Showing posts with label Research tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Research tools. Show all posts

10 November 2010

Research you can re-Search

Research you can re-Search


I've made lots of notes I'll never read again, because they are on paper and I can't search them.
There are now lots of tools for recording research and searching it. Here are my favourites.

Word Outline

PBWorks Wiki

Zotero

FoxIt

FileLocator

Acrobat OCR

EverNote


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Word Outline View

I covered this when looking at long documents
- you can see the overall picture, or drill down to details instantly
- you can move text around, with all the associated paragraphs
- you are writing in the native format your final work will be in

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Wiki - eg the one at PBWorks.com (free for non-commercial use)

* write ideas as they come to you, and access them from anywhere
* and it is very good at Greek and Hebrew, even on a Mac.
* you can paste complex Unicode Biblical Greek & Hebrew from Word, or from a web page
 (you can't paste straight from BibleWorks, so paste into Word, then copy and paste from there)
* this works just as well on a Mac as a PC, because you are using the web

 


The point of a Wiki is that is written in a disorderly way, but it organises itself
* you quickly write down an outline, then expand it by highlighting a word or phrase and starting a new page
* or you simply write individual pages and bring them together later
* search is pretty good, so you can find pages where you’ve already written on something

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Zotero (free)

* stores and searched web pages, PDF files
* great for grabbing a web page and storing it with a date
* it automatically stores the complete PDF from periodical sources like JStore
* if you are in a library catalogue, it can grab all the bibliographic data
* then you can add summaries of the book as you read it
* it can integrate with your word processor to export in all the standard formats, eg Cicago style
* with the add-on to search PDF files, it will automatically index them for instantly finding text
* just type a work, and it lists all the web pages & PDF files or summaries including that word
* you can highlight sections of a web page or PDF and it stays highlighted
* you can categorise stuff in multiple ways * esp tags and folders.
* you can ;sync your Zotero database with several computers, BUT your attached files don't sync
* so put them into a Dropbox or SugarSync folder (more of that another time)
Zotero doesn't index Word docs (don't know why), so do this:
* click on the "+" and link to the Word file.
* double-click on the file to open it, then select all the text and Copy it
* paste the text into the "Note" area in Zotero. These notes are automatically indexed.

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Foxit for PDFs (free version)

* Endnote is probably better than Endnote at integration with Word and online backup
* but it isn't so good at quickly grabbing just anything (web pages, word docs) and indexing them
FoxIt for PDFs (free version)
* everyone uses Acrobat PDF reader by default, until they discover FoxIt
* there’s a free and a paid-for version, but the free one is much more powerful than free Acrobat
* much smaller, quicker to load, you can use it to annotate PDFs, highlight bits, and add notes
* but the killer feature is the ability to search multiple PDF files
* by default it searches your whole computer, so tell it to search you Documents
* or, if you are organised, just the folder with PDFs, or your Zotero folder

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Search everything with FileLocator (free version)

* Zotero is good at searching your web pages & PDFs & your document, if you’ve added them
* FoxIt is wonderful at searching all PDFs and shows results in context one at a time
* FileLocator searches everything, and shows you results in context all at once
 (Google desktop is also good, and even the Find built into Windows is now very good,
  but they only work well if they have already indexed everything, and this can slow down
  your computer considerably)

Check out Qiqqa.com - a new free tool which indexes and searches PDFs, synchronises them across several computers. , and even OCRs them if they are scans. 

