Information+Research+and+Organization

The major difference between today's world and that prior to the Internet is the massive increase in access to information. So it is no longer about access but the ability to find the best information and organize it. It's an area that I've become - and probably many have become remarkably lazy at - being reliant on Google only. I have been amazed to discover go far many of these tools have come to organize research.


 * __Information research__**

Moving beyond Google, it is important to remember there are many other search engines which have specialized uses including subject directories, name directories, search tool collectors and document search engines. When doing search it is important to consider other sources. Also a healthy use of other search engines will help us all prevent becoming too reliant on mother Google. Bing, yahoo, ask, are just a few of the biggest. Metacrawler.com is a tool that will combine the results from multiple search engines. For travel look at Kayak.com - which will also allow you to do the identical search on several other travel sites like Travelocity, Priceline, cheap-oair.com and others.

Wikipedia is an amazing free information resource that nearly everyone is familiar with. It is very important to understand the limitations of Wikipedia - and any encyclopedia for that matter. Wikipedia is a site created primarily by volunteers. Since it has been developing for so many years and there are people throughout the world, it has amassed an incredible quantity of information and is truly an invaluable first stop. But it should be just that - a first stop. The information on there is // not //always accurate, and looking into the source data it provides will help get a good start. If you want to find out more, look at the discussions, references and additional resources. Look for a lot of content there - limited discussion and limited references is a sure sign of weak data. They do have good policies to help gather the group knowledge and only accept information that is well sourced. However, if there are limited people involved in a discussion, then there may be low quality to the information. All that said, having students learn that and learn how to tell the difference is a critical skill.

Finally, it is critical to not forget about the library. These days the physical library is becoming less and less relevant, but the research skills of librarians will always remain a valuable resource. Most critically available in libraries are the paid databases of information. I am particularly overreliant on EBSCO, but there are many subject based and access to tens of thousands of journals and publications. When doing serious cutting edge research or looking to publish, it is important to use these resources and specifically the skills of a librarian to make sure you get the best selection of related articles on your topic.


 * __Organization__**

This is the primary area where I have simply relied on basic bookmarks or word documents to organize searches. But there are many powerful tools to help people organize.

The simplest and perhaps most helpful is bridgeurl. This is a very basic service that allows you to create one URL that will direct you to a catalog of as many websites as you want. It works great to then tweet your results.

There a a bunch of tools that allows you to gather groups of websites, annotate, highlight or otherwise emphasize parts of them. Some tools allow you to take a snapshot and save a site as you saw it (memonic), while others allow you to annotate but will still bring up the current website. Several of these tools require a subscription:

Delicious Webnotes Memonic Driigo iCyte

Overall, I have to admit that my lack of time and need will probably prevent me from using these. I would likely use one in a research project I envision. The most likely tool I would adopt would be one that either a colleague or student uses particularly well. I could end up adopting one when I have a real need to gather and annotate websites- but I find myself falling back to what I am most used to: putting the links in Microsoft Word and commenting below the link.

That brings up a critical part to all technology adaption, having a real need, and having the time, inclination and resources to adopt them. I happen to be a very tech savvy person, but even I prefer what I know. I tend not to adopt something new unless there is a compelling need or other compelling motivation. Having a student express significant interest or having a colleague with strong interest will provide that motivation.

Finally, one of the most important tools for true online collaboration is a way to save and share files online. There are many ways Cloud storage: Google drive, Drop box, Apple iCloud