Connecting Pages

Connecting is all about the many ways of interacting with people through the course of your project. The “Cast of Characters” section of your website will be required for all projects. All teams will also conduct and report internally on various meetings and interviews, but whether these become website pages for public consumption will depend on their relevance and appropriateness for a wider audience.

Cast of Characters

The Cast of Characters (title it how you will) is to be a well organized, brief introduction to the major social actors connected with your project. As new people become important to your project, add them to this listing and include, as appropriate: name, title, connection to project, photo, link to an organization’s website, etc. Whenever you introduce an important new person in a new scene, also add them to this listing, and link to the listing from the scene so people can get more information.

Issues to consider:

• How can you organize listings clearly and logically?
• Team profile: How do you wish to present yourselves as individuals and a group?
• Sponsor profile: What do you need to report here about your sponsor?
• Are there ethical (or strategic) issues you’ll need to carefully consider and address before posting names and photos of people on your website? (hint: YES!!)

Meetings

Meetings are the quintessential mode for project connecting. You’ll meet with teammates and other students, advisors and librarians, sponsoring organizations and possibly co-researchers, community members, government decision-makers and others interested in your work. The ability to run good meetings is a valuable life-long professional skill and begins as you lead PQP team meetings with advisors. Some of you may also engage in more complex meetings in cross-cultural settings, for example by participating in community planning exercises. Usually you will synthesize and report the results of meetings in minutes distributed only internally to meeting participants and other “insiders.” Occasionally, however, meetings that were either of public interest or of learning value for others may become pages on your website.

Interviewing

“Interviewing” is a term we use to cover a wide range of more or less organized discussions with people about your project. Formal interviews, for example, can involve a structured set of questions asked of community members to explore what they think, do or feel about certain issues. Less formal interviews might involve meeting with a government official to understand the services they provide or the interest they might have in your project. All interviewing requires planning, and many raise important ethical issues that you and your advisors are required to consider and submit for review to WPI’s Institutional Review Board before the interview. We will discuss and share much more guidance on interviewing as the term progresses.

Liaison Interview Guidance

Sponsor Interview Scene Example