Lots of Studying, A Little Bit of Tech

E-Textbooks (and a free $10-off)

2012-01-01T12:32:00.001Z

Press releases show that this was the "Christmas of the Kindle" with an unbelievable number of Kindle and Kindle Fires being sold over the holidays. On the education front of digital reader use, there is some exciting news from Amazon.

First, Amazon announced this last summer their e-textbook rental program. It allow students to rent digital versions of their textbooks from 1 month up to 3 months at a time - for a fraction of the cost of buying the actual book. These can be viewed on Kindles, iPads (and other tablets) or computers, are fully searchable and users can make highlights and notes on the page. Now that Amazon includes page numbers in their digital versions, it makes it that much easier for a student to follow-along in their digital version. Plus, students have 7 days to return their digital books for a full refund - so even dropping a class doesn't leave you stuck with a rental or textbook you no longer need.

Second, Amazon also announced their "print replica" textbooks where the digital version of the book looks exactly identical to the printed version that teachers and professors are using. Now students can carry around their textbooks in a single device, without breaking their back (or their bookbags) carrying around books. This feature is a HUGE help for those with textbooks where diagrams and graphs are a necessity to follow along with the lecture (e.g. engineering or science).

And, lastly, in order to increase people's awareness of their e-textbooks, Amazon is offering $10 towards e-textbook purchases (offer expires Jan 9th, so act quickly). I bought Mezirow's Learning As Transformation for my Kindle last night and the free $10 cut off a third of the books price.

I've begun a Google Group for those interested in carrying on discussions about learning, teaching and other issues of pedagogy. I posted information last night on Amazon's $10 e-textbook offer, plus some key texts that are available. Click here or on the image below to find out more. Also, while you're there, feel free to sign up to be a part of the "Teaching in Higher Education" group.

As Amazon continues to grow their digital collection - their goal is to make every paper book they sell also available digitally - digital formats for academic use are becoming more and more practical. In a year and a half - when I hope to begin teaching at a university - I plan to provide a syllabus that includes references to both print editions and digital editions of assigned reading, thereby giving my students the option, saving trees and lightening their load. :-)

Methodology and Data Loss - Pt 2

2011-12-29T18:05:00.000Z

[The second post in a 3-part series on my methodology when it comes to gathering, organizing, making use of and protecting my research notes in a digital world. Read the first installment here: "Methodology and Data Loss - Pt 1"]

As any researcher who works in archives is aware, every archive is so very different. Different in their collection, their level of organisation, the degree to which they are willing to help, and the availability and ability to copy material from the archive. For example, the UK's National Archives in Kew is absolutely wonderful - with a highly organized system of file retrieval, freedom to take pictures - even providing high resolution cameras to use to take photos or make photocopies. On the other end, is an institution like the archive at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) that won't allow any copies of their material to be made - except by their staff at a cost of more than $1.25 per page - but are extremely helpful in helping you discover what material they do have that may be of assistance. Needless to say, there is a BROAD range of archives, archivists and policies between the two.

The Kenya National Archives (KNA), as with the ones above, has their own set of rules to play by. One of those is that - by their own rules - researchers are not allowed to use their own camera to make photocopies of records. If they do, they are meant to pay the same 5 shillings per page charged if the archive photocopies the page for you. [Note: I must point out that recently several researchers have been freely taking photos of archive files with, it seems, no requirement to pay for them.] Since this research is for my thesis and I would likely want to print out many pages I photographed anyways - I've been having Richard Ambani, the most wonderful and helpful staff researcher, make photocopies for me.

The result is that I have hundreds of pages of photocopies stacked on my desk.

Thankfully, the family from whom we are subletting this year left an all-in-one printer/scanner/photocopier for us to use. While the ink is crazy expensive, the scanner doesn't cost anything to use. While paper copies are great, for their ability to be highlighted, shuffled around, etc., they are just as vulnerable as pictures on a memory card if they get lost, accidentally thrown away or - heaven forbid - burned down in a fire. As well, I don't want to cart around huge stacks of photocopied paper for the rest of my academic career.

So, once I get the photocopies home from the archive, I spend the time it takes to scan them all in to my computer. It takes a while, but I'm convinced the investment is worth it for several reasons. First, and arguably most importantly, is that it provides me with a backup of the paper items. Second, it allows me send these files off to fellow scholars who might benefit from them. Lastly, it allows me to add these files to my Papers library, where I can tag the files with keywords, notes, and highlight the PDF pages. By adding the items to papers, all of my research - from articles to interview notes/recordings to archive copies and notes are in one, searchable database.

After scanning the paper copy, I then file it away in a file folder. Now, as I work on writing up my research, I have both a digital copy and a paper copy I can consult when needed. Two copies, in two places (and the digital copy gets backed up weekly) - so that, if the worst may happen and I loose one or the other, I haven't lost everything.

A Further Note:

My process ends at this point. It's worth noting that there is another step that can be taken. Some readers may be familiar with OCR, or Optical Character Recognition. Google has made prolific use of the technology - with their own modifications - in their Google Books collection that allows one to search through the text of a scanned book. In a similar way, I - or another scholar - could use OCR technology to make the scans I make above to make the documents searchable. Just as the search function in my Livescribe Notebooks is tremendously helpful, the ability to search the very words in 50 or 80 year old documents I have scanned would also be tremendously helpful.

I've tried several options to this end, but have yet to find one that I like or am willing to make the investment in. Here are two:

1) Google Doc's - If you upload the scanned PDF of your document to Google Documents, Google will then use their OCR technology to make the file searchable. It's free and fairly convenient, even allowing you to have the files accessible world-wide via the web. The downside is that I don't really want to upload 100's of megabytes worth of scanned archive files to my Google Documents. I love Papers and the options it gives in incorporating citations in manuscripts, article downloads, etc. I had hoped that, after uploading a file to Google Docs, I could then download it as a PDF and it would retain the OCR information and therefore be searchable. No luck! So, if you don't mind using Google Docs to organize your archive files, this could be a great - and cheap - solution.

2) DevonThink Pro Office - This is a very robust suite of software that, much like papers, will organize your digital life for you. One of the things it offers - which Papers for Mac does not - is an integrated OCR reader for your files. But, this feature is only available in the Pro edition which costs $150. Over the lifetime of an academic scholar, it's hardly a significant sum of money. But still, it was out of my price range. Last spring (2011), I used a free demo version of DevonThink to test its OCR function. What I found is that it does work - and is therefore tremendously helpful - but it also takes a long time to process each individual file. So, as far as I am aware, this is perhaps the most robust option out there, but it is also certainly a tedious one as well. It would be possible, I would think, for one to have their computer do all the file processing overnight while not using the machine. That would be one way to work through the lengthy time it takes.

Other than these two, I haven't found any other really satisfying solutions or options. If anyone who may be reading this does - or knows of one - I would be very, very interested to know about it.

Kindle Books to the Rescue

2011-12-20T09:28:00.001Z

[An intermission in the current "Methodology & Data Loss" series of posts.]

There are many things that make my life as an academic easier. Google Books, Mekentosj "Papers for Mac", and Livescribe's Pulse Pen - to name just a few. Another one is Amazon's Kindle books.

I'm currently working on a journal article I hope to submit after the first of the year. I needed to get a hold of Caroline Elkins' book Imperial Reckoning (titled Britain's Gulag in the UK). Hopping over to a bookstore here in Kenya is not easily done, nor is there anything like the second-hand bookstores (or online second-hand book sellers) that you have in the US or UK. And, if you do find the book in a store here, but it's published outside of Kenya, be prepared to spend $25-40 on the book.

That's where Amazon's Kindlestore comes in. I jumped online and within a few minutes I had paid $10 for the book (costs $18 in print), had downloaded it to the Kindle program on my computer and had completed a word search of the entire text. Even the best of indexes in print books don't catch everything - but a computer search of the entire text does. Furthermore, Amazon now provides page numbers for most books - meaning that I'm even able to complete my footnotes without having to consult a physical copy of the book. (Note: Kindle provides the ISBN number for the physical book whose page numbers they are using. This allows you to cite the paper copy of the book in your footnotes and bibliography).

