So, since this is the first and probably the last dissertation I will ever write, I’m absolutely overwhelmed as to how to proceed organizing the sucker. That includes organizing research and research notes, organizing my writing and my writing process. And what to do with all these citations.
I’ve been playing with some different tools, electronic and otherwise. So I invite you on a WOC’s journey through the intricacies of the “tweens”–between research and writing.
Write now the list of resources includes:
At the moment I am using del.icio.us to track my online sources, guides to archives, guides to collections, etc. It is as useful as any other bookmarking I would do on my home computer but with the bonus that I can access these bookmarks from everywhere.
Problem: I can’t–or don’t know how to–export these to a hard copy document, which means I am stuck searching for what I want. This is generally okay for me because I’m web saavy enough to remember keywords. But if I do ever get stuck, or if I ever want to just touch a list of sources I’ve compiled, I’m a little stuck. Worries me a bit. Plus, if I don’t print things out, there is always the very real danger that urls I saved will go poof and be lost to the ever gargantuan WWW. Not a good thing.
Solution: I am going to primarily save webpages and sites that I think are pretty stable. Library of Congress resources, PBS pages, online exhibits–things that would not only disrupt me but a large chunk of the public sphere to get moved around. PDFs are going HC (hard copy) or into Scrivener. Other things that look shaky I’m going to web archive into Scrivener. I think this is the safest route, that also saves space and takes as much advantage of the electronic search power of the modern computer–which is the main reason I’m all about technology in research anyway.
Pretty much the reason my dissertation prospectus gotten written without completely overwhelming me. It is like having a mini-computer in my computer that is completely devoted to the research. I love it.
Problem: I love it for the writing and the writing process but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around how to use it for research. It has index cards but they are more for show than for function. It’s real power is in outlining the paper, outlining the research (once its done).
Solution: Right now, I am using it to outline/organize where the primary sources are. But this is shaky. I am still trying to figure out if the best solution is to have it tell me where the sources are on my computer/online or where they are in the real world. Real world is probably better….
Hard Copy Binders
Love to touch paper, even though I’m a netero. So this can’t be beat.
Problem: Environmentally unfriendly, economically unfeasible (both in $$ and space). So its not gonna happen.
Solution: I’m making it my last resort. Sorry paper, but until I have a beyond-stipend job, you and I are not going to be friends.
CD-Rom
The above is why CDs are my new best friend. They pretty much can’t be beat.
Problem: Nothing but cost.
Solution: Choose my PDFs wisely.
(As you can guess, HC and CD are pretty indispensible. If only I had a real life search function for the binders, papers and books in my room, my life would be a lot eaiser)
The newest cool kids toy. Online and desktop note program. I love it because it has online and desktop functions, because it has an iSight picture capture for my handwritten notes, because it uses tags (which gives me a lot more freedom than “keywords” or “categories” especially when I haven’t full formulated my arguments), and because it has unlimited space and a monthly upload limit of about 20,000 notes. If I get to 20,000 notes a month, I will be graduating in no time. So I’m happy to try to meet that goal.
Problems: I’d like it if it had Mac’s Smart Folder capability, allowing me to scoop notes with certain tags or keywords into a different notebook without creating a new one. It doesn’t. But that is minor. Otherwise, I am worried that I am actually spreading myself in too many directions with too many different programs in play at once.
Solution: None yet. It is just so nifty!
This right here is the real cool kids toy. Free from the Center of New Media at George Mason University, it is specifically geared towards historians and their splendiferous bibliographies. It uses Chicago Manual Style automatically (although it may have MLA capabilities). It searches Amazon.com and local libraries (I’ve had trouble with this feature actually, so I can’t attest to its power). It lets you organize source cards, notecards, biography cards, timelines, outlines, add images, add PDFs, etc. This little sucker really does it all.
Problem: It can be a touch buggy. But it saves in a jiffy and I have yet to lose any of my books. I have 250+ saved already. It also goes by the same Mac tag-to-organize methodology which for me is a frustrating. I actually wouldn’t mind a separate folder for certain lists. It doesn’t do that.
Solution: Print a damn bibliography or two! For all Scribe does, I’m not even going to bother complaining.
So that is the starting lineup. How does it look? Suggestions? Am I doing too much? I didn’t even mention the secondary source organizing, which I feel like I do different every time I open a book. But that’s not what is really important. My main issues are:
- How to save notes as index cards while using technology that lets me type, search, and play with fonts?
- How to manipulate Scribe (or printed bibliographies) so that I am keeping track not only of books I’ve read but also books that I’ve found on searches, want to read, are tangentially related, are very related, are more for my profession, are more for my research, and are for pleasure/other things?
- Is there a way to do some consolidating on all of these things?!?!?
Comments and thoughts are welcome!
[Sidenote: From henceforth, posts like these are going to be tagged: "tweens"]
