Mattias Arvola wrote:
> Even though the stuff designed may be based on..they are not
> publications in themselves. In the same way, patents are not publications (even though
> some people count them).
>
> However, they do count as a merit...If you in the future
> want a teaching position or want to be a leading professional, the productions you have
> made do count.
That's is right but it needs some unpicking. First of all any work can
become part of or support a publication of some kind, the key word is
"publish". You as a researcher have to take the initiative to set out
your case and make the contribution to the field explicit. I could
imagine a situation where this might be done very easily, if for example
an expert judging panel had made an award to product X, citing it as a
significant advancement of the field resulting from systematic inquiry
and original thinking, then the designer/researcher need only put the
product and the award citation together although they may have had to do
some work previously to demonstrate the systematic inquiry to the panel.
In most cases however life is not so straightforward and the value of a
peer-reviewed publication is that it gives you the opportunity to set
out your case for the originality and methodology of your work and have
it validated. Making the published paper the end-point of the research
does not mean that the product and its development is not significant in
the inquiry so this is not a case of either product or paper.
But the idea that completed designs as such are valuable for other kinds
of professional accreditation is dangerous. I have seen people
brandishing portfolios of impressive products then found that the
individual concerned did not play the significant role they were
implying. I won't speak for industrial employers and clients (although I
think some of them are probably too easily bamboozled) but in the
academy we should expect people to put forward a clear story, with
evidence, to demonstrate the originality and professionalism of their
work. Very much like publishing your research.
best wishes from Sheffield
Chris
...............................................................o^o
Professor Chris Rust FDRS
Head of Art and Design
Sheffield Hallam University, S1 2NU, UK
+44 114 225 6772
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http://chrisrust.wordpress.com/
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the
future of the human race. - H. G. Wells
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