Plus, rather than just having one copy of the book on a shelf (usually somewhere else when I need it), I can have a copy on my computer, access it anywhere in the world via Kindle's Cloud Reader, and carry it around on my Kindle, iPad and/or Android phone (also works on iPhones) - and they can all be synced to each other, if I need them to be. And, with my wife and I moving countries every year for the next couple of years still, I'm not spending precious packing space and our tight funds on extra baggage allowances.

Thanks Kindle for making this academic's life easier!

Methodology and Data Loss - Pt 1

2011-11-28T12:10:00.001Z

Apologies for the long and quiet season of no new posts on the blog. In July, my wife and I traveled for a busy two months in the US and then on to Kenya. These last two months have been spent settling in, dealing with government paperwork, and beginning field research. It has left little time for the side projects I so enjoy, like writing here on the "Lots of Studying, a Little Bit of Tech" blog - which has made this blog's name seem all the more relevant recently.

One of my first days at the Kenya National Archives, a European and American researcher asked me about my methodology in research. I'm afraid my answer was less than helpful, as I was still figuring out the archive and adjusting my methodology to suit it. Since then though, I have given some thought to their question. In this blog post, I want to outline my methodology when it comes to gathering research and using technology to organize and use it. Also, realizing that the research is the foundation for my PhD, I thought it might be helpful to share how I protect and store the data I am collecting. So, for those for whom this might be helpful, I hope it is. :-) I'm going to spread it out over several entries. This first one looks at digitally capturing my notes. The second will look at what I do with the physical copies of archive items I get from the archive. Finally, the third installment will look at how I backup all of this information - which is the core research for my PhD thesis.

Digitally Capturing My Archive Notes

When in the archive, I take all my notes using my Livescribe Pulse pen and paper. It's difficult to take a computer or iPad to the archive here since you are not allowed to take any bags into the archive with you. As a result, I'm taking all my notes by hand. Using the Livescribe pen costs more then simply using a Bic pen and piece of paper, due to the extra cost of ink refills and notebooks. However, I think this extra cost is well worth it.

The Livescribe pen and notebook are on the right.
As I take notes on the archive files, a digital copy is automatically
being created by the pen. (The paper puppet is "Flat Stanley" -
it's for an elementary school project for a friend's daughter back in the US.)

I believe the extra cost is well worth it for several reasons. First, the pen is capturing all my notes digitally. When I get home at the end of the day, I plug the pen up to my computer and download them. While I have the hard copy of notes that I made in the actual paper notebook, I also have an identical digital copy that looks like this:

This is what the notes look like once they're uploaded to the computer - identical to my writing
in the physical notebook. The green notes on the bottom have the audio from the
meeting in which I took the notes attached.

This way, if I ever loose a physical notebook (by theft or otherwise), I still have a copy of all my notes. Second, the Livescribe software indexes my handwritten notes and makes them searchable. Rather than flipping through the physical notebook looking for a specific entry, I simply open up the desktop program and search for what I'm looking for.

The benefits of having a copy for safekeeping and being able to search my notes (without me doing any extra work), make the extra cost of using the Livescribe pen and paper well worthwhile for my needs.

Interviews

Where I expect the pen to really shine is when I begin doing interviews. The key "selling" feature of the Livescribe pen is how it records whatever you are hearing, while at the same time recording what you are writing and linking the two together. So, when interviewing "Person A", while I jot a short note about "the family business" in my Livescribe notebook, the pen is linking what the person is saying at that exact moment to what I just wrote.

Here is the results of a search of my notes. 'Starehe' is the name of a
boys school in Nairobi that has come up in my notes. Livescribe has indexed all my notes
and here highlights everywhere I've written 'Starehe' (or something like it) out of hundreds of pages of notes.

When I click on one of the pages where the word was found above,
this is what it looks like. If you click on this image, you'll notice my
handwriting of 'Starehe' was quick and difficult to read. I have found
that Livescribe's indexing does a great job, attaching lots of "possible"
guesses for each word I write, thereby compensating for quick "chicken scratch"
handwriting when I'm rushing things in the archive.

After my interview, when I return home, with one click of my mouse I can create a digital audio file of my interview. Secondly, I can tap on my writing - either on the notebook or click it in the computer app - that said "the family business" and it will take me to the exact point in the interview where Person A's comments inspired me to write those notes. This I think will be tremendously helpful for jumping and navigating through long interviews.

So, as a way of creating a digital copy of my notes and as a means of navigating the hundreds of pages of notes I will take this year, the Livescribe pen and paper has proven to be a more than suited companion in the archives and has worked wonderfully.

iPad Trick - Using a Regular Keyboard

2011-08-31T19:57:00.001+01:00

After a month long hiatus - my wife and I are in the US visiting family, attending weddings, and spending a week on the beach with parents, siblings, and nephews - I'm back to academic work in a big way. I'm giving 2 talks next week a total of 6 times and have a draft due to my supervisor in 3 weeks. The post-vacation pressure is most definitely on!
After handwriting the first part of my talk yesterday, I sat down today to type it into Pages on my iPad for the presentation. I was using my ZaggMate bluetooth keyboard, but it wasn't cooperating. Every few minutes, a key would act like it was stuck and I'd end up with a line of 'l''s or 'o's on my screen. After doing a google search for others with the same problem, I'm going to try updating the iPad's iOS software and try using a can of compressed air on the keyboard. Hopefully that will help.
In the meantime, I needed to keep working. That's when I remembered a trick I had read about when I was waiting on my iPad to arrive. Using the Camera Connector kit's USB adapter, you can plug in a regular USB keyboard to your iPad. I found my old Microsoft Natural keyboard stored in my parents attic, plugged it in, and 'Voila!' it worked! I have a full-size keyboard and could keep working.

The keyboard is using power from the iPad so it does use up the battery quicker, but not in any way that cripples it's usefulness. Also, when you plug the keyboard in, you will get a message that says, 'This device is not compatible'. Simply click 'Okay' and start typing away. While the iPad says it's not compatible, it still will work.

So, either next time you're in a bind and need a keyboard or next time you're sitting at your desk and would rather use a full-size keyboard, grab your camera connector and plug it in. It should make those long papers, articles and presentations easier to work on.

Working with Negatives

2011-07-17T15:28:00.005+01:00

This last Friday I spent the day in the Rhodes House Library looking at collections from European settlers in Kenya. One collection I looked at was a collection of photographs. In this one folder, there were 11 or so photographs, but then another 20+ film negatives.

Using my iPad (although any computer would work) and a camera, I was able to both look at the negatives and then also 'develop' the negatives to see how the picture might have looked had it been printed. Here's what worked for me:

I opened up Pages (similar to Microsoft Word) on the iPad and left the page blank white. Then I went full-screen with it. You can do the same thing on a laptop with any program that will give you a white screen. With this white, backlit background, I had a portable 'light board' on which to view the negatives:

Using the iPad, with a white screen, to view negatives.

Using this method to sort through the images, I then took a close up picture of any negatives I was interested in seeing 'developed'. Here was one example this picture of what looks like several figures standing around a tractor:

A picture of a negative on the iPad screen, taken with my camera.

The next trick then was to 'develop' the film - or, in this case, reverse the colors. If using a PC, this can be done by downloading a free image editor such as GIMP. On a Mac, this can be done by pressing CTRL+ALT+CMD+8. This will inverse the colors of your screen and you you'll see the colors on the image reversed. On an iPad, you can do this by going to Settings -> General -> Accessibility and then, at the bottom, setting 'Triple-click Home' to 'White/Black'. Now, when you click the home button 3 times in a row, it will inverse the colors of your screen. With any of these methods the above image changes to:

What you get when the above image is reversed (or inversed).

It's certainly not perfect, but as a way to make use of negatives on the go, I found it a very helpful trick. It made the original negative image much clearer and I could now see a man next to the tractor, which was stuck, and several Africans and a European looking on.

