EDUCATOR’S PAGE
Professionals Apply the Three R’s: Reading, Writing, and Researching
Michael J.Urban, MEM-1910
You remember those original three R’s of academic parlance, reading, writing, and arithmetic, right? Well, possessing some level of mastery over them is just as critical in college and professional settings today as it was back in grade school. Why then, you may ask, does the title of this article replace the word arithmetic with researching? Is this meant to, in addition to snubbing our former teachers, somehow imply that mathematics is not critical to geologists or geoscientists? Of course not, but at the admitted risk of offending a few number lovers everywhere, repurposing the last “r” allows me to cleverly1 initiate a discussion about the value of reading, writing, and researching to most profes- sions (geology included).
Whether you are a student, teacher, or scientist, the art of communicating is essential. We all communicate in a variety of ways, both formally and infor- mally, through reports, presentations, papers, and conversations (to name a few). Being able to effectively present our findings, analyses, or perspectives when speaking and writing is something we rely on every day, almost regardless of our occupation. Equally imperative is staying abreast of new findings and changes in our fields of emphases; we must be able to participate in discussions about cutting-edge science, particularly in relevant sub-disciplines (e.g., miner- alogy, etc.), and we do this by reading a lot (and, if not a lot, then maybe just enough). In this age of information, we rest easier knowing we need not know everything – because we simply cannot – and content ourselves in the knowl- edge that we really are able to seek, and usually find, answers to questions about nearly any topic relatively eas- ily. In many cases, information is just
a computer click away. Consequently, if we know where and how to look (i.e., research), we can supplement most, if not all, of our deficiencies in knowledge about recent advances in the field and writing technique.
Reading
Every profession requires some degree of minimum proficiency in knowledge and performance that must be main- tained, or supplemented, throughout one’s career. Staying informed about the advancements in any profession generally rises to the level of expectation – even if not explicitly stated. Reading hard-copy journals, online science news websites, e-news feeds, university and government publications, and other reputable sources of information are excellent ways to remain current on the latest innovations in the field. Joining a professional organization is yet another, since membership usually includes a subscription to a professional journal (for example, The Professional Geologist is the journal of the American Institute of Professional Geologists). Even though attending university classes should (ide- ally) present you with the most up-to- date information about a topic, there is no substitute for reading peer-reviewed2 and authoritative references about a topic.
Writing
In most cases, the spoken word tends to be fleeting, and soon forgotten (unless recorded), but the written word stays around for a long time. Those of us who do any amount of professional writing shudder when we come across mistakes in our published, or now unalterable, work. It seems that people tend to more
easily forgive slips of the tongue than slips of the pen, so for this reason and also because of its permanence, we empha- size and prize error-free writing. Good writing is a skill that can be learned, and practice goes a long way toward making perfect.
There are many forms of writing, including creative and persuasive, but in the sciences it is technical writ- ing, or writing to share information in a professional setting, that is key. A primary goal of technical writing is to provide detailed, yet concise, infor- mation. Technical writing necessitates having, or finding (or both), knowledge about a topic and an ability to convey it in an articulate and formal manner. The desired outcome of writing is to be understood – to communicate something to someone. How we go about communi- cating through written word is crucial, since our readers do not enjoy the same benefit as does someone we are speak- ing to, namely, our readers cannot ask for clarification in the moment. They must fill in any gaps in our presentation with their own conclusions. Omissions of information introduce gaps and so do inadvertent grammatical errors. Our aim for technical writing is to create the fewest number of gaps possible.
Teachers, professors, supervisors, and yes, employers too, abhor glaring typos, mistakes in grammar and mechanics, and wordiness in papers, reports, appli- cations, and résumés. Although it is true that we all fall victim to these nuisances on occasion, carefully proofreading what we have written is an indispensable, yet often underutilized, tool at our disposal. As a university professor, I routinely receive papers in response to formal class assignments, which have clearly evaded
1. Or, so I thought anyway. Much to my dismay, it turns out that many other authors have already had this idea and written about these three Rs: reading, writing, and research.
2. Peer-reviewed means that the work has undergone a process wherein an author’s peers, or other experts in the discipline, have reviewed the work for accuracy and consistency.
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