1. Research Information Management
Organising Humanities Material

2. Access: Fundamentals of Using a Database
February 19
Today’s arrangements
Your teachers are:
We finish at:
You will have: Course book
Talk through slide
Introduce myself
Discuss the organisation of the sessions: 3 sections coffee during hands-on

3. Your safety and comfort are important
Access: Fundamentals of Using a Database
February 19
Your safety and comfort are important
Where is the fire exit?
Please report any equipment faults to us
The toilets are along the corridor outside the lecture rooms
The rest area is where you registered; it has vending machines and a water cooler ♫♪

4. Access: Fundamentals of Using a Database
February 19
The course handbook
Tasks for you to practice during today’s course
Work at your own pace!
Be selective
Follow-up work
Continue with exercises after the session
Computer-8 drop-in sessions at OUCS
The Exercises: don’t try to do them all today, there are too many. Do some while here, with teacher & demonstrators around. Do some later for practice, or to work further on topics that interest you. Come to Computer-8 at OUCS, drop-in sessions.

5. Information management
How you organise all the source material, notes, and other documents that relate to your research
Covers both paper and electronic material
Mention that I’m not going to talk about structured data – that’s covered in the second course.

6. Key principles There’s no single right way to do it
Organisation is a means to efficient research, not an end in itself
If the system does what you need it to, it’s a good system
Strike the balance between doing too much and too little

7. “But I know where everything is!”
Key principles
We need to be honest with ourselves about what’s working and what isn’t
“But I know where everything is!”

8. Key principles
But there’s no need to feel guilty for not living up to some perceived ‘gold standard’ of organisation
Clear desks and empty inboxes work for some people, but not for all

9. The dinosaur in the cupboard

10. Be realistic
The aim is to get the best results for as little work as possible
If your system is too complicated, you may end up with a backlog
Try using loose categories
Have a ‘holding pen’ for incoming material
Can you reduce the quantity of incoming material?

11. Finding the time Common problems: Possible solutions
There aren’t enough hours in the day
It doesn’t feel like real research
It’s dull!
Possible solutions
A shift in attitude: not research, but an investment that makes research easier
Making use of pockets of dead time

12. Motivational strategies
Chore Wars: chorewars.com/
If all else fails, try bribery

13. It pays to plan ahead
Some extra work when you collect material may prevent a lot of future hassle
Good questions to ask yourself include:
What will I use this for?
What do I need to do to ensure I can retrieve this?

14. And when you’ve retrieved it...
Will it be clear what the source was?
Will it be clear what it means?
Is there a clear record of what I’ve done to the information?
Does my funding body have any requirements about sharing data?
Will other researchers be able to make sense of it?

15. Data management planning
For bigger projects, a formal data management plan may be needed
Required by some funding bodies
See the University of Oxford’s Research Data Management website:

16. Other aims of organisation
Reminding
Items serve as a prompt to do something
Sub-folders can act as a task list
Representing
Folder structure reflects information structure
Connecting
Links between similar items are highlighted
Different systems meet these aims in different ways, or to different extents. It important to decide what’s most important to you, and plan the way you organise your information accordingly.

17. Retrieval methods Location-based finding Using a search function
Most of us default to location-based finding
For electronic information, searching may be a better option
This has an impact on how we organise our information
Mention Douglas Merrill’s suggestion that we should tag our information with a view to finding it by searching, rather than carefully organising it so we can find it by location-based finding – this may be quicker and easier. But also mention potential drawbacks of this – loss of structure of information, for example.

18. Small group discussion
What sort of material do you work with?
What organisational challenges have you faced?
What tools or techniques work for you?

19. Organising paper material
Are you a vertical or a horizontal organiser?
Terms coined by philosopher John Perry
Vertical organisers like things neatly filed away
Horizontal organisers like lots of information spread out
Don’t force yourself into the wrong mould

20. Tips for horizontal organisers
Maximise your working space
Create different zones on your desk
Keep the quantity of information manageable
Experiment with other forms of reminder

21. Tools for horizontal organisers
Image from guidestobuy.com/
Image from

22. Tools for horizontal organisers
Image from

23. Tips for vertical organisers
Make the process of filing as quick and easy as possible
Clear labels and colour coding can help
Distinguish short-term and long-term information
Don’t panic if you can’t keep on top of the filing
But do consider streamlining

24. Tips for everyone Think about how your work space is laid out
Where’s your recycling bin?
Be disciplined about getting rid of what’s no longer useful
Make sure everything has a place to live