I use the same inverse colors trick when working with photostat (i.e. photocopied) images from the 1940s and 1950s. During this period, photostat copies were reversed images - thus black ink on white letter paper was turned into white ink on black paper in the copied version. Sometimes it's easier to read if I flip the colors back to their original black ink on white paper view.

So, for what it's worth, there's a helpful trick I've found for working with negatives 'in the field'.

An Index for Books That Don't Have One

2011-07-14T14:38:00.001+01:00

These last couple of weeks I've spent in archives and libraries doing research before heading off for field work in September. In the course of these last two weeks, several tech issues have come up. So, over the next few weeks, I thought I would post some of the tips, tricks and solutions I found for the problems that came up for me. So, keep an eye out for those.

First up, is a challenge I ran into yesterday at the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Library. They have an excellent collection of books on Kenya - having been involved there as an organisation since the late 19th century. A significant number of books are from the 1950s and 1960s and often don't have indexes - in the back. Such was the case with Jomo Kenyatta's Suffering Without Bitterness, written in 1968.

This was particularly annoying as Jomo Kenyatta and one of the persons I'm studying, Peter Mbiyu Koinange, were close friends and political associates. As a result, I would expect him to mention Koinange several times in his book. That's when I had the idea, "Why not check Google Books?" And sure enough, Google Books came to the rescue.

First of all, I searched for the book. Then, found that it was limited to 'Snippet View' (which means that what you can view online is very limited).

Selecting the book brings up the books details and, ever so helpfully, a search box for searching the text of the book. While the book may just be a 'snippet view', Google still has the entire book scanned in their system - so they can still search the whole book. So, here's the results I got:

You'll notice immediately that it says that 4 pages were found, but it only shows 3. This is a limitation of 'snippet view' - unfortunately! But, in this particular case, it does give me 75% of the pages and gives me an idea, also, of how frequently the author talks about Koinange.

This may be a useful tool in gauging whether or not a book will be relevant to your own research. Also, if a book has more available - such as one that says 'Preview' - you are able to see each search result for your criteria. For example, searching for "Huxley" in Christine Nicholl's book Red Strangers: The White Tribe of Kenya shows all 14 results:

Hope that's helpful and comes in handy, should you ever come across a book without an index. Thank you to Google's quest to make all the world's information searchable - even 50 and 60 year old books about Kenya.

Tablets & Editing Text

2011-07-03T19:17:00.005+01:00

One of my undergraduate professors used to have us submit all of our papers to him electronically. He would then read the paper on his computer, place his comments within brackets and email back our paper with our mark/grade and his comments.

With the introduction of tablets, I've been curious about whether or not iPads/tablets would allow a teacher/editor to mark up a document in as they would if it was printed out. While nothing is perfect, there are some really good programs out there. One I just discovered today and it is currently free (previously $3.99). It's called Noterize and it has some great things going for it. It's the best app I've found for marking up documents yet. Some of its features include:

Easy integration with Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.
Three modes - a notepad (where you add everything), import a PDF (where you can then mark it up), or import a Powerpoint file (where you can then mark it up)
VGA Out - you can mark it up in class or in front of a group for a presentation
After bringing in the file, you can easily email it or save it to Google/Dropbox/Etc. as a PDF
Highlight, mark, add sticky notes, etc. to the document
'Palm Recognition' - allows you to rest your palm on the screen while writing

Here's an example of a test document I played with this afternoon:

Example of marks, highlights, and notes added to PDF document and
then saved to Dropbox from Noterize.

It seems like a great app. While it was originally designed by an independent programmer, it's since been bought by Nuance - a large company that caters to the business world. It was featured in January in Apple's iPad ad. Evidently they saw a strong enough program that they were willing to buy it so that they could market it. If you're interested at all, grab it now while it's free! (and before it goes back to $3.99 or more :-)

Podcasting Lectures, Made Simple

2011-06-30T11:22:00.010+01:00

On Tuesday, I was able to attend this year's OxTALENT (Teaching and Learning Enhanced by New Technology) Awards. They've been going on for 10 years and they highlight uses of technology across the university, by students, academics, and departments. Last year's winner of the 'Academic Podcasting' award, Dr Emma Smith, was one of the two guest speakers at the event. Dr Smith's podcasts ('Not Shakespeare' and 'Approaching Shakespeare') have been immensely successful. In her talk, a couple of her main points were (1) how incredibly simple it was to record and podcast her lectures and (2) how she isn't tech savy at all. In other words, what she has done in podcasting her lectures - and expanding a class of 20 to 20,000 - has been easier then she ever imagined. She's simply used her iPod with a microphone attachment she bought off of Amazon and records her regular class lectures.

Dr Emma Smith's Shakespeare
lectures have been incredibly successful.

The OxTALENT Awards celebrated
it's 10th year of recognizing uses of new technology
in teaching and learning.

Yesterday, I presented at a 'Law and Social Order Workshop' hosted by Oxford's Department of International Development. As a young scholar, I'm trying to record every presentation I give so that I can then listen back over my presentation and try to learn from each experience. How could I structure my talk different? What often repeated words do I need to be conscious of? Do I need to speed up or slow down in my speaking? Etc.

A fantastic all-day workshop!

I also wanted to try something new. Rather than running to my college to print out the outline for my talk, I wanted to try giving it straight from my iPad - saving money on printing and allowing me to make changes up until I gave the talk.

Well, I was able to find a solution yesterday that I think would work excellently for any lecturer or professor wanting to do what Dr Smith has done (or graduate student wanting to do what I've done, for that matter). I downloaded AudioMemos, a $0.99 program, which can record in the background (meaning while I'm using another program) and I wrote my presentation outline in Pages. With the iPad's microphone at the top of the device and having to stand in front of the iPad to see the notes, I was positioned perfectly for the microphone to pick up my voice.

AudioMemos recorded in the background (note the red bar at the top)
while I presented from my notes. I started the recording before I got up to the
podium and turned it off when I sat back down.

In the end, it worked great. I was able to read my notes easily, the recording quality turned out great, and the recording was better than what I've been able to get with most of the lectures I've recorded all year (You can listen to it here) when I've used a $300 recorder (borrowed from an Oxford department). On top of that, I was able to then easily upload it to Dropbox. So, for those who might be thinking about podcasting lectures and wanting to use their iPad, go for it! It's a great tool that can make the process incredibly simple - it certainly did for me!

Create Shortcut Keys & Save Time

2011-06-23T13:23:00.004+01:00

I'm going back through some write-ups I did over the last month and replacing brief parenthetical references with full-fledged footnotes. I uses Apple's iWork '09 Pages program to write in. After adding just a few footnotes, I couldn't believe how tedious it was to go up to 'Insert' with the mouse and click 'Footnote' for each individual item. There wasn't a built-in keyboard shortcut for inserting footnotes and having to use the mouse was driving me crazy.

So, I did a little research. With any program on Mac, if it doesn't have a shortcut key built in for a menu item you use frequently, you can assign your own. I just sent off the instructions to a friend of mine here who also uses Pages, so I thought I would share the instructions here, for anyone else that might benefit from their own shortcut key in Pages or another program. Here are the instructions:

1. Click on the Apple on the top left of the screen and select 'System Preferences':

2. Select 'Keyboard'.

3. Choose 'Keyboard Shortcuts'.

4. Then click the 'plus' sign:

5. In the box that pops up, do the following to create a shortcut for Pages to insert footnotes:

Click on the arrow next to 'All Applications', go to the bottom and select 'Other'. Then find the 'iWork 09' folder within your Application folder. Select Pages and click 'Add'.

