Tech setup

baby and crumble

Hey all,

I'm starting apart-time professional doctorate in September, and am just trying to get organised, as time will be at a premium to fit work and study in together, along with life in general. I was wondering if any more current students had some advice re: tech setups for convenience.

My plan is to get a Macbook - I have no need of windows exclusive programs, my Doc is social science and 90% of it will be reading papers and writing essays, along with some qualitative data analysis during the thesis portion in the final 2 years. I changed from Mac to Windows a few years ago when I was first attempting a PhD (traditional route) and I regretted it ever since.

It's been the guts of 5-6 years since I was last studying, and longer since I've attended lectures etc. Ideally I'd like to have a tablet of some sort which is easy to read and markup PDF's, along with capturing notes in class- perhaps on paper and storing screenshots digitally? I've tried writing using a stylus on an IPad I used to have and it was ok for short bursts but not, I fear, for 2 hour lectures back to back.

Budget isn't huge and will be mostly wiped by the macbook, so I was wondering if the Kindle Fire was any good for that sort of thing? Or even what are other folks using? Methods, tips, tricks, etc. It'd be really helpful, I've been out of the academic tech game too long, need to catch up fast to help with efficiency!!

Zoinks

Personally I have been getting along relatively fine with my Windows laptop for reading articles and writing. For note taking I just use a pen and paper, and a dictaphone as far as interviews go (I'm pretty old school for a millennial).

Laptops certainly lack mobility though, and can be a pain in the ass and a liability when moving about. I have two since the 2nd year of my PhD, an old one that I leave in my office and a new one that I use from home. So that mitigated the inconvenience of carting it everywhere.

If you're handy for taking notes on a tablet, and would also appreciate their overall functionality, I have seen a colleague use something like this:

https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/mseea/en_IE/pdp/productID.5113451000?VID=5113451300&s_kwcid=AL!4249!3!147119840289!!!g!304581659888!&WT.mc_id=ie_datafeed_pla_google_pointitsem_surface&ef_id=V4duVQAAAfvp55rX:20170620142500:s

The keyboard attachment looks like a huge bonus. The guy I know takes it everywhere, taking notes and pictures, reading emails, etc. It is highly portable and functional. The price is ghastly though, I could not afford that and it sounds like you might not be able to either, but give a look on ebay or amazon--they seem great.

sullivlo

My setup:
- macbook/laptop for home use
- android tablet for carrying around (kindle app is really handy for marking up documents - there's a little notebook function in it too)
- notebook and pen for taking notes

Something like a surface could be useful for you - they're super cool.

The other thing I will say - google drive. Google docs. Dropbox. Use them. I'm doing all of my note making for assignments on google docs, which I can then access from any device and edit on the go.

There are also LOTS of resources available online for presentation making etc that weren't there in my day and make things look super professional.

If time is sensitive - look into LaTek - takes about a day to learn but formatting will never be an issue ever again. I don't use it but I hear good things.

Endnote/Refworks/citation software of choice - keep on top of it from the start.

Zoinks

I would recommend Zotero for bibliography management. It's pretty great.

baby and crumble

Gotta say, I'll be steering clear of microsoft products (hardware, at least). I just dislike it intensely.

sullivlo wrote: »

My setup:
- macbook/laptop for home use
- android tablet for carrying around (kindle app is really handy for marking up documents - there's a little notebook function in it too)
- notebook and pen for taking notes

My job is in social research anyway, so it's not a big leap to college, it'll mostly be the exact same tasks, but I don't take many notes in a work capacity, that's the bit I'm trying to figure out- interesting to hear you talk about the android tab. I want to cut down on my paper consumption, so getting a device I can use to make notes on downloaded papers etc will be key. I can make notes on PDFs on the laptop, but it's hell on my eyes.

