Monday 27 June 2011

Life in Spain and Working for OVAL (by Gemma Gaitskell - Phillips)

Living in Madrid and being involved with WikiVet has its problems and its advantages. Personally I think the advantages far outweigh the problems from both work and personal points of view! Being based here will definitely be an advantage as the Spanish site grows in terms of being able to visit and liaise with Spanish vets and vetschools which we hope will gradually become more involved as the site becomes more populated. Already I made a trip to Murcia to speak to the students who are going to be involved with the translation of the anatomy section over the summer and am in contact with a vet in Madrid who is keen to help with translation of the more clinically orientated articles. Spanish reference resources such as text books and libraries are also far more accessible form a Spanish base.
The downside is that communication has to be mainly via Skype, which although a brilliant tool can occasionally be a little bit temperamental! The advent of video calls means that I can feel just as much a part of the team as if I was in London! Face to face communication is always the ideal but this is the next best thing. As far as work on other aspects of the project go I don’t think that location has much of an effect, save perhaps if there is query and having to email or Skype to try and find out the answer. Last, but not least, the weather is definitely a huge bonus!

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