Then, in the box that says Menu Title, type 'Footnote' [Note: if making a shortcut for another menu item, you have to type the item in this box exactly as it appears in one of the programs menu lists]:

I made my Keyboard Shortcut Cmd + Shift + F - this doesn't already so something in Pages and it made sense to me. To set this, click in the box next to Keyboard Shorcut, and then press whatever buttons you want the shortcut to be. In my case, I pressed Cmd+Shift+F and got this:

Then, click 'Add' and close out of System Preferences and you're good to go. Now, when you need to add a footnote, just use the shortcut keys in Pages, rather than having to go to the Menu.

Using Keynote & Keynote Remote Where There is No Wireless Network

2011-06-20T09:16:00.008+01:00

A couple weekends ago, my wife & I were the guest speakers at our church's youth weekend away retreat. We used Keynote on our iPad to create and modify our 3 talks over the weekend. We then connected it up to the projector and planned to use our iPod touch (with 'Keynote Remote') as a remote to move around the room.

However, we ran into a problem. The building we were in didn't have a wireless network. Thankfully, I had been using our laptop on Friday for research, so we had brought it along because we didn't have time to take it back to our flat/apartment. Using the laptop, we were able to setup an 'ad hoc' or 'computer-to-computer' network using the laptop that then allowed the iPod touch and iPad to talk to each other.

The iPod Touch shows the current screen & next screen and
becomes a wireless remote for the iPad Keynote presentation.

Yesterday I put together instructions on how to setup something very similar. The youth pastor wanted to use his iPhone to control Keynote on a Mac laptop in our youth building, where there is no wireless network. So, since I put the instructions together for him, I thought I would go ahead and pass them on for anyone else that might find them useful. If you ever find yourself in a situation where the provided wireless is giving your problems (or is heavily restricted like here at Oxford), this may come in handy. Here are the instructions:

Click here to download the PDF instructions.

The same principle for creating a wireless network is also possible with a PC. This is a great way for creating a wireless network where there isn't one - but it would be nice to have one. For example, if your office is in an old building in which there isn't wireless internet. Simply connect your laptop to the network cable and then create this 'computer-to-computer' network. You'll then be able to roam around your office with an iPad, tablet computer, iPhone, or with another laptop and connect to this wireless network. This way you can still use your wi-fi phone or iPad even in your office where a university wi-fi signal isn't provided.

NOTE: I don't have an iPhone 4, so I haven't been able to test this, but with the ability for the iPhone 4 to be a wi-fi hotspot, it may be that you could simply create a network with your iPhone 4 and not need to create one on your Mac laptop in order for the iPhone and iPad to talk to one another.

Online Archive Gems & Google Digitization Projects

2011-06-17T12:01:00.004+01:00

Google, perhaps more than any other large company, seems to have one of the most varied portfolios of projects - from search engines to email to pictures to books...and the list goes on. All under the umbrella of their goal to make the world's information accessible, these different avenues provide an incredibly wide breadth of resources.

This morning, I've been doing some research on a court case in Kenya in 1955. In reading one of the Magistrate's papers, I could just barely make out parts of his name. Thinking, 'I wonder if I could Google it?' I tried. Putting in 'Kenya 1955 Nyeri Magistrate Harrison' brought up a host of links, but the most useful was what it found in Google Books.

I have no idea how Google decides which projects it is going to undertake, but within the last year they have released a digitized version of the entire history of 'The Kenya Gazette' - a government publication from both the Colonial and Post-Colonial Period. An archive source that would have been impossible to search through and would require a trip to an archive somewhere else in the world, this online repository is a great addition.

And, sure enough, in the 1955-1956 records of Kenya's Supreme Court, Harrison showed up. A.C. Harrison was a District Delegate for the Supreme Court during this period.

Many thanks to Google for the seeming 'randomness' of the projects they choose to undertake and, in this situation, for making this small part of the world's information more accessible to scholars.

As much as 'Googling' often presents a messy stack of results, it's a pleasant surprise when it does find something that saves both time and money in a wonderful way.

Check out: Google Scholar and Google Books for similar resources.

A Tip for Sharing Files

2011-06-15T11:53:00.003+01:00

Occasionally...make that frequently...I have files I need to share with other academics or as part of a larger project. With the limit of email servers, any large files are bound to not make it through or get lost 'in transmission'.

I typically throw these kinds of files in my Dropbox's 'Public' folder. After doing this, I can right click on the file, go to the Dropbox item, and click 'Copy Public Link'. This now allows me to send a link to a friend, colleague or family member where they can download the file. I did this just a couple of weeks ago to send an 85MB video to family back in the US. I use it every week for passing on the 30-50MB podcast files I've edited to the University's Computing Services center - from where they can be added to the specific podcast feed.

However, there's a problem. If you've ever copied a Dropbox link you know that the website link is horribly long and complex - making it ugly in any handout and impossible to remember. Here's my trick:

www.goo.gl

There's a host of services like this that launched to cater to Twitter's character limit. It allowed people to shorten long website links and share websites with friends.

The homescreen at www.goo.gl.
Simply paste your website link into the box and click 'Shorten'.

With Google's URL Shortener service, a website such as:

http://www.website.com/subject area/specific topic/index.html

becomes

http://goo.gl/xBcYD

The benefit makes itself quickly apparent. However, there is an even more compelling reason to use Google Shortener. If you're logged in to your Google Account when you make your shortened address, you can then track how many times someone has used your link, from what country and what browser they're using. All great statistics for knowing if anyone's actually going to the link. It'll also tell you when people access the file. Just think, now you'll be able to tell if your students are all downloading that article the night before your course or if they've actually downloaded it enough ahead of time to actually read it.

The statistics you get for every shortened link you create.
Note that you can see stats for the previous 2 hours, day, week, month, or all time.

A recent application for me was at last week's 'An Academic & an iPad' class. Using Google Shortener, I was able to give the attendees a link that wasn't super complicated. Also, I can now track how many people actually took advantage of a digital copy of the handout and presentation - and know, perhaps, whether it's worth doing next time.

So, next time you need to share a website or a file, try Google Shortener. It's free and provides some great tools and data for knowing if others are using the resource.

A Presentation: 'An Academic & an iPad'

2011-06-13T13:48:00.002+01:00

This past Friday I had the chance to present at the University of Oxford's Computing Services centre over the lunch hour. The talk, entitled 'An Academic & an iPad: Utilising Tablet Computing in Your Academic Work', was an overview of how the iPad, through app's and accessories, can be a great tool for those working in the academy. The presentation took those in attendance through the four stages of academic work - gathering sources, research, writing up and presenting findings - and gave suggestions of 14 applications that might meet the needs at each of these stages in the research process.

Click here for a PDF version of Friay's Keynote presentation.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to share with the 20 or so who gave up their lunch hour to be there. It was a great group with academics from all stages in their careers, including other graduate students all the way up to seasoned academics. After the 30 min presentation, we spent 20 more minutes in a question and answer discussion in which those attending offered tips to each other and had great questions about making use of tablet computers.

Click here to see the handout from Friday's presentation.

After questions and answers were over, I offered to stay around for those who might have specific questions or hands-on needs in getting their iPads setup. Over the next 30 minutes, I had a great time helping attendees get their iPads setup for the University's wireless networks, get their VGA adapter working, and connect Pages to their DropBox account for working with their documents.

Anne came up to talk with me. She had just bought an iPad 2 a few days before and this was the first time she had taken it out. After getting her setup on Oxford's wireless networks, she mentioned she was presenting in Canada in a weeks time and was keen to try out her iPad there. Another attendee is presenting at another lunch-time session this week and had been planning on presenting from his MacBook Pro. He told me after Friday's session that he'd changed his mind and planned to present from his iPad instead. All in all, it was a success.

I've been invited to give the same presentation to a group of librarian's from Oxford's university and college libraries this next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to getting to share with a group of people who do so much for us as academics and students. It'll be great to be able to, in a small way, serve them and give back a little bit.

Digital Reading for Academics: E-Reader vs. iPad

2011-05-07T14:48:00.001+01:00

With the iPad 2's success and word that Amazon is planning its own launch into the tablet market, the debate about digital devices and reading continues. A week or two doesn't go by without some tech website claiming that the iPad and other tablets will be the death of e-readers and e-ink devices.

