NLP Reading Group/Presenting

We want a well-organized and high-quality reading group. If you are presenting on a Wednesday:

1. By the previous Thursday or Friday, please try hard to pick and announce the paper so that people will have the weekend to read. You may want to ask others' opinion of the choice, or ask them for help in choosing. Make sure you look carefully at the paper yourself to confirm that it is clear and interesting and people will like it.
2. When you've picked the paper, please list it on the CLSP wiki. (If you don't yet have a wiki account, ask clsphelp at lists dot johnshopkins dot edu for one.) Then you can just send out the link to the wiki page: http://wiki.clsp.jhu.edu/index.php/NLP_Reading_Group.

   Note: For an article that is behind a paywall, prefix http://proxy.library.jhu.edu/login?url= to the article's URL. This allows free access from a JHU network and JHED-authenticated free access from outside. However, try to find a free URL in the first place (e.g., via the author's home page or Google Scholar).

3. Then, make a shared document in the NLP Reading Group folder on Google Docs -- just open the "template" document in that folder, save a copy, and drag the copy to that folder. Remind people to add at least a question to the shared document by Wednesday. (Anyone who has access to the folder will be able to see your new document immediately, so you don't have to share it or send out a new link. Jason should send the folder link out at the start of the semester.)
4. Leave time for yourself to read the paper very carefully. Also look at background reading or related work as necessary. One of your jobs is to be the expert. If there are questions about exactly what was done, you should be able to answer them quickly so we don't waste time.
5. By the previous Monday, add some notes to the shared document that restate the main contribution of the paper, clarify anything that might be confusing to a reader, and add your own questions, hints, and thoughts. In some cases, you might consider sending out a PDF copy of the paper that you have annotated with Acrobat or (free) PDF-XChange Viewer.
6. Try to find talk slides online. If you can't, email the author to ask for them -- they surely have slides, and they will be happy that we are studying their paper. In principle you could even make a few slides of your own. It would be nice to send the slides (or a link) to the mailing list, unless the author doesn't want them redistributed. You can also link to the slides from the wiki.
7. Prepare in advance how to use the time. You are in charge of leading discussion and making it a productive meeting! Read the questions that people added to the shared document. Jot down (a) what you want to review and explain; (b) what questions you will ask the group to make sure that everyone understood; and (c) where you want to take the discussion. It's fine to present the talk slides, but limit the time that you spend on this, perhaps asking people to hold most questions until after your brief presentation. Please plan on at least 15 minutes for discussing connections that are not in the paper -- related work and (especially) opportunities for future work.
8. On Thursday at 12:00 sharp, have the slides already up on the screen. Thus, arrive 5-10 minutes early with your laptop and any connectors you need. If the room is locked, ask Desiree in Hackerman 324 for the key.
9. After the meeting, email the author with any interesting comments or questions that arose during the meeting. That's what the Internet was invented for.
10. After the meeting, point next week's discussion leader to this page so that they'll do as good a job as you did!