1. Oxford University Computing Services Research Information Management Tools for the Humanities

2. Oxford University Computing Services You should have... ▪A copy of the course handbook ▫Includes more information about the topics covered in this presentation ▫Plus step-by-step instructions for the exercises ▪Access to the exercise files 2

3. Oxford University Computing Services Information management ▪How you organise all the source material, notes, and other documents that relate to your research ▪Today’s session introduces some tools to help do this 3

4. Oxford University Computing Services Finding out about useful tools ▪Research Skills Toolkit: http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/ http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/ ▪Bodleian Libraries WISER sessions ▪Colleagues and friends ▫Suggestions of new tools ▫Tips and tricks for using old ones ▪Google or other search engines 4

5. Oxford University Computing Services Desktop or online? ▪Do you download the program, or log in to a website? ▪Where do you normally work? ▫How many computers do you use? ▫Do you always have Internet access? ▪Some tools offer both desktop and Web versions, for the best of both worlds 5

6. Oxford University Computing Services Data storage and security ▪Where is your data stored? ▫On your hard drive? ▫On a Web service’s server? ▫On both? ▪Are there any restrictions on what you can do with your data? ▫Confidentiality ▫Copyright 6

7. Oxford University Computing Services Safeguarding your data ▪Online services are great, but what if... ▫The service was down for maintenance? ▫The site announced it was closing down? ▪Can you export your data in a widely used format? ▫The site disappeared overnight? ▪Do you have back up copies? ▪Desktop services aren’t totally immune 7

8. Oxford University Computing Services Safeguarding yourself ▪Don’t be paranoid, but do take reasonable precautions ▪Check for reviews of unfamiliar software ▪Keep your anti-virus software up to date ▪Don’t reveal more personal information than you’re comfortable with ▫Consider using an alternative email address to register with websites 8

9. Oxford University Computing Services Organising electronic material ▪What sort of system do you prefer? ▪Hierarchical? ▫Files organised in folders and sub-folders ▪Tag-based? ▫Each item has one or more tags or labels ▪Each has strengths and weaknesses 9

10. Oxford University Computing Services Retrieving information ▪The way we plan to retrieve information affects how we organise it ▪Two main methods: ▫Location-based finding ▫Use a search function ▪Greater use of searching may make us more efficient ▫Especially if we brush up search technique 10

11. Oxford University Computing Services Search utilities ▪Search emails and Web history as well as files ▪Index the contents of your computer for speedy searching ▫Though this can slow your computer down ▪Common utilities include: ▫Google Desktop ▫Windows Search 4.0 11

12. Oxford University Computing Services Tools for tagging ▪Tabbles ▪TaggedFrog ▪TaggTool ▪Gmail ▪For images: ▫Flickr ▫Picasa 12

13. Oxford University Computing Services Bibliographic software ▪EndNote ▪RefWorks ▪Zotero ▪ColWiz ▪Mendeley 13

14. Oxford University Computing Services Other tools ▪Diigo ▪NVivo ▪AllMyNotes Organizer ▪Stickies 14

15. Oxford University Computing Services Have a go! ▪Try one or more of the exercises ▪Explore some of the tools that have been mentioned 15

16. Oxford University Computing Services Integrating varied material ▪How many types of information do you work with? ▪Integrating material can save time ▫One collection to search instead of several ▫Less likely to miss things ▫But you should only do it if it’s useful 16

17. Oxford University Computing Services Paper and electronic material ▪No simple solution (sorry!) ▪Scanning and OCR ▫Some photocopiers can also scan ▪Digital pens ▪Integrated indexing 17

18. Oxford University Computing Services Electronic material ▪One project may require several types of material ▪Storing these together makes life easier ▪Where this isn’t practical, a good search utility may still help 18

19. Oxford University Computing Services Useful tools ▪OneNote ▪Planz ▪A.nnotate ▪Idea Rover ▪Scrivener 19

20. Oxford University Computing Services File synchronisation ▪Useful for multiple computers ▪Dropbox ▪SugarSync ▪Windows Live Mesh 20

21. Oxford University Computing Services Have a go! ▪Try one or more of the exercises ▪Explore some of the tools that have been mentioned 21

22. Oxford University Computing Services Databases ▪Use of structured (and semi-structured) data growing in the humanities ▪Databases and/or XML often underpin websites ▪Word processors not ideal for every eventuality 22

23. Oxford University Computing Services Spreadsheets ▪Use to analyse regular sets of information ▫Time series; census information; financial accounts ▪Useful for ▫Ordering lists ▫Numerical analysis ▫Creating charts and graphs 23

24. Oxford University Computing Services Relational databases ▪Use to analyse complex data involving different (but connected) objects ▫Linked tables – each similar to a spreadsheet ▪Useful for ▫Flexibility ▫Identifying relationships ▫Structuring information for Web searching 24

25. Oxford University Computing Services XML (and XML databases) ▪A means of tagging information so that it become machine-readable ▫Can indicate proper names, parts of speech, variable readings, or any other characteristic of a section of text ▫TEI XML is the standard for the humanities ▪Useful for ▫Textual analysis ▫Preparing and presenting texts on the Web 25

26. Oxford University Computing Services RDF metadata ▪A means of expressing relationships between data ▫Used in developing the ‘Semantic Web’ ▪Useful for ▫Integrating existing databases by mapping metadata to a common standard ▫Network analysis 26

27. Oxford University Computing Services Useful websites and services ▪Research Skills Toolkit ▫http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/http://www.skillstoolkit.ox.ac.uk/ ▪Research Data Management website ▫http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rdm/http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rdm/ ▪InfoDev ▫http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/infodev/http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/infodev/ ▪HFS back up service ▫http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/hfs/http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/hfs/ 27

28. Oxford University Computing Services Have a go! ▪In small groups, discuss the various scenarios in Exercise 7 ▪Be ready to feed back to the whole group at the end 28