My wife's a part of a book club and we bought the next book this morning from Amazon for the Kindle (which saved us $5-7 from used copies of the book including the price for shipping). My wife was holding the iPad at the time, so she opened up the new book on the iPad and almost immediately said, 'Ugh, it's so hard to read' and was immediately glad we had the Kindle for her to read on.

I have to admit, I agree with her. While the iPad continues to be great for so many things (I now use it for 75% of everything I do academically), it has its limits. For reading, the iPad simply can't beat the Kindle's e-ink display. With it's better contrast, the fact that it doesn't reflect sunlight, and the blessing (which, in this case, it is) of not being back lit, the Kindle is easier on our eyes and more pleasant to read for long periods of time.

That being said, it's not as easy to use for academic reading. Here's my experience. If I have a book, say Christopher Andrew's recent work on MI5, the Kindle is much more enjoyable to read and work with. However, if I have a PDF of an article to read (say from JSTOR), then that's a different matter. While I can transfer the PDF to the Kindle to read - enjoying all the benefits of reading on the device - the Kindle doesn't integrate with my library (Papers) and thus doesn't keep my notes or highlights all together. With most articles running 10-15 pages in length, articles are a quick enough read that the iPad display, with its challenges, isn't much trouble. With the advantage of it syncing with our laptop and the ability to go find other articles while in a coffee shop, in a lecture, etc., the iPad has become my preferred choice for article reading. But, for books, if I have the choice, I use the Kindle. With the news of Amazon's Library Lending program, I may spend even more time using my Kindle to read in the coming year.

I should mention, briefly, the challenge with digital readers in their lack of page numbers for academic writing. Amazon has begun including the print page numbers in some of their e-books - and hopefully will continue to do so. So, for footnoting, digital reading requires an academic or student to the physical book out from a library or finding a digital copy of the actual pages (such as on Google Books) to find the page number. An extra hassle, but having a digital library that is accessible and easy to move just might outweigh the challenge.

Sunny Days: Using the iPad Outside

2011-04-22T20:50:00.000+01:00

Today was a beautiful day here (75F and sunny), so my wife and I spent several hours reading outside. I took Branch's 'Defeating Mau Mau' book with me to read - and I also brought the iPad along in order to take notes and with the hopes of getting to an article to read.

My wife and I have a Kindle, which we love, and it is a thing of beauty for reading - and really shines in the sunlight where the text is crisp, clear and you don't have to worry about glare. Knowing that and having heard about the iPad's reflective screen, I wasn't sure it was going to be worth taking along.

I'm happy to report that, while there is an obvious glare, it still did just fine. After reading a chapter in 'Defeating Mau Mau', I was able to put my notes into Papers iPad app, which will sync with my laptop on its own, and I was then able to read an article on politics and kinship in Botswana.

So, while using it in direct sunlight is not where the iPad shines, it worked just fine. The iPad's portability and the fact that I can carry my research library around with me are quickly making the iPad an affordable, functional and fitting tool, both in and out of academia.

Presenting with an iPad

2011-04-19T20:13:00.004+01:00

Note: With this post, I'm going to take a turn with this blog. Previously, I had sought to do reviews of technology for use in academic work - largely web based and Mac based products. Changing direction, I've decided to now post about how technology intersects with my research and DPhil work.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to present at the History Blogging Project workshop, taking place at Oxford's History Faculty. The task given me was the practical aspects of choosing a blog, setting it up, customizing its look, and dealing with spam issues. It sounded good to me. It was stuff I was already interested in, a chance to go more in-depth about the issues, and to hear from other academics about how they were using blogging in their own academic lives. I was in!

With the announcement of the iPad 2 last month, Apple dropped the price of the original iPad. The drop meant that it fit in my wife's and my budget, and our oldest computer is on its last leg, so we decided to make the plunge. We finally got it just over a week ago and I've been loving it (in fact, I'm writing this blog on it!).

The workshop gave me a great chance to find out how it worked for giving presentations. With the VGA connector (we picked up for a discounted £19 at Tesco over the weekend)and two programs (Present Pad ($4.99) and Web King ($0.99) I was ready to go.

The VGA adapter worked beautifully, with no need to change settings on the iPad. I simply had to plug it in to the 30-pin connector on the iPad and plug in the VGA cable and it popped up on the projector. Simple!

Present Pad was great for my presentations. It takes advantage of the iPad, allowing you to setup presentations that go either horizontal or vertical. I had 4 presentations, so I set them up in 4 columns right next to each other. This way, my presentations were all in the same file where I could jump between them and utilizing slides from other presentations easily. It worked great!

Present Pad has two views: (1) where you see all your slides during your presentation
or (2) where you see the slide currently up and you flip to the next slide.

During the first session (I spoke in the 2nd one), I realized there was a need to talk about how to utilize stats on a blog. Using Web King (Safari on iPad does not natively output to VGA), I was able to pull up the stat page for my wife's and my blog and show the group, live, the different aspects of Blogger's stat page. It worked like a charm!

Web King's VGA output drops the address bar, provides a 'laser pointer' and an option
to freeze the screen (useful when putting in your username and password at sites).

I loved using the iPad to present today. It was easy, simple, and did exactly what I needed to do and did it well. I can't wait to use it on May 10th for another presentation - and it'll be GREAT as a university lecturer in the future. The one lesson I learned was to go to Settings and set the automatic turn-off to 'never'. Whenever I'd talk for more than 2 min, the iPad (and thus the external display) would shut off and I'd have to pull it back up. Lesson learned for next time!

Livescribe: Digital Wonder

2011-02-21T09:00:00.001Z

There is a plethora of literature on the varied learning methods we all use to learn and retain information. Within the various disciplines of a academia, the multitude of tasks presented to the scholar also necessitate unique tools and resources to accomplish. This is where Livescribe's Echo pen (previous model was called 'Pulse') come in.

[Image: ITechNews.net]

Product: Livescribe Echo Pen & Pulse Pen

Company: Livescribe

Cost: $99 (base model)

Platform: Windows and Mac

Website: www.livescribe.com

What Does It Do?:
The Livescribe pen 'records' everything you write, along with what's is being said at that moment. For example, when taking notes on a lecture, the pen is not only creating a digital copy of what you are writing in the notebook, it is also recording what the speaker is saying and 'linking' the audio to what you are writing at that moment. The pen is then connected to your computer via USB 2.0 and your notes and recording are automatically downloaded to Livescribe's desktop software.

Where this product shines is in how this record can then be used. The software then digitizes your notes, allowing them all to be word searchable. As well, you can go back and listen to what was being said at the moments the notes were being taken. This can be done in the actual notebook, simply by taping with the pen on the words you wrote on the physical page or in the desktop software by clicking on the words you wrote. When listening to the recordings from the notebook pages, you can then append the recording and your notes by writing additional information in the notebook, which is then connected to the point in the audio you are listening to at that moment.

The pen utilizes specially printed notebooks bought from Livescribe. The pen uses microdots printed on the page to create the digital image. There are a variety of different styles of notebooks that can be found on the Livescribe online store and one can print off their own paper from a home computer.

Pros:
the ability to search through all your various notes/notebooks makes handwritten notes much more helpful; no need to hang on to a growing collection of physical notebooks; an automatic copy of notes for specific projects/research/etc.; ability to go back and listen to meetings/lectures and clarify unclear notes; included '3D' headphones that provide a richer recording

Cons:
if one forgets to charge the battery, having the pen die in the middle of a lecture can be frustrating (but the pen lasts for well over 6 hours, so this is easily preventable); while the notebooks are not expensive (run $3-5 a piece), one is limited to using Livescribe's printed notebooks; when using the built in microphone on the pen, there is a 'scratching' noise when writing in the notebook (not overwhelming, simply present)

Use for Academics:
The uses are plentiful for academics. For those doing interviews and field research, the ability to take notes during an interview and then return later and hear the notes at the time is invaluable. It's condensed form saves one from lugging around a large recorder or extra piece of equipment. A digital backup (once synced) of every interview, along with notes, maintains several copies of valuable research material. For students who are strongly auditory learners, the ability to review your notes while listening to a lecture reinforces what you've heard once, clarifies the notes taken in the lecture, and allows you to make use of commute time to review.

