup of the public service toward more “knowledge intensive” work. Indeed, as Figures 3A and B indicate, computer specialists are now five times more numerous than in 1983 and economists three times. Conversely, clerical positions have declined from about 24% to 14% of the public service and there are 95% fewer secretarial workers. However, business and human resource planning in the public service has tended to lag rather than shape these changes.

The thesis topic and this summer's paper

Although I have now lost my supervisor for my thesis on retaining the knowledge of the baby-boom I am still committed to giving a paper as though my thesis topic has not changed and is going ahead. This leaves me out though because I am now a student with a topic searching out a supervisor. This seems a weaker position. I will now need to contact all the potential supervisors on the program's list for someone who can agree to take my topic and me on.

I searched for the subject and keyword "knowledge management" at the library late Friday night.

I was at the library late Friday night into Saturday morning. I was searching out "knowledge management" books and have one book now from that search. That book is called Corporate Memory and I have read the first chapter this morning. I am now setting a goal of having read this book by next weekend and also bringing it to work for my boss on Thursday.

I also browsed the new book shelves on the 5th, 4th and then 3rd floor. I borrowed three new books from the 5th and two new books from the 3rd. The three from the fifth are related to "knowledge management". One is on the knowledge intensive workplace and the other on demographics and the different North American cohorts attitudes to technology. I have read the beginning for these books now. The other is about knowledge management and law enforcement and the English is not the greatest but it does break down knowledge like the book Continuity Management which I am also still reading.

The two new books from the 3rd are not related to "knowledge management" and the other old book I borrowed from the 3rd is also not related.

The old science book from the third is about Fortran 90 and I tried out the first "Hello, World" program. I typed it into GEdit with Fortran 95 highlighting and then installed Gfortran and then G77 and finally got it to compile with some editing of the file but could not execute the program as I could not find the file the compiler produced after compilation.

The first new book from the 3rd floor is a photography book on Photojournalism since 1955, which was going to be a job I tried to aim for when younger and in my last year of high school in the late 1970's.

The other new book is about ordinal walks and I do not get it fully but it reminds me I am a mathematician.

The last area I searched is related to a promotion opportunity at work. I may be hired to work with correction statistics with the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics and the plan is for an interview for this job this coming week. I thought to prepare with a government statistics report from 2004 on correctional statistics.

I focused my library search on Knowledge Management Friday night

Last night I spent about two hours around midnight searching the library catalogue for books on Knowledge Management. I found a handful of books. My main focus was browsing new book shelfs. The University of Ottawa has a new book shelf for each floor so it took at while to browse them all. I spent most of the time browsing the fifth floor which is mostly G and H so geography through economics and sociology.

Sping Sim 08 was good

I had an enjoyable time at Spring Sim 08 and met some other agent directed programmers and one professor Emeritus from our systems sciences program.

I started a Keynote presentation for this summer's conference

I started a keynote presentation for this summer's conference. I was able to write up my programming code completed to date as well this past weekend.

I wrote my final exam his past week and did so so.

I think I only scored B on my final exam. I know I had a few questions wrong. I have no formal classes until the fall now when I will study simulations.

I am studying a book by a Vietnam war weapons systems integrator.

I seem to have landed in a course taught by a military engineer. The course recommended reading is

Jeffrey O. Grady. System requirement analysis
2006

It is very much in line with our course though. Here is a test of pacifism I suppose. I could have noticed this connection and quit the course and thus the degree. But instead I am arguing with the military engineers that is the other students. I am being too aggressive though in my arguments and still think school is about arguments. The book though is highly interesting and very structured. But it speaks of disposable human beings who are either ignored or get in the way of the weapons systems. All in all, one of the most inhuman courses I have studied and I have studied sciences and engineering before so it is not the field it is the application and language and sources.

Other students from the class may be reading this so I suppose this is more public a a review of a book than other book reviews.

Last class of the term today

It is the last class of the term today. We will have a final quiz and then a final exam review. I have been studying risk management in preparation for this final quiz. Our final exam is next Wednesday. On Monday and Tuesday I am attending a conference on simulations. On Monday afternoon I am going to see a professor about the possibility of completing a summer reading course.

Reading course notes this morning.

We have a quiz this week on Friday. That is for my school course in systems integration. Then our final exam is next Wednesday. I will study the course notes a little this morning; keeping the steady progress approach working.

I have Monday and Tuesday off work for a conference. Here is a link to that conference http://www.scs.org/confernc/springsim/springsim08/finalProgram/anss.htm.

One paper read today on knowledge workers turns out to be a useful critique of the concept of knowledge workers.

Here is the cite for the paper I read today

Collins, David. Knowledge Work Or Working Knowledge?
Ambiguity and Confusion in the Analysis of the “Knowledge Age”. Employee Relations 19, 1. 1997.

I read this and it was a sweeping critique of post industrial muddled thinking concerning the term: "knowledge workers". I have used it in the opening of my paper now.

I intend to continue my searching of the seven types of knowledge thought to make up operational knowledge.

This searching method is to take each two word term and place an and operator between the words and then scan the first 100 papers or citations returned to pick out possible references. Then adding these selected citations to a RefWorks folder named after the knowledge type. Then a biography of the selected references is created. Then this is again scan read and anything still thought to be relevant is then searched out, printed, and read. I have only read the one paper as of today.

My paper has been accepted for a graduate student workshop on July 31st

I have had my first thesis paper accepted for an American Sociology Association pre conference workshop. Here is a link to the details http://citasa.ist.psu.edu/pre-conference

Our term paper was submitted on time.

It did take an all nighter but I have gotten our term paper done. It was submitted in class last night. Last night's lecture covered risk management. Next week we have a quiz then on the 16th we have our exam.