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OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

* in the bad old days you had photocopies, which you can search only by eye
* then OCR came along, which was like employing a really bad typist who makes lots of errors
* you can search it, but it is hard to read when there are even occasional errors
* and of course any Hebrew or Greek turns to gibberish
* you get a free OCR program with any scanner you buy
* then Google books came along and showed a new way to do OCR
* you keep the picture of the scan, but invisibly superimpose the OCR
* there are still OCR errors, but they don't matter much, and you can read the Greek & Hebrew
Now everyone can make Google-book-style documents
* Nuance.co.uk is good, but the free version doesn't do OCR - you need to pay about £100
* Acrobat Pro is better, esp when a scan has a "gutter" (the bent faint bit in the spine of the book)
  but this costs more (about £130 with a education discount).
* we use Acrobat Pro on the photocopier at Tyndale, so all scans become searchable

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EverNote.com is a free alternative

* you don't need a scanner or an OCR program. Just a free account
* you take a photo of a page on your phone, and send it to your online account
* it turns into a picture of the page with an OCR layer
* you can also clip and save web pages
* they have search software which works on most phones and computers

Writing a book or thesis

Writing a book or thesis


We make plans before a long journey, and we need to plan how to write a long document just as carefully - it will save a lot of time in the long run.

Word Processors

Word Versions

Styles

Heading

Formatting

Navigating

Planning

Tracking

Speed tips

Replace tips

Chapters


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Which Word processor?

Open Office
* free & v good.
* can open and save all important formats including the latest Word DOCX
* lacks some of the sophistication of Word esp for writing books
Nota Bene
* Tom Wright produces all his manuscripts on it but getting used to it is difficult
* good integrated database & bibliographic tools, but non-standard in too many ways
Melel 
* if you want to write Hebrew on a Mac, you need to use this
* it is Israeli, fairly cheap, can be hard to learn, but very good
Word
* I'll assume you are using this. Very good and very complete.

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Which version of Word?

Which version of Word?
* by default you'll probably use the latest version
* but think about it. There is no killer feature in the latest version
* so use whichever version is your favourite, anything from Word 97 onwards.
My favourite is Word 2003
* faster with large documents than Word 97
* more customisable than the later versions
* especially: No ribbon cluttering up the top of your screen
* if you want lots of buttons, you can put them down the side.
* however, if you have Word 2007+, try minimising your ribbon
  (Word 2007 little button top left;  Word 2010 dedicated button top right)
Menu RibbonIf you have Word 2007 onwards, and you get lost often:
* you can install the old ribbon. Get UBit one free (for non-commercial use)
(there are others from SobolSoft.com and AddinTools.com but they aren't free)

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Writing with Style


If you use Styles, you can concentrate on your writing instead of formatting
* so get into some good habits at the start and you can format afterwards.
Standard Styles
* whether you realise it or not you are using Styles, so make them work for you
* the default style is Normal – you automatically use that for your paragraphs
* another default (automatic) style is Footnote Text – so you already use Styles!
* use Heading 1 for a chapter title, then Heading 2 for sub-sections
* if you are really organised you can use Heading 3 and 4 for smaller sub-divisions
* and when you get to a quote, use Quote
* and when you want something to stand out, use Emphasis
* and if you don't see what you want, create a Style or right-click and modify it
  (but it is best not to let this distract you till you've finished writing.)
Why bother with Styles? To save time and to be professional
* a Style defines a set of formatting throughout your long document
* you decide, at the end of your book, that you don’t like the look of your block quotes
* you don’t need to go through changing every quote – just change the Quote style
* every quote in the book will change, and all look the same as each other
* same with the headings and footnotes – you can change them all at a click

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Headings

What Style am I using now? * in word 2007+ the Home ribbon will tell you (though you may need to scroll)
* in Word 2003+ you can open  the Styles box – though it is a bit big
  (Word 2003 Menu: Format > Styles.  Word 2007+ Ribbon: Home > Styles popout)
* in Word 97 – 2003 you can see the Styles in the Style Area (go Tools>Options)
* with each of these, a right-click leads you to formatting Styles
* but I caution against wasting time formatting styles till you've written your book.  
Headings are special* the Headings quotes are special in that they have a Level assigned to them
* this makes the difference between a long document you have to wade through
  and a long document you can navigate easily and go wherever you want
* and, when you are done, you can make a Table of Contents at a click.