Tips:

When taking notes and recording in a large room, use the included '3D' headphones to get a clearer recording.
When recording for something more than personal use (i.e. podcast), use the 3D headphones, with the ear pieces hanging around your neck to prevent the 'scratching' noise of the pen.
You can share notes & recordings with friends by (1) uploading them to a Livescribe site for free or (2) by emailing them to other friends with the Livescribe software. Make use of this by sharing notes among a study group.

Apologies & Podcast Feed

2011-02-07T13:30:00.003Z

Apologies for there being no post this morning. I've been out of commission this last week, sick with the flu and falling behind on my doctoral work. In lieu of a in-depth post, I thought I'd follow up last week's podcast blog with the following links to the Oxford podcasts feeds I've been working with. There's been some really terrific research presented over the last few weeks. The recordings were edited with Audacity (free) and Garageband (included in Apple's iLife suite and free with any new Mac):

African Studies Centre Feed (includes the African History & Politics Seminar items; provided by Oxford's African Studies Centre)

Global & Imperial History Research Seminar Feed (provided by Oxford's History Faculty)

Share the Knowledge: Podcasting, Pt 1

2011-01-31T09:00:00.001Z

As a break for this week, I wanted to do something a little different. Rather than reviewing and recommending a piece of software or online resource, I wanted to provide an overview for something that's quickly a growing resource in the academic arena: podcasts.

Two years ago the University of Oxford began offering lectures, seminars, and special university events as audio and video podcasts.Over the last 2.5 years their podcast statistics have shot through the roof. They now have over 600,000 active subscribers, over 150,000 single podcasts being downloaded each week, and over 9 million podcasts total downloaded in the last 2.5 years. These are stunning satistics! For a university of 15,000 students, they have exponentially expanded their audience.

Those are the university-wide statistics, but what about the statistics for a single teacher? Is it worth the effort? A lecturer at the University of Oxford simply recorded while lecturing for her 'Introduction to Philosophy' course of 20-30 students. Her lecture series has since been downloaded by 20,000 people. What an exposure and impact for prep she was already doing!

Beyond providing a resource to those outside of the university, podcasts of lectures can be a very helpful resource for your students. As any lecturer knows, students learn in a multitude of different ways - one being auditory. Providing podcasts of lectures to your students enables those who are auditory learners the opportunity to retain more of the information and perform at a higher level, using their unique studying strengths.

So, how would someone go about creating a podcast? I've begun publishing podcasts for three seminars I attend here at Oxford: (1) the African History & Politics Seminar, (2) the African Studies Centre Seminar and (3) the Global & Imperial History Research Seminar. In the first of a series of posts, here is an introduction to the elements that make up a podcast - the first, and major step, in beginning podcasting.

Producing a podcast is a four-step process. Once you've done it a few times and gotten a system in place, the process is very quick. (Or, better yet, assign the task to your tech oriented TA Graduate Student who can do it for you.)

STEP 1: Recording

RESOURCE: iPod, iPhone, Marantz PMD series, MP3 recorder, etc.

Notes:
A recording device isn't as difficult to come by as one might think. iPhone's, the iPod Touch 4th Generation, and some versions of the iPod nano will all record. Most laptops will record. If you've got some money to spend on it, an MP3 recorder can be purchased for anywhere between $75-$300+.

[Image: Sweetwater.com] I'm currently using a Marantz Professional PMD620 recorder ($300-$350) loaned to me by the African Studies Centre. It's a fantastic recorder and that, or the PMD660, are recommended by Oxford's computing centre. It might be worth buying one for your entire department.

One last tip before moving on to editing. Start the recording early. Start recording 5 min or so before you begin lecturing. The extra time won't matter in editing and you'll forget you're being recorded - so you won't worry about it - and you can then focus on what you're meant to be doing, lecturing.

STEP 2: Editing

RESOURCE: Editing Software (Audacity, Free for Windows/Mac/Linux)

Notes:
At the simplest step, all you need to do in editing your podcast is to cut off the extra at the beginning before your formal lecture began and the end when it's done. There are other editing tasks that can be done - fading in at the beginning, out at the end, amplifying the sound, or compressing it - but at the most basic, all you really need to do is cut off the extra bits and you're good to go.

There is a free editing program called Audacity, it works for all platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) and will do all the editing you'll need for your podcast. The one extra thing you'll need to do is download the LAME encoder to export the audio file as an MP3 - which is also free from Audacity's website.

Once you've edited your file, export it as an MP3 and then you're ready to go to the next step.

STEP 3: Storing

RESOURCE: Online, Public Storage (Dropbox, Free)

Notes:
The second to last step is to place your audio file on the internet somewhere public where others can download it. The easiest solution for this is to use Dropbox. Check out the previous post on Dropbox here.

Place your edited file in Dropbox's public folder. Once it's copied, right click on the file and select 'Copy Public Link'. This link is the web address for your audio file that then anyone can access to download it. (you'll use this link in the next step)

There are certainly other great options for this online storage, including space that your university's computing service may provide.

STEP 4: RSS Feed

RESOURCE: PodBlaze (free trial), Podomatic (free), Blogger (free)

Notes:
The final step to make your podcast ready so can submit it to Apple's iTunesU store, podcast pages or provide it for your students to download is to create what's called an RSS Feed. I recently reviewed RSS feeds here. Real Simple Syndication is just that, it's a simplified way of syndicating information. It creates a 'running' file with your most recent item, and it's details, at the top.

There are several resources out there. Once resource is the WikiHow.com page that walks you through how to use Google's free blogging website, www.Blogspot.com (where the blog you're currently reading is hosted), to create your RSS feed. Follow this WikiHow.com tutorial to find out how.

The feed created is essentially a website page that is continually updating. You then submit this link to Apple's iTunes podcast or send it to your students or colleagues. Using the feed's address, the feed can then be imported into Apple's iTunes, Google Reader, or a host of RSS readers.

If you need more detailed instructions then this overview, there are several step-by-step tutorials available online. Happy podcasting!

Research Managed: The Benefits of a Digital 'NoteBook'

2011-01-24T09:00:00.006Z

Note cards. Spiral-bound notebooks. Binders. Accordion pocket folders. Piles covering your desk. There are a multitude of ways to organise research projects and we each have our own. All of us have either likely met a person who's meticulous control of their research notes allows them to have any reference, quotation, or statistic within an immediate arms reach - perhaps that's you. However, for many of us, the chaos that ensues in trying to organize research can be daunting and, when we're unable to find the quote, reference, or note we need when we need it, can make for nightmares when we're wide awake (not to mention the ones that visit a scholar, on the verge of a deadline, in their sleep).

There are a host of ways to deal with challenge of organizing research, the simplest of which may just be 'tightening' up your typical routine. However, another option is to move to a digital notebook that provides the benefits that computer processing, searches, and organization offer. One excellent option is Circus Ponies' NoteBook.

Program: NoteBook 3.0

Company: Circus Ponies

Cost: Free 30-day trial, $29.95 with the 40% academic discount

Website: www.circusponies.com

Pros: the interface 'feels' like a regular, physical notebook (i.e. intuitive), ability to have an 'infinitely' expanding notebook of information, easily move pages or sections around within the notebook, easily create new dividers (sections) within a notebook, embed pictures, documents, videos, and website addresses within the notebook page, the incredibly useful mutlidex system (see below in 'Uses for Academics' for more info), ability to export into a webpage (see tips below for application), easy to move pages between notebooks, place 'post-it' notes and sticky tabs on your pages (they even stick out of the notebook to highlight that page), highlight within your notes, use symbols/stickers to categorize the relevance of specific items, automated sorting of contents page or subjects based off of multiple criteria; an iPad app that is supposed to be as good, or better, than the desktop app that will sync notebooks between the two (although I haven't personally been able to test it yet)

Cons: Mac version only; notebook functions best within 'outline' mode in which each note taken can be a daughter, parent, or peer of the previous note - this is handy for note taking - but limited to that structure when Notebook is functioning at it's strongest.

