On literature management…an endless task, or so it seems…

I’ve been using Endnote for some years now, and I must say it has been a very useful tool for me for recording and recalling references and also as a tool for locating and checking whether I have electronic copies of an article in my computer. As soon as I come across a reference of interest, I download its citation to endnote (or type it out if not too long, or use Goggle Scholar to simply locate the citation and download it straight to Endnote – it’s just brilliant!) and save the PDF (if available) of the actual article in a repository of literature, where my Endnote database file also resides. I save the PDFs with consistent file names too, as they would appear in my writing as a citation – for instance, O’Brien_et_al_ 2007.PDF etc etc. That way it is easier for me to recall what the PDF is about and can sort files alphabetically too. If I have more than one author’s work of a the same year, I use “a” “b” “c”, e.g. O’Brien_2007a.PDF and O’Brien_2007b.PDF, etc …just like I would do for a bibliography. So far, this system has worked quite well for me. At first I remember thinking “ok, here go….endless amounts of time being spent in organising this literature” …in fact, I sometimes felt like I have some kind of ‘disorder’, one of those compulsive disorders people talk about – I know I shouldn’t make light of such an issue, in fact I’m not it is a genuine thought….I don’t know. But what I do know, is that it gives me a sense of control having all that order, clutter really can (well I guess not as much as it once did) distress me – but have really learnt to let of go of what it seems like petty worrying….I’m getting better.

Do I make the most of Endnote? I would like to think I’m! …but I always find myself learning something new, especially playing with setting up my own styles and templates too just recently. I would also like to find better ways to locate book chapters or authors and book sections within an edited book…I’ve come across some inconsistencies in the way I save these files and how I’ve recorded these in Endnote, and perhaps I need to make myself a rule and stick with it before the number of files grows and then it becomes a chore to try and fix...another endless task to the list. Other improvements, to add a field entry in Endnote, where I can record whether I have the article in electronic, hardcopy or both (or neither! and needs chasing up)….at the moment all I have is a link to it’s file location, but it would be neat to specify such a field for quick sorting.

Ok, so what about hard copies or articles etc etc….what’s the filing like for that? I’ve tried using topic and theme categories to file my hardcopy printouts of articles, but I soon found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed and spending too much time trying to decide under what theme I would file each article – particularly when dealing with interdisciplinary stuff, which in a way goes against the very concept of creating silos!!! So, I’ve just simply stuck with one rule….file alphabetically under the first author’s last time – the same way I save their PDF versions electronically in my computer. I created Tabs for each letter of the alphabet, and filed articles accordingly. It has been very easy for me to find articles this way, and also to find duplicates. Not sure how best to improve this system, other than to try to print only what is necessary – articles that I’ll actually use, rather than print straight off in the hope that ‘one day’ I’ll get the chance to read fully….another endless task ….a theme is emerging!

I’ve noticed I’ve become a bit of an articles ‘hoarder’ but very little time is actually spent reading these sources and making notes on each as I go. I often find myself skim reading later on and creating notes, but I’d like to be better organised and write notes as I go – and not too elaborate notes either, just enough for me to be able to recall the most useful information with some reflection thrown in for completeness. I guess the best way to ‘catch up’ with my reading and note taking is do single batches of 2-3 articles a day or so, during over a couple of hours. I really do need to make this a commitment…it probably needs to go into the ‘Quadrant’

Results from Assingment 1…

Just a quick note, got my assessment for Assignment 1 from Kath – and very thoroughly pleased with me ‘Distinction’!

I noticed that Kath made a comment regarding the integration between EndNote and NVivo as a time-saving software tool application, she wasn’t quite clear based on what I had written – what the advantages of this approach are and how they help with the literature and data analysis. Yes, I agree now having read in retrospective what Kath would’ve read, I agree – wasn’t that clear. I guess what I was trying to say was that I often feel so incredibly overwhelmed by literary hundreds of journal articles and bits of readings that I have entered into my EndNote database, that in order to make a useful analysis and linkage to my own research and results I needed something that would bring it all together for me nicely – and that’s where NVivo comes in, because I can allocate nodes and create literature/results linkages and see them in one page.

Anyway, the feedback has been invaluable and thoroughly enjoyed the learning and insights I’ve gained in doing this assignment – hindsight, as always, is such a wonderful thing).

Managing references…

I’ve been using Endnote for some years now, and I must say it has been a very useful tool for me for recording and recalling references and also as a tool for locating and checking whether I have electronic copies of an article in my computer. As soon as I come across a reference of interest, I download its citation to Endnote (or type it out if not too long, or use GoggleScholar) and save the PDF (if available) of the actual article in a repository of literature, where my endnote database file also resides. I save the PDFs with consistent file names too, as they would appear in my writing as a citation – for instance, O’Brien_et_al_ 2007.PDF etc etc. That way it is easier for me to recall what the PDF is about and can sort files alphabetically too. If I have more than one author’s work of a the same year, I use “a” “b” “c”, e.g. O’Brien_2007a.PDF and O’Brien_2007b.PDF, etc.

So far, this system has worked quite well for me. However, as with many things in life, there is always room for improvements. For instance, finding a better more consistent way to enter details on book chapters or authors and book sections within an edited book…I’ve come across some inconsistencies in the way I save these files and how I’ve recorded these in Endnote, and perhaps I need to make myself a rule and stick with it before the number of files grows and then it becomes a chore to try and fix.

Am I making the most out of EndNote? I would like to think I’m! …but I always find myself learning something new, especially playing with setting up my own styles and templates too just recently. Other tips I’d like to work on (in my to do list!), is to add a field entry in Endnote, where I can record whether I have the article in electronic, hardcopy or both (or neither! and needs chasing up).

When it comes to filing hardcopy of literature sources such as journal articles, I’ve tried using topic and theme categories to file my hardcopy printouts of articles, but I soon found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed and spending too much time trying to decide under what theme I would file each article – particularly when dealing with interdisciplinary stuff, which in a way goes against creating silos. So, I’ve just simply stuck with one rule….file alphabetically under the first author’s last time – the same way I save their PDF versions electronically in my computer. I created Tabs for each letter of the alphabet, and filed articles accordingly. It has been very easy fr me to find articles this way, and also to find duplicates. Not sure how best to improve this system, other than to try to print only what is necessary – articles that I’ll actually use, rather than print straight off in the hope that ‘one day’ I’ll get the chance to read fully.

While we’re on the topic of literature – I’ve noticed I’ve become a bit of an articles ‘hoarder’ but very little time is actually spent reading these sources and making notes on each as I go. I often find myself skim reading later on and creating notes, but I’d like to be better organised and write notes as I go – and too elaborate notes either, just enough for me to be able to recall the most useful information with some reflection thrown in for completeness. I guess the best way to ‘catch up’ with my reading and note taking is do single batches of 2-3 articles a day or so, during over a couple of hours. I really do need to make this commitment.