Authors Electric

Research, how much is enough? And how much do you use? You would be as well asking how long is a piece of string, with the answer being as long as you need it to be. There are, of course, different types of research and researchers who do it. There is the academic who consults primary and secondary sources before writing a thesis which is beyond the ability of a mere mortal writer of crime fiction to understand. At the other end of the scale is the writer who puts pen to paper and flies by the seat of his or her pants. But, in the main, a writer has to do some research, although that may be dependent on how much knowledge the writer already has. Coming back to different kinds of research, there is the overall background research required before putting pen to paper. For example, in my historical novels, I need to know what was going on in the world at that time, what aspects of that were important for my characters, and what it was like to live then. I need an understanding...

This is not the first time I’ve written about MOOCS, but I’m currently enjoying one entitled Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime , and I’m a sucker for anything that involves crime. I’m getting to be an old hand with MOOCS, and I’ve taken part in quite a lot of them now. I’ve studied everything from crime, forensics, criminal justice, and a beauty called Identifying the Dead where we got to learn all about bones and skeletons and things as part of a course on forensic anthropology. But I’ve also done courses on the First World War, the Irish Revolution, as well as digital marketing, and how to read minds. Quite a selection. So what is a MOOC? I suppose you could say it is the modern equivalent of a correspondence course. The word MOOC means Massive Open Online Course and it is an online course of study with open access via the web. As well as using traditional course materials such as videos, readings, podcasts, and online lectures, it encourages participants to comm...