Finding Headings in Word 2007+* Styles are generally easier to find in Word 2007+, but Headings are hidden
* only Heading 1 is listed by default in the Ribbon and in the Styles sidebar
* to find them, click on "Options" at the base of the Style box and select "All Styles"

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Modifying and Creating Styles

* remember, don't let this distract you. Finish writing your draft at least
* to modify, right-click on a style in the Style pane
* or click on "New Style" in the Style pane (in 2007+ it is a button at bottom left)
* pick the style type. There are mainly two different types:
  Character styles (eg Emphasis) defines font, size, colour etc.
  Paragraph styles (Eg Heading, Quote) do all this plus line spacing, tabs, margins etc
* pick a related style in "Based on", so when you change the font etc in that style, then this new one will change accordingly to keep a consistent look throughout.
* "Style for following para" will be automatically set when you start a new para. Eg you press Enter after writing a section title, and it changes automatically to Normal.
* be conservative with what you set. Ideally you want most things set in "Normal" and then inherit changes through the "Based on" setting.

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Navigating round a long document

Where was I?* you go looking for something, and then you can’t find the last place you were
* click on undo, then re-do. It takes you back to where you made the last change

Where am I?
* you are writing a paragraph and you can’t remember what chapter you’re in
  (it will happen! – when your work has got large and you are editing it)
* use the Document Map (or ‘Navigation Pane’) in Tab/ Menu “View”
* this only works if you have been using Heading styles.

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Plan where you are going

Where am I going?
* make a plan. It is comforting. And you can always move things around
* use Outline (View > Outline) 
* this depends (like so many things) on using styles.
* an Outline lets you see the big picture
* you can see just Headings 1 (Chapter titles) or also Headings 2 (Sub headings)
* you can also see the first line of each paragraph
* and you can collapse any section you like, or expand a section to see more detail
* and you can move whole sections around just by dragging them

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Tracking what you have done

What have I done?
* when you've finished, and you're dotting around editing, Tracking is useful
  (double-click on Trk in the Status bar at the bottom.
   In Word 2007+ you this is hidden, so rt-click on the Status bar and tick it)
* especially if you give a chapter to someone else to read. Turn Tracking on
* then every change is recorded, and later you can simply accept or reject the change
* you can see the document before you made any changes, or after the changes
* or you can see the changes inline, or at the side.
* in Word 2007+, the Navigation panel highlights sections with tracking changes

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Find & replace tips

Word 2007+ Find list* in the Navigation panel, click on the top right button ("Browse your results)
* it only works for about 100 results, and you can't use wildcards, but it’s a start
* the old Find & Replace is in the dropdown on the right as "Advanced Find"
Find & Replace More* this is your key to speedy work
* Ctrl-F. It is worth knowing some keyboard shortcuts which you need very often.
* Ctrl-PageDown goes to the Next find, and Ctrl-PageUp goes to the previous
* click on "More" to match case and (in 2007+) to ignore punctuation etc (useful!)
* wildcards are very useful: ? = a single letter, and * = one or more letters
* so "write?" finds "writes" and "writer" but "write*" also finds "writers"
* click on "Special" to find even more wildcards and types of characters
* esp. useful ^p = end of paragraph, ^t = tab.

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Automatically replace formatting

Find & Replace Formatting
* click on "Format" (click on "More" if you can't see "Format")
* you can find a particular font or style or things you have highlighted
You may want to replace every place where you use Italic with the Style "Emphasis"
* put your cursor in the Find box, empty it, then click on Format>Font>Bold
* put your cursor in the Replace box, empty it, then click Format>Style>Emphasis
* click Alt-F (to do the first find). Then Alt-R replaces or Alt-F moves on to the next

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Chapter divisions

Don't bother with a Master Document
* the Master Document & Sub-Document feature is really good
* but don't bother with it unless you are writing a book bigger than the Bible
* if you do use it: a couple of pointers:
* make sure you define your formatting in the Master document, and let the subdocuments pick it up from there. Otherwise you'll be in a mess
* keep backups. It is easy to mess this up so the links gets confused

