Managing Information
A PhD - 10% Inspiration, 90% Administration
When I started my PhD, I got lots of advice. One piece that sticks with me was "A PhD is 10% inspiration and 90% administration". Not an inspirational thing to hear, but actually in its own way quite useful. Much of research is about how we manage our information. But for me, the key thing is how the 'inspiration' and 'administration' interact... Naturally, as we proceed through a large, multi-year, complex research project, there is a considerable amount of information to gather, collate, sort, store and retrieve. This requires management. There are plenty of tools to help with this - Endnote or the like - but we need to use them carefully, and diligently, right from Day 1 of the research. If you don't, you'll discover their importance when it really matters - when you can spend a few weeks chasing references, citations and quotations as you write your final piece! If this is not... read more
You're Not The Only One
While I was researching and writing up my Masters dissertation I juggled a lot of different information sources. I found that it was a very time consuming and and at times a frustrating task, not only to keep track of the sources I wanted to reference but particularly pulling them all together for my final report. I tried a couple of different pieces of software but on occassions ran into problems with formatting, or typos when inputting data by hand, or compatibility with different computers I was working on. Managing information took up a lot of my time. Recently, as part of the Arcadia Programme, I got the chance to work on a research project looking at the specific information needs of postgraduates and how postgraduates, from different subject areas and at different stages of their study, search for and manage information. Using online surveys and focus groups I collected... read more
Information - 5 Top Tips
Every postgrad has to cope with managing a multitude of references (or citations, or notes, or literature, or whatever you like to call them). Right from the outset, you generate potential references from the articles you read online, the papers you print off and the books you borrow from the library. After trying different methods and tools myself, here are my 5 top tips for managing your references efficiently. Start Early: The sooner you find a system that you can stick to, the easier it will be to keep on top of things. Ask people in your department: Getting subject specific advice from other people in your department will help you find a good system. Go to training courses: Like asking people in your department, I found that training courses on reference management gave me time to reflect on my methods and suggested improvements. Buy Some Folders (and dividers): I kn... read more
Taking Great Notes
Any advisor who raises the issue of record keeping during your postgraduate degree should mention the issue of note-keeping. A postgraduate thesis should tell a coherent story starting from a well defined question or series of questions and leading to a well defined set of outcomes. It should not contain a jumbled collection of ideas and research avenues you explored during the time you were studying. A key part of telling this ‘story’ when it comes to writing up is to make, manage and store high quality notes during the course of your degree. But what are ‘high-quality’ notes and how do you know what is relevant at the time? Well, here are a few simple rules to follow that can help you make good notes. Be prepared for the fact that you will make a lot more notes than you will ever need. This is because you don’t know what will be relevant in potentially 3 years time. It is be... read more
Using Variety in Citing Studies
There is an art to writing a literature review without using the same old verbiage over and over to introduce the many research studies required in such an effort. “Variety is the spice of life,” and it is also the “spice” of a literature review – if there exists such. Below is a list of different ways to introduce studies as you highlight them for review. These are not all the possibilities, but they are enough to make your writing more readable, if you rotate them regularly in your citations. First, a list of ways to say “said.” Some of these are more appropriate than others and there is nothing wrong with using them more than once. Just spread them around judiciously. AGREEING SYNONYMS Affirmed Admitted Asserted Attested Avowed Claimed Commented Confirmed Corroborated Declared Demonstrated Emphasized Expressed Formulated Held Highlighted Insisted Maintaine... read more
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Top Services | Reference Management | Qualitative Data | Data Backup
Adept4Education from Adept Scientific
The UK’s leading supplier of EndNote & Reference Manager to Education. Buy student & personal copies online from just £55 + VAT.
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Bilaney Consultants Ltd supply EndNote and offer special pricing for registered students – just place your order and send us a copy of your Student ID card, full instructions at our website. Millions of researchers, scholarly writers, students, and librarians use EndNote to search online bibliographic databases, organize their references, images and PDFs in any language, and create bibliographies and figure lists instantly. Ideal for writing your thesis and ensuring all your references are correctly listed.
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NVivo 9: software for research, doctoral studies, dissertations or theses Special discount offer for NVivo 9 Student software Are you working with data in documents, surveys, audio, video or photos as part of your dissertation, thesis or doctoral research? If so then QSR International offers a way to quickly and easily collect, manage, and analyze this information – it’s called NVivo. NVivo is data analysis software guides you from questions to insight. NVivo is used by thousands of graduate students and research staff at universities and colleges worldwide, and in a diverse range of fields from health and social sciences to business studies and communications. Graduate students from institutions like the University of Cambridge, Columbia University and Yale University, all use NVivo to bring speed, simplicity and rigour to both qualitative and mixed methods projects.