Do you keep your notes on paper or do you scan them or anything? I'm aware that my lecture setup for 2 years involves 4 weeks each year of long and intense workshops, which will mean piles of lecture notes taken in a week, then I need a good way to go through them, store them, find the info afterwards... I really don't want to go back to my previous "system" of having millions of foolscap sheets that I then need to buy folders for etc.

Does anyone use Evernote or anything? I'm curious about it but every time I try to get started i get confused- it seems massive to learn, or maybe I'm just being dense.

Zoinks wrote: »

I would recommend Zotero for bibliography management. It's pretty great.

I use Zotero for work, I love it. It's saved my life so many times!!

sullivlo

Zoinks wrote: »

I would recommend Zotero for bibliography management. It's pretty great.

I need to get it to work

sullivlo

baby and crumble wrote: »

Gotta say, I'll be steering clear of microsoft products (hardware, at least). I just dislike it intensely.



My job is in social research anyway, so it's not a big leap to college, it'll mostly be the exact same tasks, but I don't take many notes in a work capacity, that's the bit I'm trying to figure out- interesting to hear you talk about the android tab. I want to cut down on my paper consumption, so getting a device I can use to make notes on downloaded papers etc will be key. I can make notes on PDFs on the laptop, but it's hell on my eyes.

Do you keep your notes on paper or do you scan them or anything? I'm aware that my lecture setup for 2 years involves 4 weeks each year of long and intense workshops, which will mean piles of lecture notes taken in a week, then I need a good way to go through them, store them, find the info afterwards... I really don't want to go back to my previous "system" of having millions of foolscap sheets that I then need to buy folders for etc.

Does anyone use Evernote or anything? I'm curious about it but every time I try to get started i get confused- it seems massive to learn, or maybe I'm just being dense.



I use Zotero for work, I love it. It's saved my life so many times!!

My tablet is just a bog standard acer tablet. The adobe app is good for modification too.

I tend to just scrawl notes in my notebook and then spent 20 mins with the handout and compiling them. If that makes sense! We get our notes via PowerPoint or similar, so I update the file with notes that I take by hand and save that with the topic as the subject. My filing system for notes is drawnout. YearMonthDay_Course_Notes/Assignment/etc_Compiled

Zoinks

Do you keep your notes on paper or do you scan them or anything? I'm aware that my lecture setup for 2 years involves 4 weeks each year of long and intense workshops, which will mean piles of lecture notes taken in a week, then I need a good way to go through them, store them, find the info afterwards... I really don't want to go back to my previous "system" of having millions of foolscap sheets that I then need to buy folders for etc

Staying 100% digital sounds like it would suit you if you have a good typing speed in this case. The drawback is that I know I wouldn't like to carry an expensive Mac around everywhere, I don't even like carrying my comparatively inexpensive laptops around. That worry would be less an issue with an inexpensive tablet though. I would consider insurance maybe to cover any potential breakage/theft. And as advised, cloud services to back up your data (indispensable).

I haven't been one for preserving notes digitally, however in retrospect, I would absolutely recommend that any prospective PhD students scan/type up their physical notes! Otherwise you might be looking at a workspace like this:

Tom Dunne

I'm coming to this from essentially two angles.

One, is as somebody who is most of the way through a professional doctorate, also in the social sciences (education).

The other is as a researcher in the area of technology in education, particularly focusing on tablets.

I've tried every permutation of gadget, from the iPad, to the Samsung Note 12.1 (with stylus) and currently, the Microsoft Surface Pro (with pen). For reading journal articles, the tab+stylus combination is actually quite effective (not a whole load of difference for this particular task between the Samsung and the Microsoft, to be honest). You absolutely do have to have a cloud backup service. I favour Dropbox, just because of it's sheer flexibility and cross-platform functionality and in particular, the ease of sharing folders (very important when collaborating with fellow students). It's worth the 99 Euro a year for the peace of mind. I have many folders on my Dropbox and probably upwards of 500 journal articles, with various forms of (virtual) scribbles on them. I find reading journal articles on a laptop quite cumbersome, you won't beat printing them out. Plus you can take them anywhere and won't get too upset if you mislay them (unlike a laptop).