Sections & restarting footnotes* you need this if you are writing chapters with footnotes
* if you don't create sections, your footnotes won't restart with each chapter
* you want a New Page section break, so your chapter starts on a new page
* to insert a section break: Word 2003- Menu: Insert > Break > Section Break
   or Word 2007+ Ribbon:  Page Layout > Breaks
* then change the footnote numbering from "Continuous" to "Restart each section"
  (Word 2003- Menu: Insert > Reference > Footnote
    Word 2007+ Ribbon: References > Footnotes popout)

1 July 2009

Forget nothing and work anywhere



Imagine a world where everything you read is searchable so you can re-view any page containing a word or reference; where your computer is accessible from any other computer; and where you can instantly find any file you want. You can do all this now, with your present computer, for free.

Picture from Tyndale House
This posting will show you how, at zero cost, you can:
  • have an electronic photographic memory which is searchable
  • have automatic backups, ready for the day your computer dies
  • access your work and software from any web-connected computer
  • and you do NOT have to be continuously online.

1) Dropbox: Access your files on any computer - even with a poor connection

2) DjVu: Search everything you've read - with intact Greek & Hebrew

3) Zotero 2: Your automated librarian and bibliography/footnote creator

4) LogMeIn: View and control your computer from any other computer

5) GoogleDesktop: Index your whole life and find it again on any computer

1) Dropbox: Access your files on any computer - even with a poor connection:


Where should you keep shared files? - on your computer or online?
  • Files on your computer are fast and available even when the internet fails,
  • Files online are backed up and can be accessed on any computer
Now you can have BOTH, automatically updated, by using Dropbox.
  • files in your Dropbox folder live on your computer, and online
  • they are automatically kept in sync with identical folders on your other computers
  • or, on a public computer, you can go online and load the file from your storage
  • and if you accidentally delete it, the last three revisions are safely online
Get a free 2.25 Gb Dropbox here (enough space for about 2000 PhD theses!) Nearest rivala: SugarSync - 2 Gb free, on only one extra computer or PDA and LiveMesh - 5Gb online free, and syncs more. In Beta, but looks good.

2) DjVu: Searchable text which is an exact image, with intact Greek & Hebrew:


How should you store things you've read? - as scanned images or typed text?
  • Scans show the exact page, including page numbers, Greek & Hebrew
  • Text is searchable, but typing is tedious and automatic OCR is often garbled
Now you can have BOTH without correcting any text, by using DjVu
  • scan what you read even at only 200dpi, eg on your office photocopier
  • upload it to a free DjVu converter then save the file on your computer (the conversion site automatically deletes them after 6 days)
  • install the DjVu plugin which is much faster than viewing PDFs
  • they look just like a scan or photocopy, but they contain the typed text (like all OCR, it is not perfect, but this is OK because you see the original)
  • Hebrew & Greek remains legible, because you can see the original image
  • you can search and find a word, or copy and paste text into a summary
  • DjVu files are only about 1/6 the size of PDF files, so they're easy to store.
Does scanning take you too long? Flatbed scanners are cheap but scans take 20-30 secs. Look at your office photocopier - it may have a scanning function as fast as copying. At Tyndale House the photcopier scans to a public server accessible on all computers. Its quick!

