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