Producing the goods: winning your gold medal

• By: Alison Hicks
• On: 08/17/2012 15:06:01
• In: dospuntocero

Go Team, Go Team! Maybe it's the Olympic spirit that's getting to me (which also explains the delayed column, sorry!) but I'm increasingly thinking of myself as a coach, or mentor in the research process. Finding, citing, storing and organizing information is such a messy, cyclical, convoluted business nowadays that it's hard to confine librarian activities to just one of those areas. And I think it's high time we stopped trying to remove ourselves from the broader social context anyway as we have a lot to offer in the information age. So this column will attempt to highlight some productivity tools that will be useful for trying to tame the research process- as well as maybe helping those of you who are still feeling paralysed by information overload. (I told you that you need to try meditation...)
Are you having trouble organizing documents and emails or finding that great article that you read last month? If so then maybe Evernote is the program for you. This has been around since 2008, and is a multi-purpose note taking and archiving program. Organized around a system of notebooks, it provides a really easy way to organize and take notes, which can be text, voice memos, photos, file attachments and more. And, if you download the web clipper you can “clip” copies of online articles and webpages for reading later on. You can tag and annotate all notes, as well as sharing them with other people. Consisting of a web, desktop and mobile version, you can sync content across all three accounts, meaning you can catch up wherever you are. Free for a basic version with a generous monthly usage limit. Similar to: Diigo, which allows you to bookmark and annotate webpages.
Do you want an easy way to keep track of tasks and deadlines in group projects?  Trello is a new program that is fabulous for project management. Established in 2011, it's got a really cool visual drag and drop interface that allows you to create to do lists and tasks for any project that you are working on. It's easy to share with other people, as well as setting deadlines, checklists, and sharing content. It would also work well as a personal tool. Like Evernote it can be synced with a smartphone too, giving you even more control.  Free. Similar to: Basecamp.
I just need a simple to do list program... Sounds like you need Remember the Milk, an easy to use time management program. It was set up in 2004 by a couple of Australians (don't let that put you off :) ), so it's pretty well established and very easy to use. It's kind of hard to explain- you make to do lists, and that's about it... You can set it to send you SMS, text or IM reminders, and it will tell you off if you postpone a task too many times... It syncs easily with Google and Outlook calendars, as well as with a smartphone, but you can also work offline too. Free for a basic version but you need to pay if you want to sync across multiple devices. Similar to: Toodledo.
I want a place to record my lightbulb moments: Try Mindomo, a mindmapping tool. Available since 2007 the free version of this program will allow you up to three maps that you can share or make public. Very easy to create a visual brainstorm, or a to-do list or just a presentation of various ideas. Similar to: Mindmeister or Bubbl.us
Alison Hicks
University of Colorado, Boulder
Alison.Hicks @ colorado.edu