3) Zotero: Your automated librarian and bibliography/footnote creator


How should you record your bibliography? - as a strict database or free-form records?
  • Databases like Endnote create searchable records automatically from some catalogues and create references in different styles in your documents, but data of ten need tidying
  • Free-form records can be written quickly, but the format needs retyping for publication
Now you can have BOTH created automatically from most sources, by using Zotero
  • collects bibliographic fields automatically from web catalogues (including Tyncat)
  • can be organised by both tags and folders, and the content searched by words
  • can attach whole documents to the records, including articles from JSTOR etc
  • can store whole web pages or highlighted clippings and redisplay them
  • can index and search PDFs and web pages (but not DOC or DjVu files)
  • can create bibliography records and footnotes in hundreds of standard styles
Zotero 2 can now share collections on different computers. To do this:
  • if you already have a Zotero folder, make a backup. (To find it, click on the cog symbol, then 'Preferences' then 'Advanced' then 'Storage Location' then 'Show Data Directory')
  • install Firefox 3 from here and Zotero 2 from here then create a Zotero ID here
  • in Firefox, click on Zotero (bottom right), then on Actions (the 'cog' icon) then 'Preferences'
  • to add SBL style etc for formatting citations, click on 'Styles' then 'Additional Styles'
You can access your Zotero files on two or more computers and update them all automatically:
  • in 'Preferences', click on 'Sync', enter your Zotero ID for the Sync Server and tick Sync automatically
  • the 'Storage Server' needs WebDAV but no free online storage service provides this, so instead:
  • use 1) Dropbox (see above): create a folder 'Zotero' in your Dropbox folder, then click on 'Preferences' 'Advanced' and 'Choose'
  • or 2) Live Sync duplicates folders on two computers without keeping an online copy: download, find and run it on both computers and tell it to sync the Zotero folder

4) LogMeIn: View and control your computer from any other computer :


How do you work at the office and at home? Carry a laptop or data stick with you, or work online?
  • Carrying hardware around feels safe, though editing copied files can lead to several versions.
  • Zoho's online office suite is powerful and fast, but you need dependable internet access.
Now you can have BOTH by controlling your office computer from home using LogMeIn
  • you can use your office computer from any other computer, which 'becomes' that computer
  • in 'full screen' mode, it is easy to forget that you are actually controlling another computer
  • you can switch between computers and copy and paste from one computer to the other
  • create a free account at LogMeIn and install the software on your computers
  • you can then access them even on public computers (without installing) by web browsing
Zoho is worth considering for true 'cloud computing' - ie doing all your work online. Their Notebook is almost as good as Google's notebook (sadly discontinued), and their word processor is better than Google Docs. They also have spreadsheet, database etc. But until we have reliable internet access everywhere, true cloud computing will have to wait.

5) GoogleDesktop: Index your whole life and find it again on any computer:


How do you search for your files? Keep them strictly organised or index them? Do BOTH of course, but now you can index your whole life with GoogleDesktop
Google Desktop indexes and searches documents, emails, calendar, viewed webpages etc
  • you can choose to include external drives or restrict the indexing categories
  • results are ordered in an intelligent way, like Google web searches
  • you can share indexes to be visible on any other computer you log into
  • it share files between computers, but not reliably. Use DropBox instead (see above)
  • it stores deleted files and previous versions, ready to be resurrected
  • there are lots of other gadgets to watch email, calendar, news stations etc
  • it even indexes words inside scans, if they are in DjVu format (see above)
  • to turn DjVu on: click on the down arrow, 'Options', 'Desktop Search', then at 'Indexing plugins' click on 'Download Page' and search for 'DjVu Plug-in'. Download and Run.

25 March 2009

Keeping up with reading, online

Finding books and articles online is getting easier. There are more titles available
and fewer places which need searching, thanks to huge aggregated indexes.
The best indexes are now available from the Tyndale Toolbar, so everything's in one place.

Online versions are better than paper because you can usually search them,
and take notes by copy and paste. Now all we need is time to read them.





1) Articles online and how to find them
2) Books online and how to find them
3) How to keep a searchable copy of
online reading


1) Articles online and how to find them

Tyndale Periodicals
lists 440 online & paper periodicals in Biblical Studies & Theology,
of which 225 have full text online, many of them free, without subscription,
and if it isn't online, you can ask Tyndale Library to scan it and email it to you.
Many thanks to those who send me new suggestions, especially Holger Szesnat.
On the Tyndale Toolbar under "Bible Links: Online Books & Periodicals"

Tubingen Library database (IxTheo) indexes 600 periodicals with full bibliographic detail
They cover all the important journals in ATLA plus many extra European ones
Use this to find the article, then look for an online copy on the Tyndale Periodicals page
On the Tyndale Toolbar under Bibliog.: Articles - search by Author and/or title word(s)

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) covers all other disciplines very well