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Minitab is the leading provider of statistical and quality improvement software and Minitab® Statistical Software – our flagship product is the leading software for statistics education worldwide. Because it was designed with education in mind, Minitab contains all of the methods and capabilities essential to teaching and learning statistics and purchasing options include cost effective rentals. Minitab is easy to use, with powerful graphics capabilities that let you easily create stunning and informative graphs that bring data to life. Minitab integrates into curriculums seamlessly and affordably. It is the package of choice at more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world. Minitab products are widely used in business and industry. Minitab’s powerful capabilities, ease of use, comprehensive methods and compelling graphics help quality professionals target the best opportunities for business improvement. Thousands of distinguished companies including Coca-Cola, DuPont, Boeing, Royal Bank of Scotland and Nestlé, use Minitab software. Students who use Minitab gain experience with business tools used worldwide—and a competitive edge when they enter the job market! Students need affordable software now more than ever and fortunately, Minitab offers academic discounts online through our Minitab Product Center hosted by On the Hub: <a href="http://www.onthehub.com/minitab">http://www.onthehub.com/minitab</a>. On the Hub provides students and instructors around the world with the opportunity to rent or purchase Minitab Statistical Software and Quality Companion 3. Qualified academic customers can simply visit the On the Hub web site and download the software with nothing more than a credit card and a click of their mouse. <b>Minitab® Statistical Software</b> The software that helps students learn and understand statistics - and acquire the skills that employers want at the same time. Minitab 16 features more than 70 new enhancements, including the Assistant that guides you through your analysis step-by-step, new regression tools, split-plot designs and more. • Powerful, but easy to use • Complete set of statistical tools in one package • Real-world business tool • Ideal for AP Statistics • Affordable - rent or purchase <b>Quality Trainer by Minitab®</b> Our e-learning course that teaches you statistics and helps you analyse your data using Minitab. • Accessible whenever students are online • Animated lessons that bring statistics to life • Interactive quizzes • Easy monitoring of students’ progress • Integration with Minitab <b>Quality Companion by Minitab®</b> The best application for teaching quality improvement methods to students in business, engineering and other disciplines. • Built-in project Roadmaps • All-in-one design • Easily customisable forms • Powerful brainstorming & process tools • On-demand Coaches For more information: Visit our website <a href="http://www.minitab.com/academic">http://www.minitab.com/academic </a> Telephone: +44 (0)24 76437500 Email: sales@minitab.co.uk
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Surfulater is the ideal tool for turning the wealth of information you find on the web into highly reusable knowledge, which is always available, right at your fingertips. Surfulater enables you to permanently save anything you see on the Web or on your PC. You can add notes, edit content, add cross reference links and tags, search, filter, organize and manage information. With Surfulater you will never loose anything important you see on the Web again. Save precious time by not having to search for the same information over and over again. And get greatly added value by referring to your annotations, following links to related articles and using tags, search and filters to instantly find what you are looking for. Perform your research and get better results quicker and easier than ever before with Surfulater. Features: - Build a powerful Digital Library that you can access without being connected to the Internet. - Capture selected text and images and complete web pages from your Web Browser. - Capture content from PDF files, Word Documents, E-Mail or any Windows application. - Take and save Screen Clips. - Permanently save all of this valuable information in the one place. - Organize information in a free form hierarchical tree. - Multiple Tree views; Folders+Articles, Folders Only, Chronological and Tags. - Catalogue information using multi-word Tags with auto-suggest. - Edit content in-situ and add notes with full WYSIWG HTML editing. - Highlight important information. - Add 'See also' links to build a web of related information. - Create various types of content; Todo lists, Contacts, Music catalogue ... - Quickly find information with full text search. - Use Tree Filters to drill down and locate specific content. - Attach and link to files. eg. Zip files, PDF files etc. - Sort Articles by Title or Date, Ascending or Descending. - See all of the Articles in a Folder at once. - Rearrange Article Layouts and hide elements you don't want to see. - Publish content and view it in any Web Browser. - E-mail Articles to friends and colleagues. - Create and open as many Knowledge Bases as you want. - Cut, Copy and Paste information across Knowledge Bases. - No fixed limits on numbers of Folders, Articles, content size, Tags etc, - And so much more. - 21 day Free Trial available. ****Exclusive 40% discount for Graduate Toolbox readers.**** System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, or 7 (including 64-bit Vista or 7).
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Take control of your notes with Personal Knowbase. This freeform notes organizer software uses a unique keyword-based system. Store and retrieve related information quickly and easily in a natural way--by association. Index your notes, messages, clippings, and ideas to build a personal knowledge base. Associates files and Internet addresses with your notes, so you can access any computerized information quickly and easily with the same set of keywords. Improves productivity for all knowledge workers. Features: *Import from many files types. *Link to websites, files, and email addresses. *Cross-link notes. *Protect notes with passwords. Tag important notes for instant access. *Combine keywords in queries using AND, OR, and NOT. *Check spelling. *Export to various file types, including standard CSV files. *Run from removable drives. *Sort by date. *No limit to the size of the database or length of the notes. *Fully functional 30-day trial available. System Requirements: Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, or 7 (including 64-bit Vista or 7)
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**Protecting the irreplaceable** F-Secure is the global leader in providing security as a service through operators. FREE 30-Day Trial Versions Try the FREE 30 Day full versions of award-winning software. Internet Security 2010 FREE 30-Day TrialOnline Backup FREE 30-Day TrialAnti-Virus 2010 FREE 30-Day TrialMobile Security FREE 7-Day Trial
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Grad School
invisible
February 18th, 2012 12:18
*Please note that an inclusion in this list is not an endorsement or recommendation. However should we receive any complaint about any of these companies we will investigate and may remove them from this list.