Use for Academics?:
Organization is the constant challenge for academics for any research project. Using just one 'NoteBook', in digital form, you can keep your working bibliography, your primary/secondary/archival notes, your working outlines, your article/paper outlines, presentation outlines, and ongoing questions all together. This allows you to quickly and easily utilize your notes, quotes, or references in multiple arenas - whether for the final dissertation or in a smaller publication or presentation.

Perhaps the single-most powerful aspect for academics of NoteBook is its unique multidex ('multiple index'). This automatic indexing system creates an index by the following categories: text, capitalized words, numbers, internet addresses, highlights, stickers (that you add to specific items), to do items (you can add a checkbox to individual items, making them tasks), attachments, discarded attachments, creation dates, change dates, due dates, etc. Looking at the list, you may be able to immediately come up with a number of uses in your own work. 'Capitalized words' is helpful when looking for every item within the notebook mentioning a specific person (e.g. Bill Gates). 'Highlighting' is useful when you want to get an overview of what you've marked as significant within your notes - the 'key points', as it were. 'Attachments' comes in handy when looking for that specific image, slide, video, or handout file. I'm sure you can come up a multitude of scenarios where the multidex system would be great.

One way it has come in handy for me is as an aid to my inability to remember where I've read something. Often times, when sitting down to write, I'll think of a quote or statistic that I read during research, but I've misplaced the reference or simply cannot recall where I read it or who said it. Multiple times the multidex has saved me in a situation just like this. I can remember a keyword or a particular phrase and, utilizing NoteBook's automated index, I've been able to track down the item I was looking for.

No more shuffling through cards, frustrated because you can't find that particular one that you really need now that you're in the midst of writing. No more trying to keep track of different items or having to open up several computer files looking for that one thing you need. With NoteBook, everything's integrated into one easily searchable, easily navigable, ever-expanding NoteBook.

Tips:

Use a single notebook per course you are lecturing. Easily have the outline of your lecture integrated with the handouts, the PowerPoint/Keynote slides, the video, or images you plan to use. Create your lecture notes with all the different elements right there - for you to see and for you to easily find every time you come back to that lecture in the future.
Utilize Dropbox (reviewed earlier on this blog) by saving your Notebook to it. This will allow you to install NoteBook on your computer at the office and open NoteBook, whether there or at home, and keep working on your notes in the same place. Also, Dropbox acts as a backup system, creating a copy of the file on each machine connected to your Dropbox, as well as keeping a backed up copy on Dropbox's servers.
Use Dropbox's public folder by exporting the NoteBook to it. Then share your notes with colleagues, or simply have easy access to them when not near your computer or the NoteBook program, by using the public URL Dropbox creates. For an example, see the notebook I've shared with colleagues on an archive collection at the United Kingdom's National Archives (http://goo.gl/FGDNd).
Individual pages and then individual items on those pages can easily be moved between different notebooks by drag & drop. Hold down 'alt' to copy the item, or simply drag and drop to move the item to the new notebook.
Use the 'Contents Card' (located in the View menu at the top) to easily navigate between the different pages and items within the notebook.

A 'Sorted' Mess: Papers for Mac

2011-01-17T09:00:00.008Z

After two posts on Google's online resources, these next two weeks will steer clear of the web and look at applications that are significant resources for any scholar.

Over the years, whether it's moving from one computer to another or one academic program or department to a new one, there is a trail of disorganized and disconnected articles, papers, and notes that follows in the footsteps of nearly any academic. Upgrades to programs that make old files obsolete and the growing 'mobility' of the academic profession that makes digital records, over paper boxes, appear almost necessary are the two sides of the 'digital danger'. To digitize one's research and collections now risks the challenge, down the road, of loosing the items to upgrades, a change of computers, viruses, or a whole host of other issues.

However, despite the challenges, the growth of services such as J-Stor, Project Muse, Scopus, etc., as well as the increased availability of cheaper scan-to-PDF facilities on library copiers (vs. the traditional, and more expensive, route of making paper photocopies) has meant that the average researcher finds themselves buried in a pile of PDF articles, copies, and writings. The challenge is how to organize and utilize the vast library that scholars find at their fingertips - and filling the space on their computer's hard drive.

There are several programs out there to help scholars track their document collections. With its educational discount, connection to the online databases of J-Stor, Project Muse, Google, Scopus, and others, and it's terrific user-interface, the multiple award winning program from Mekentosj named Papers is one of the best file management programs available for academics.

Program: Papers for Mac

Company: Mekentosj

Cost: $25.25 (with 40% educational/student discount)

Website: mekentosj.com/papers

[Image: Mekentosj]

Pros: comprehensive search (bibliographic details, notes, and PDF), full-screen reading, easy linking of PDF to J-Stor/Muse/etc. metadata, easy backup of library, ability to use program at home & office with one license, ability to sort the same PDF into multiple folders, easy to send a file onto a colleague or peer, 'clean' import (doesn't leave copies of the PDF strewn across your hard drive), simple back end file structure sorted by year of publication and author (similar to iTunes music structure or iPhoto's directory structure), easily manage your working bibliography list for multiple projects, great customer service, significant student discount, iPhone/iPod/iPad app that syncs with Papers library and allows you to carry your PDFs with you (and annotate, email, or share them on the go) [available in Apple's iTunes App store - $14.99]

Cons: originally made for the scientific field, the search engines are heavily weighed towards science databases (missing large services such as WorldCat); the bibliographic fields can't be altered to suit different types of publications (journal vs. book vs. image, etc.), no bibliographical link to automatically generate citations in Word/Pages (a strength of more expensive programs like EndNote 4); a Mac-only product means their is no version for Windows, Linux, etc.

Use for Academics?:
It's wonderful to have your entire library of journal articles, your own papers (if imported), and your class syllabi (if imported) at your fingertips and easy to search throughout. Curious if an author or article has been cited in other articles you've already done? This is a simple and easy process through the search function. Collect PDF's through email, online downloads, and other sources? To import, simply drag & drop the files into Papers to import. From there, easily merge the data with it's matching record on J-Stor (or a host of other services) and have all the bibliographical information imported for the file.

No more having to create your file system and keep track of where you've put files for the syllabi, articles, or book you're working on. For those who have made the move to iPad, the iPad app syncs with the desktop app. No need to print off and carry multiple PDFs with you on trips or to class - read and annotate them straight on the iPad.

For an academic without another solution, Paper's smooth and intuitive solution makes it essential for the growing digital 'archive' crowding up hard disk space.

Staying Up to Date: The News, Delivered

2011-01-10T09:00:00.000Z

Welcome back from the holidays and a Happy New Year! With the start of 2011, now is as good a time as ever to stay up to date with what's going on around the world. One of the best ways to do that is through RSS feeds and Google Reader.

Real Simple Syndication, or RSS, is exactly what it says it is. It's a bare bones 'feed' of the most recent information published on a website by a university, a news agency, a blog, Twitter, or a whole host of other services. The usefulness of an RSS feed is that it provides the most recent item first in a long list of items. For example, my alma mater, Queens University of Belfast, uses an RSS feed for their press releases. As a result, the most recent highlights of University programs, awards, or alumni are added to the RSS feed. Another place this is useful is with journal or periodicals that you refer to frequently. The Daily Nation, out of Nairobi, Kenya, has an RSS feed that has a continuously updated list of all the articles and op-ed pieces they publish.

But how on earth do you make use of this constantly updated information in any way that's helpful? With an RSS Reader. These have been around for over a decade now and range from programs you install on your computer to web-based sites. One such site that will help you make the most of RSS feeds is Google Reader.

Program: Google Reader

Company: Google Inc.

[Image: Google Inc.]