2) Books online and how to find them

Google Books - aims to host millions of books, and now has better legal permission
Even books with "limited" viewing often omit only 10% scattered through the book
Searches also find books which cite the book you are looking for - very useful!
On the Tyndale Toolbar under Bibliog.: GoogleB- search by Author and/or title word(s)

Amazon via Tyncat - (in Tyncat searches, Amazon content is indicated by a picture icon of the book)
Amazon has almost full previews of a large proportion of books. Join for free to view them.
"Look inside" may mean anything from just the Contents page to the whole book is viewable
Hint: Read the permitted 3 pages, then search for a word on that page and continue reading.
On the Tyndale Toolbar under Bibliog.: Tyncat - search by Author and/or title word(s)

OAIster - searches lots of different sources (but isn't always working)
On the Tyndale Toolbar under Bibliog.: AIOster - search by Author and/or title word(s)


3) How to keep a searchable copy of online reading

Use Zotero to keep a copy of web pages and PDFs.
- Zotero is a bibliographic tool which keeps and organises copies of online material

Use Evernote to keep a copy of online books which can't be saved (eg Google Books & Amazon)
- Evernote keeps scans and screen grabs and converts them to searchable text.

See details on their use at a previous Tyndale Tech

17 December 2008

New Essential Research Tools

The key to research is taking notes and being able to find them again.
This used to be done on 5x3 library cards. Now it is best done on the web.
A former flatmate kept his PhD notes in two large trash sacks in a wardrobe.
To find a reference, he'd pour them on the floor, rummage, then stuff them back.
I don't think he ever completed. My system was better - I used a cardboard box.

With computers and the internet we can do much better.

Our aim should be maximum time for reading, thinking and creative writing,
with automatic facilities for searching, creating bibliographies and backups,
and minimum time for writing and filing notes on what you've read.
Utopia? Not any more.

With the following free software you can:
* access your work on any computer, and write it at the same time as a colleague
* never lose your work - automatically save to the internet every few seconds
* never ruin your work - previous versions of a document are always available
* add library catalog entries to your bibliography automatically, in your chosen style
* attach notes to a book or article which you can search and find later
* copy web pages or articles or documents which you can search later
* search videos from many sources (like YouTube) and save them (increasingly important!)
* copy pages from online books and save them as searchable documents
* save photocopies online and search them as though they were text documents

1) Zotero: Bibliography creation, note storage, document search, and more.
2) Google Docs: Word processing on the web with automatic archive and backup.
3) Evernote: Store photocopies and online books as searchable text.
4) FLV Converter: Search multiple sites for videos and save a copy.







1) Zotero: Bibliography creation, note storage, document search, and more.

Bibliography creation software has been around for some time in many forms,
eg. Endnote, Endnote Web, BibTex, Bookends and many others - and now Zotero.
They create footnotes and bibliography, in the style required by a publisher,
from a database of references; and they help you build up that database;
ie it copies a reference and turns it into any format you need.

Zotero is free, and in my opinion better - and perhaps Endnote agrees,
because they are suing Zotero for enabling Endnote users to migrate to Zotero.

What Zotero does for you:
* fills in a Bibliography database for you directly from a web library catalogue
- eg from TynCat.com or Library of Congress or even Amazon
* saves notes you write about a book, or other independent notes
* links to or saves copies of text documents, PDFs, and webpages
* organises references and documents by tags and collections
- things can go in more than one collection or have more than one tag
* exports references in over 500 styles of different publishers & journals
* also finds documents and references by searching for words used anywhere

In version 1.5 (expected soon) you will be able to sync your data online,
so your research material and references will be available where-ever you are.




Hints on using Zotero

* First install Firefox 3 then go to Zotero and click on "Download"
When Firefox re-starts, click on (bottom right) to open and close Zotero

* Watch the the Zotero tutorials then try a compliant catalog such as TynCat

* Click on in the address bar to add a single book, or to choose from multiple books
or click on on the Zotero bar to save a copy of the current web page.

