Researcher KnowHow: Tools to combat information overload
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Transcript of Researcher KnowHow: Tools to combat information overload
Tools to combat
information overload –
keeping up-to-date and on top of things
2017-02-10Martin Wolf
Research Support Lead
What we’ll cover today
Ways of keeping up-to-date and managing the information you find, including:• Tools for keeping up-to-date and getting
relevant alerts• Tools for document storage, management and
use• Techniques for effective file management
A word of warning …
• This is a war you cannot win!
• You have to decide for yourself how strict your information filters should be
• On a practical level – different browsers behave differently with some of these resources
Ways of keeping up-to-date
RSS and portal sites• RSS is a way of subscribing to online material that gets
updated• Portal sites (or RSS readers) are ways of bringing lots of
different information sources together in one place• There are web-based RSS readers, app-based RSS readers,
freemium, paid for – lots of options• Examples:
– NetVibes – www.netvibes.com – ProtoPage – www.protopage.com
Setting up RSS feeds
• Many web pages provide a simple button to get to the RSS feed, usually looking like this:
• You can create custom feeds, for example search and/or citation alerts from a database like Scopus or Web of Science
• There are aggregator services for journals content lists, such as Zetoc and journaltocs – http://zetoc.jisc.ac.uk and www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk
Managing your information: web pages
Social bookmarking tools• Store your internet favourites in one place (no need to sync
across devices)• Use keywords (aka tags) to organise and quickly find favourite
sites• Share your links with others (or not – your choice)• Follow (via RSS) the links posted by others• Examples:
– Diigo – www.diigo.com – Memosnag – www.memosnag.com – Pinboard (social bookmarking for introverts) - https://pinboard.in/
Managing your information: articles and other documents
Bibliographic software• Provides a central place to store and organise bibliographic
information about, and full text of, articles and other outputs• Many different types – web-based, desktop-based, browser-
based• Examples:
– EndNote – http://endnote.com – on university applications– RefWorks – www.refworks.com/refworks – Mendeley – www.mendeley.com – Zotero – www.zotero.org
• More information at http://libguides.liverpool.ac.uk/referencing/packages
Reading and annotating
Some bib software and dedicated reader/note taking software• Can provide additional functionality for things like
highlighting, making notes, linking documents• Could help in the production of rough initial drafts• Examples:– Mendeley – www.mendeley.com – Qiqqa – www.qiqqa.com – ReadCube – www.readcube.com – Evernote – https://evernote.com
Techniques for managingyour own files
What can go wrong with managing your files?• You could lose your work
• Your files could become corrupted
• You may be unable to find an important file or not know which is the most up to date version
• You may be unable to back up your claims
• You may not be able to access your own data and files in the future
Techniques for managing your own files
•ALWAYS save your work on your M drive – seek advice from CSD and Records Management before considering an alternative
•DON’T rely on portable media
•DON’T have all your work on one device
•DO have a consistent way of naming your files
•DO keep an explanation of your file naming scheme
•DO keep earlier versions of files
•DO keep an explanation of the structure of your data
•DO make use of the sources of support around the University
Tools, tools, and more tools!
Beyond information overload – tools for research productivity more generally• Connected Researchers:
http://connectedresearchers.com/
• Innovations in Scholarly Communications: https://101innovations.wordpress.com/
What resources wouldyou recommend
All the best