25. Organising electronic material
Two main types of system:
Hierarchical
Items organised in folders and sub-folders
Tag-based
Each item assigned one or more tags

26. Benefits of hierarchical systems
Familiar and widely used
Good at representing the structure of information
Constructing the hierarchy can itself be a helpful exercise
Similar items are stored together
Sub-folders can function as task lists
Great for location-based finding

27. Drawbacks of hierarchical systems
Surprisingly hard work to set up and maintain – ‘a heavyweight cognitive activity’
Can be hard to get the right balance between breadth and depth
Items can only go in one place
Time consuming to reorganise if the hierarchy becomes out of date
Quotation is from Indratmo, J., and Julita Vassileva. “A Review of Organizational Structures of Personal Information Management.” Journal of Digital Information 9, no. 1 (May 19, 2008), p. 3.

28. Benefits of tag-based systems
Items can go in more than one category
Moreover, multiple types of category can be used
Many people find tagging quicker and easier than hierarchical filing
When collaborating, can be easier to combine than hierarchical systems

29. Drawbacks of tag-based systems
Not how operating systems store files
If material isn’t tagged properly when first acquired, it can be hard to find later
There’s a risk of inconsistent tagging
And of similarly named categories getting mixed
Less good at representing the structure of information

30. Managing a hierarchical system
In Windows, Windows Explorer is the best tool
At this point, there will be a brief demonstration of using Windows Explorer
Points to cover:
Two panes
Plus and minus signs
Moving files by dragging and dropping
Right click menu

31. Creating a tag-based system
File tagging software
Tabbles, TaggedFrog, TaggTool...
Bibliographic software
EndNote, RefWorks, Mendeley...
Image management programs
Flickr, Picasa...
Gmail – designed for , but can also be used to store files

32. Compare and contrast Open the Exercise 3 folder on your computer
Log in to Gmail
Work through the tasks in Exercise 3

33. Small group discussion
What sort of structure(s) do you currently use?
What do you see as the key advantages and disadvantages of the different types of system?
Are there specific tasks one sort of system seems particularly suitable for?

34. Tips for making a hierarchical system work
If possible, avoid overlapping categories
Find other ways of linking items
Don’t let your folders get too big – or your structure get too deep
Create archive folders for older material

35. Shortcuts Shortcuts allow you to open a file from multiple places
Recognisable by the small curved arrow in the corner of the icon
Use to place items in more than one category
Use for frequently accessed items
Use to create project folders
Time permitting, there will be a brief demonstration of how to use shortcuts to create a project folder here.

36. File names Make them concise, but meaningful
Think about what comes at the beginning of the name
So related items are grouped together
Order files or folders by starting the name with a number
Or push one file to the top using an underscore ( _ )
Time permitting, there may be a brief demonstration of ordering files here – though this is one of the first candidates to be skipped if time is running short.

37. Adding searchable keywords
Each file has a set of properties – information about the file itself
View by right-clicking on the icon, then select Properties
The summary tab includes a keywords field
Terms entered here will be found by the Windows search function
Time permitting, there may be a short demonstration of adding keywords to a file here.

38. Adding tags in Windows 7
Windows 7 allows tags to be added to some common file types as you save them
Unfortunately doesn’t include PDFs
Tags can also be added via Windows Explorer
Libraries can be arranged by tag
Search by tag using search filters

39. Adding tags in Windows 7

40. Linking notes and sources
Add hyperlinks to files elsewhere on your computer
Bookmarks can be used to link to a specific place in a file
Or use bibliographic software to store both notes and source material
Time permitting, there will be a brief demonstration of adding hyperlinks here.

41. OneNote Planz NVivo Adobe Reader Scrivener A.nnotate Diigo
Useful software tools
OneNote
Planz
NVivo
Adobe Reader
Scrivener
A.nnotate
Diigo

42. Working with images To do it properly, use a database
FileMaker Pro, Access...
DaaS (Database as a Service) – coming in 2012
To store basic information, Flickr or Picasa may be sufficient
Other options include bibliographic software, or even a Word table

43. Coming soon – ORDS
The Oxford Research Database Service will be launched early in 2012
Based on an online tool called the DaaS (Database as a Service)
Will provide a straightforward and inexpensive way of creating research databases
Testing currently underway
To find out more, visit or

44. The DaaS

45. Useful websites and services
Research Skills Toolkit
Research Data Management website
InfoDev
HFS back up service

46. Have a go! Work through some or all of Exercises 5 to 9
Explore some of the tools listed in Exercise 10
If you’d like to learn more, look at the ITLP courses list