The next task is focused on where we get our information from. As I have been looking through others blogs I have noticed that everyone uses a variety of sources to find the information they need. In this blog I will be telling you my sources of information and how helpful I find them to help me progress in my career.
When I first looked up sources of information I found that most can be put into 3 categories:
- Primary Information
- Secondary Information
- Tertiary Information
These are quite self explanitory but I will break them down for you. A Primary source is firsthand information about an event, for example our journals that we have all been writing. They are sources which have not been edited by a second party yet. Therefore a Secondary source is an analysation of a primary source, these include reviews, text books and even most of our blogs would be a secondary source as we analyse various pieces of information. Tertiary sources are often used to gain facts or an idea about a certain subject. Examples of this are dictionaries, manuals and handbooks, which is what we received when we started the course. As you can see, already through the BAPP Arts course, we have already been using a variety of sources to gain information therefore bettering ourselves as practitioners.
I myself gain information from a variety of sources. I have broken them down for you to see and explained how I use them below:
Meetings
I admit I prefer to talk to people face-to-face, rather than by phone or email. I like to have meetings with people as I find others tend to have a completely different mind to yourself and they can help you to think further outside the box. Whether it be a formal meetings or a chat in a coffee shop with a friend. Talking about you current projects or ideas you are stuck on with other people can really open your eyes up and help you back on the right track. In my opinion a lot more can come from a meeting than phone calls or emails, you can really get into in depth conversations and so many ideas can come from this.
CPD Sessions (Continual Professional Development)
Alongside meetings, I go to as many CPD sessions as I possibly can. I believe I have mentioned in a previous blog, that one of the reasons I enjoy my career so much is that you can never learn everything. There is always the ability to gain knowledge and progress. Which is why I find CPD sessions so useful. They aren't always about dance or the performing arts either. I have been to many about mental health awareness issues and also safeguarding for both children and young adults. There is always a local CPD session going on, wherever you are, and these play a huge part to my success and development in my career.
Notebooks/Journals
I have always used notebooks, in fact I have at least 5 just at this minute. Recently thanks to the course I have also got a journal now which I am writing in everyday. I find notebooks very useful and I always make sure to have one nearby. I am constantly writing notes and jotting new ideas down. I find from this I gain most of my information from colleagues in the work places, but also participants from classes. Often participants ideas are really informative as a lot aren't from the performing arts background so they have a completely different look on what we are trying to achieve in class.
Internet/Web 2.0
The internet is an obvious source of information, and I believe from what I have seen in other blogs that it is the most common. Of course the internet gives you such a wide range of sources that you can find almost anything you are looking for. The only trouble I have with the internet is you can never be sure how truthful the information you are getting is. You have to be really specific with what you want to find. Also the use of web 2.0 is really useful for looking on other peoples sites to get there opinions and beliefs if you are looking for a more personal approach. Again, with web 2.0 I believe you can't really trust them for facts as they are based on opinions, however with the links people use you can still find information and extend your knowledge.
Books/Articles
I love to read. I find I do struggle to find the time nowadays, but a book can really be a great way to source your information. There are so many styles of books, fiction/non-fiction etc. You can almost guarantee you will find what you are looking for. It is a reliable source and going to the local library you can find whatever you need. Articles are also a good way of sourcing information. I don't tend to use these as much, but I would really like to, I know a lot of friends/colleagues use articles to help them expand their knowledge.
I use a range of sources to gather my information, but I know there are a lot more out there. After reading through some blogs it has already given me more ideas of where I can source information from. Also I know with each of the sources I already use I can find ways to put much more use to them and expand the way I use them. Which is definitely something I will do from now on.
Please feel free to comment below :)
Hi Georgie, I really share your feeling about meeting and talking to people face to face being an essential source of information. I always feel that I cannot get into such deep conversations with people in a phone call as I can when I am talking to them in person. In fact I often misinterpret people when talking to them on the phone, where as when I can see them, I can understand them better as people and this can change the way I view what they are saying.
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