Cost: Free

Website: reader.google.com

Pros: 'Limitless' number of RSS feeds; easily drag and drop feeds into categories (e.g. 'blogs', 'news', 'university', etc.), ability to highlight specific items for later reference, ability to easily search through specific feeds or entire collection, easily share feeds with others, type in a website and Google Reader will search for the RSS feed connected with that page (e.g. someone's blog or a news site)

Cons: Requires internet connection for access, no 'offline' mode for viewing items when traveling

Use for Academics?
Great way to stay up-to-date on the latest news from alma maters, projects, and news sources. Especially helpful when combined with Google Alerts (see the previous post). Your Google Reader can include a folder that keeps you updated on institutional news, information from news sources in an overseas country (i.e. Kenya, India, etc.), and any recent finds on your Google Alerts. Google Reader allows an academic to quickly scan a large multitude of sources and highlight/share items/articles to either review later or with colleagues. Rather than navigating to a multitude of websites on a daily basis - to see if there are any recent updates - simply open Google Reader to see the new articles and updates highlighted for you. In a matter of minutes, you'll have been able to look through a multitude of sources that might have taken you 30 minutes to an hour to individually visit.

Tips:

A large majority of institutions, news sources, blogs, etc. have an RSS feed attached to their 'news' department. Look for 'RSS Feed' at the bottom of these pages or search for them in the sites search box.
If a site doesn't have an RSS feed, create your own through Google Alerts or services like 'Watch That Page' or 'Change Detection' that will alert you to when sites have been changed or updates made.

Stay Informed: Google Alerts

2010-12-20T09:00:00.001Z

The incessant challenge in scholarship is to keep abreast of new developments and events in the midst of demanding personal research, deadlines, course prep, and teaching and lecturing demands. As a result, I'm always keen to find ways to find out about what's being published in journals, periodicals, etc. One resource I've found is called Google Alerts.

Google's servers are constantly scanning and processing web pages - whether newly created or updated - in order to bolster it's search engine. This requires them to scan the entire pages of websites, index them, etc. With Google Alerts, you are automatically notified when their computers come across your search term. This might be in a new story, a blog post, or any other website that Google indexes.

Program: Google Alerts

Company: Google

[Image: Google Inc.]

Cost: Free

Website: http://alerts.google.com

Pros: Skip scanning your sources on a daily/weekly basis; allows you to find connections of your topic to other areas (since this is looking for a word or phrase); one more 'tool' to gather a breadth of sources related to your topic; can have up to 1,000 different alerts created;

Cons: while Google's goal is to make the world's information accessible and usable, it's scope is limited - don't expect Alerts to pick up information from journals or monograph table's of contents (it seems limited to news sources, blogs, etc.);

Use for Academics?:

The automated notification of 'new' web page material is invaluable in keeping an academic up-to-date. This can be especially helpful in the area of history when a person's subject continues to be significant in modern political and/or social life.

For example, my research is on a Kenyan political family named the Koinanges. Senior Chief Koinange died in 1961. In the last week, the 50th anniversary of his death was commemorated at his family's farm in Kiambaa, Kiambu by members of Kenya's government. The three articles Google Alerts notified me of this week barely mentioned the Senior Chief, but their single mention in an article focused on something else entirely were immensely helpful. I've also been able to discover the actions of other family members still alive and involved in Kenyan society and politics.

Taking the couple of minutes to setup a Google Alert is well worth the time. It may yield very little, but it may yield much more.

Tips:

Rather then choosing the 'email me' option for your Google Alerts, select the 'feed' option. Then add this RSS feed to your Google Reader (or other news reader). That way you're not filling up your inbox or having to search for the article later. Instead, the new finds will be waiting for you next time you check your reader, where you can star certain articles, view them directly at the source, etc.
Develop your alerts by 'trial and error'. You may find that one search request returns an overwhelming amount. Alerts are easily deleted and recreated, so you may have to work with what search criteria work best.
Other helpful uses for Google Alerts also include keeping up with your Alma Mater (for example, I have one with anything that mentions my undergraduate university, 'JBU' or 'John Brown University'), a fellow scholar, or research program.

Essential: Dropbox

2010-12-13T09:00:00.000Z

When it comes to keeping track of computer files, I have had several nightmares during my academic career. They have included:

an inability to find a 3 year old file when I needed it
a misplaced document after moving to a new computer
finding several versions of a project - but unable to find the final product
while traveling, find that I don't have access to that one file or article I really need

That's where Dropbox comes in. Dropbox is an Internet 'drive' where you store files (pdf's, documents, spreadsheets...anything). More than that though, it's a file system integrated into your desktop or laptop. When you save a file or update a file within the Dropbox folder on your laptop or desktop, it automatically updates the file on the web 'drive', as well as the file on all the other machines on which you have a Dropbox account setup on.

Watch the video at Dropbox.com for a great explanation of what the service offers. Here's my review of it:

Program: Dropbox

Company: Dropbox

[Image: Dropbox.com]

Cost: Free (up to 2 GB), $9.99/month (up to 50GB) (see website for more details)

Website: www.dropbox.com

Pros: Automated backup/upload/download of your files, widely accessible (via web or on multiple computers), robust iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad/mobile app for accessing and viewing files, integrated with other third party programs (e.g. ReaddleDocs is but one example), fully integrated into Mac OS or Windows and works across platforms (Linux, Mac OS, Windows, etc.), the ability to share any file via your Dropbox public folder with colleagues, friends, and family

Cons: Internet access is required in order for the files to sync up - so, if you don't have Internet access, you may not have the latest version of the file on your computer (a challenge when doing field research in some parts of the world); remember that Dropbox is made to backup specific files, not your entire machine

Use for Academics?:
In the couple of months since I began using Dropbox, it's become invaluable for my research. There are two ways in which I use it on a weekly, almost daily, basis.

Working across multiple machines on the same file - my research notes are stored in my Dropbox folder. As a result, when I work on them on machine A and save the file, the file is automatically updated on Dropbox.com. When I get home and turn on machine B, Dropbox syncs and I can open the version of the file I was just working on at the office on an entirely different machine. This way I'm always editing the same file, while it is also backed up in THREE places: machine A, machine B, and Dropbox on the web.
'Sending' files to my laptop when away from my desk - When away from my computer in the past, I emailed countless pdf's and files to myself as attachments. That would then require me remembering to download the attachment back at my office and place it in the appropriate folder. That's all changed with Dropbox. Now, when at the library or in the field doing research, I can upload a file from any computer with Internet access to my Dropbox.com account. When I return to my computer, my local Dropbox folder has already downloaed the file I uploaded earlier in the day. No more searching for emails with strange names, loosing thumb drives with files on them (because those files are now uploadedto Dropbox), etc.

There are a number of practical applications for Dropbox beyond these. For example, when putting together papers and presentations for lectures, seminars, or conference, save them to your Dropbox. That way if something happens while you're traveling - whether to your computer or your printed copy - you can walk into any Internet cafe, library, computer lab, or Kinko's/FedEx and download/print off a new copy. Nightmare averted and you're prepared when you need to be.

Tips:

If you find that you often use the same program at home that you do in the office (e.g. Word, Notebook, OneNote, etc.), get in the practice of saving the files to your Dropbox. That way you'll always be working with the most up-to-date version and won't have to keep track of which version is the most current or carrying files back and forth from the office.
Lots of programs, especially geared at academics, have developed ways of utilizing Dropbox into their file structure. Check out the help and discussion forums for tips and ways of integrating Dropbox into your work flow.
If you've got an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or PDA, download the free Dropbox app. Next time you need to take notes to a class, lecture, or discussion, move the file to your Dropbox, instead of printing it off and open it on your mobile device. You'll save money on printing costs and maybe a few trees over the years.
Need to share your thesis or dissertation with a peer or colleague to edit? Use the web links created by placing the file in your public Dropbox folder. Then, rather than attaching a large file, simply send the link for them to access it. It saves space in both your inbox and their's.