* You can automatically download PDFs of articles in JSTOR etc (if you have access)
- in Preferences:General, tick "Automatically attach.."

* You can automatically index PDFs - in Preferences:Search, click on "Check for installer" for Xpdf. (this only works with PDFs containing text, and not images of pages - but see Evernote below)

* Add copies of your previous work so that it is indexed and searchable.

- save your document as PDF or as HTM (ie click on "Save as.." and set the Type as HTM or Webpage)
- click on then "Store copy of file" and click on your PDF or HTM file (Doc files aren't indexed yet).


* Chicago Styles are pre-installed. To add SBL style, click on Preferences: Export: Get additional styles.


2) Google Docs: Word processing on the web with automatic archive and backup.

Google Docs started life as Writely, which was bought up and developed as an online word processor to form part of Google's bid to rival Microsoft office.

Google Docs is superb for writing drafts, but you still need a 'proper' word processor for the final printout, because it does not have tools for the finer points of formatting.

Google Docs now includes all the features that most people use in a word processer:
- footnotes, spell check in multiple languages, tables, headers & footers, tables of contents, comments, bookmarks, images with text wrap, page numbers and basic styles.
- unicode right-to-left Hebrew works OK but isn't perfect. Accented Greek works well.

Google Docs lacks some wordprocessing features which are often neglected, but very useful:
- macros, tracking, custom tabs, borders, outlining, drawing tools, and pictures behind text

Some necessary formatting features are entirely missing, and are unlikely to be added:
- fonts (other than the few supplied), line-spacing, formatted footnotes and complex styles.
- printer settings and styles are limited, especially re footnotes and margins
Some very useful features in Google Docs are not found in normal word processors:
* copies are saved automatically online - not on your hard drive which will die one day
* older versions are saved continuously - so you can rescue something you deleted last month.
* two people can work on the same text simultaneously, or you can keep it open on two computers (click on "Share" and write in their email address to give someone shared access).
* you can publish to the web, or save as a Word document, or send as an email, in two clicks.
* you can work on it anywhere, on any online computer - even a hotel lobby computer.

What happens if the internet goes down? You can carry on writing, but you can't save, so copy+paste into Word (or equivalent) till your connection resumes.

You can make a local backup (File: Download) if you are feeling paranoid, but the internet copy is almost certainly more secure than your hard drive.




Hints for using Google Docs

* First open a GMail account and sign in. (free, and very useful)
At the top left of your mail page, click on "Documents", then on "New" and "Document"

* "Print settings" include margins, page numbers and hide comments.
Click on "Print.." to create a PDF file - though this doesn't show footnotes properly.
Use "Print as web page" to print with proper footnotes (though the Settings don't apply).

* For Greek or Hebrew use Unicode as in Word. I recommend the free Tyndale Unicode.
All the supplied fonts work on the web, but not when you Download as a Word file, so change the Greek and Hebrew in Word to Cardo (or another academic font)


* To resurrect old copies of a document, click on "File", "Revision history".
For very old copies, click on "Revisions 0-" in the bottom-right.

* Use Styles for titles and sub-headings, because these are needed for the Table of Contents, both in Google Docs and later when you Download the document to Word.

* To make text wrap round pictures, use "Insert" "Picture", choose the image file, then click on "More image options" and tick "Wrap text".


3) Evernote: Store photocopies and online books as searchable text.

Making notes is often more time consuming than reading, but without notes it can be impossible to find where you read something.

One solution is to scan what you read, then OCR it (ie put it through Optical Character Recognition software) so you have a searchable text.

But this is time-consuming, because OCR is imprecise (esp when the page has Greek or Hebrew!) so you need to spend time editing to make it readable.

Online books (eg Books.Google or Amazon) are even more difficult than real books because you can't print out the pages so you have to type all your notes.

The solution is EverNote - which automatically performs OCR on pages, so it can search your pages, but it always shows you the original copy of the page.
You can upload 40MB of scans per month and store them for ever, for free.
Screen-grabs from online books can be added and also searched.
Texts can be organised by folders and tags, by which you can limit a search.

