Creating a Digital Ecosystem for Academic Work:

Or,

How to use Technology to help Read, Write, and Discuss.

Nick Blackbourn, University of St Andrews http://nickblackbourn.com@nickblackbourn

Overview – Technology Can Help:

• Read – getting hold of material, making sense of it, and accessing it later

• ‘Write’ – generating ideas & turning them into something of value

• Discuss – encouraging others to engage with your work

…i.e. what scholars have done for centuries

Tools not Methods

Nothing is Right,Nothing is Wrong.

http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/padagogy-wheel.jpg

There are many options… …use what works for you

A Case Study: Me

What follows is my own workflow

It’s not perfect, but it works for me…

…accept, reject & adapt for yourself!

Research – Collecting Data

Archives | Reading| Note taking

Gathering material:At the Archives (physical or online)

Take Pictures / Generate Clippings

Create searchable PDFs / text files

… dump everything in your DT inbox

… reference everything in Zotero

Gathering material:Reading & Note taking

Skim – PDF viewer & Note taker

Evernote – note-taking/Clippings

By hand! – Just type it up later

… dump everything in your DT inbox

… reference everything in Zotero

Recall

Databasing| Referencing | Journaling

‘Databasing’

- Devonthink: your central research hub

- Tag / Group

- Searchable text

- Relevant docs

matched.

Referencing

- Zotero (free, opensource)

- Everything (ideally!) should be ready to cite when you need it

Journaling / Writing Regularly

Use any text editor – but get it into Devonthink

Why?

• DT shows you relevant material you already have.

• Good practice to stay on top of your research.

• Easy to convert to blog post if appropriate

• Try 750words.com [and become a Phoenix!]

Writing - Creating Scholarly Output

Composition | Editing | Blogging | Tweeting

Composition

Scrivener

- Hierarchical writing: organize a structure (or not) and then just write

- Goal Setting

- Focus on generating text

Editing & Formatting

Word / Libre Office:

Zotero plug-in for citations

I prefer ‘Print View’ for later & final edits

Blogging

Wordpress / Blogger

What to blog?:

Early drafts

Ideas

Questions

Summaries

Reviews…

…all important scholarly work that you do anyway

What do you think about as a scholar? Blog about it!

–You think about it already, you aren’t replicating, just turn it into c.300 words

Twitter

Micro-blogging:

Create a network

Discuss your interests

Ask questions

Get feedback

Post links / discover resources

Engage different audiences

Why be online?

- Make connections in between conferences (and with the many people who don’t go to them!)

- Be discoverable – people can find you and your research

- Think in terms of academic output – ‘ALWAYS BE CREATING’

Other formats:

Slideshare YouTube

Podcasts Google Hangouts

Conclusion

- Technology should be used to help you as a scholar-

It is NOT just ‘another time-burden’

[tweak your system if it feels this way]

Make the effort to learn how to use your system as a whole, and then get on with what academics do:

read, write, discuss

Questions?: I can be found here @nickblackbourn