In terms of taking notes in class, there is simply no better solution than good old pen and paper. In so many ways (and remember, I'm a techie, with a particular interest in this area), you will not beat the reliability of a pen and pad. I could cite you many, many research articles in this area that find this too. Some even go so far as to suggest that using a laptop in lectures not only is detrimental to the user, but also a distraction to those around you.

I've tried many permutations of taking notes on different tablets, and in short, the technology is just not there yet. Tablet+stylus are fine for small, short, quick notes, but for anything longer, forget it.

I didn't find Evernote particularly effective (in my capacity as a learner).

baby and crumble

Thanks guys. I was always planning on taking notes on paper- I can't take notes on laptop. I guess I'm just trying to figure out a sensible way of digitising them other than retyping them after lectures.

I'm fine with taking a laptop with me- I'll have to bring one down to Cork from Dublin for lectures as well have assignments to do while we're there.

The last bit of it is finding a decent tablet that I can notate on like I would a paper PDF and that links with my Dropbox for ease, so when I call up the paper when writing on my laptop my highlights and notes are there.

Sullivlo, what's wrong with your Zotero?

Zoinks

I find reading journal articles on a laptop quite cumbersome, you won't beat printing them out.

Just to note, some discrimination should be practiced here if your budget is tight. Cumulatively, printing costs can be heavy enough if you are a regular printer.

Tom Dunne

baby and crumble wrote: »

The last bit of it is finding a decent tablet that I can notate on like I would a paper PDF and that links with my Dropbox for ease, so when I call up the paper when writing on my laptop my highlights and notes are there.

*cough* Microsoft Surface Pro *cough*

That's exactly what I do with my Surface Pro, and open up the PDFs on my laptop. Sharing via Dropbox is seamless.

baby and crumble

Just thought I'd pop back in here (in case anyone in the future is searching for something similar!). I got myself the Asus 3Z00m 10.1 inch tablet (was going for €199 in Powercity) which doesn't have an amazing screen but all the specs were bang on for what I wanted. Dropbox integration with Adobe seems to work really well for highlighting & annotating PDFs, plus there's always the Kindle app if needs be.

The 10.1inch screen is great for reading PDFs, you're not crunched into a tiny screen. I've bought myself a decent stylus on Amazon, so hopefully together that'll be my article reading sorted. I'm liking OneNote for taking notes (don't want to pay for an Evernote sub and I'd like my notes across phone, tab and laptop, which you can only have 2 of with Evernote). I'll probably take class notes in a notebook but scan them using an app into OneNote for a digital copy- might type them up, might not, depending on volume!!

Now, all this might change when I actually start college proper but so far so good! Thanks for all your help guys.

Tom Dunne

baby and crumble wrote: »

Now, all this might change when I actually start college proper but so far so good! Thanks for all your help guys.

I give you 3 weeks before you go back to pen and paper.

sullivlo

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I give you 3 weeks before you go back to pen and paper.

This

I had all the best intentions in the world to do everything electronically but I have reverted to notebooks for notes.

However I'm doing my assignments in google docs so that I can access anywhere. Odd.

baby and crumble

To be fair I always intended to take notes in a notebook. I just want some way to not have to print out every single article I have to read.

sullivlo

Yeah, that's a PITA. Your setup seems ideal for that!

Sad Professor

I've never had any success with handwritten notes. I usually lose them, they become disorganised or I can't understand my writing when I go back to read them. Any lectures that didn't allow laptops were mostly a write-off for me in terms of useable notes. I'm starting a masters soon and plan to use my 12-inch MacBook for everything.

baby and crumble

I love hearing this- there's so many ways to work and organise yourself, sometimes using things and techniques you didn't even know existed. TBH I couldn't take notes on a laptop in class, i'd have to concentrate too much on the typing rather than what was being said!!