Although it can't recognise Greek & Hebrew, it always shows the original scan, so you see real Greek - unlike a normal OCR where you just see gibberish Greek.

Now: Where did I read about "laws of nature" with regard to homosexuality? It was somewhere in Philo. I think it was when I researched Infanticide. Evernote found it: I searched for "law" within my photocopies about Infanticide:




Hints for using Evernote:
* Start by opening a free account at www.EverNote.com.
* Go to Download for a "desktop" version for your Mac or PC.
This isn't necessary but some features are much faster than the web version.

* Searches are fuzzy - I searched for "law" and it found "laws".

* OCR accuracy depends on the scan - 200 dpi (dots/inch) in greyscale work well.
300 dpi is better, but you can only save 40MB per month without paying.
(200 dpi greyscale lets you upload about 100 pages per month)

* Add scans on the web by clicking on "New" then "Attach file"
or email it (click on Settings to find the Incoming email address for your account)
or open the desktop version, click on "New Note", and drag the file(s) into the note.
(I find the last method the easiest)

* When the desktop version is running, it synchronises with the online documents.
Searching and displaying documents is almost instantaneous on this version.

* OCR is automatic, but not fast. So upload it then do something else.
OCR only works on bmp, jpg, gif & png - not on tiff or pdf (at present)
For PDF scans of books, extract the images with PDF2IMG and upload them as JPGs.

* To save a page from an online book, run the desktop version and press the "PrtSc" key
(near the top right on most keyboards - or Shift-Comm-4 on the Mac, I think)
then enlarge the box on the screen to select the grab, and press Enter
EverNote will OCR it so you can search the English (but not Greek etc)



For OCR on your desktop, use whatever software comes free with your scanner.
If you don't have any, the free software from http://www.simpleocr.com/ works well for books, but not for complex layouts with multiple columns, like magazines.
Don't pay for expensive software - 'better' software only improves the layout (ie pictures and correct formatting) without being much better at text accuracy.


4) Free FLV Converter: Search multiple sites for videos and save copies.


Videos are an increasingly important form of communication for scholarship.
You don't need special software to watch - just go to YouTube and similar sites.
Free FLV Converter searches 18 of the most important video sites at once, and saves videos onto your computer or iPod in a form you can project or even edit.

A search for "Lecture Bible Manuscripts" finds 288 videos (only 20 of them on YouTube), eg:
- Bart Erhman's Stanford Lecture - an academic lecture on his recent controvertial book
- Ahmed Deedat on "Muhammed in the Bible" (he finds Hebrew words sounding like the name)
- Pfander Films lively talk about the Qur'anic command to read the Bible, which implies the thousands of Bible MSS written before the Qur'an were 'uncorrupted'.
- Barthelemy on the Dead Sea Scrolls (in person! - in French)



Hints for using Free FLV Converter
* First get it and install it - I recommend Download.com where software is virus tested and searchable. (Here is something similar for Mac users).

* While installing, untick the usual offers of a toolbar. The Tyndale Toolbar has everything you need.

* Permanently turn off 'adult' sites, by clicking on "Site", "All adult" then "Remove adult websites".

* To save a video to your Desktop, highlight it and click "Download" (bottom left). Then wait a bit.

* The default format (ie AVI etc) is OK for playing and editing in most software

* For other settings, click on "Tube Downloader" (top row) then pick "Format" (iPod etc), pick quality in "Preset", and pick an "Output path", but don't change other settings unless you know what you are doing




You can project videos on a data projector in classes, or even in your room with a hand-sized projector linked to your laptop or iPod!

I expect that, like me, you are horrified by the poor content of most videos, but for good or ill, this is the communication medium of the present, so we should make sure that good material is added to the internet.

I've had a go at making a series of videos on my "Divorce & Remarriage" research. The sound quality is poor, but it is interesting, thanks to editing by PlaymoBible.
See, eg, my brief tour of some ancient manuscripts in Tyndale Library: