Let’s Set Up a PhD Electronic Filing System

1. Let’s Set Up a PhD Electronic Filing System Jennifer Lowers 9:30 - 10:00 White Hall

2. Recommendations and Insights

3. Take advantage of free cloud storage services • Use multiple cloud storage services to maximine space • Dedicate different cloud storage services to different categories of files to avoid confusion (i.e. course materials, research articles, photographs, personal, etc.) • Save copies of extremely important files in multiple locations • Download files from BlackboardLearn, just in case • Save notes from your coursework using a digital platform • Save PDFs of academic journal articles you may want later • Create folders of article PDFs and name them • Save APA reference citations correctly now, rather than later

4. When copying and pasting APA citations for your References page from websites like Google Scholar, check their adherence to APA format and correct them right away • Create folders to sort PDFs of academic journal articles by category, based on your emerging research interests (i.e. new literacies, multimodality, embodiment, etc.), as well as articles you may need to access later • Keep a designated folder for unread papers • Within each folder of articles, include a document that has the correct APA citations that you can copy/paste later to your References page

5. Use a free reference manager, especially for keeping track of keywords and taking notes on articles (Mendeley, Zotero); can also be used to save/insert citations into Microsoft Word • Name files and folders consistently • Smith_2007_Bridging Cultures_Bilingual Students • Johnson & Clark_2015_Picture Books and Multiculturalism_Culturally Relevant Pedagogy • Create a folder for each of your courses • Increase organization by placing folders within other folders • Use a free digital platform to store notes from your courses • Consider creating mind maps to help you make connections

6. Dedicate time on a regular basis to searching for academic journal articles related to your research interests, and save them now, even if they go in your unread articles folder • Don’t be afraid to experiment with using new websites, applications, digital platforms, tools, and services, especially if they are free • Read reviews about digital tools before using them • Select digital tools that work well for you • Use labels to organize emails as you receive them so you can find them later, especially from your professors, advisors, students, collaborators, classmates, etc. • Don’t wait until later to get organized

7. Free Apps and Websites for Taking and Saving Notes/Lists • Zoho Notebook • Evernote • Microsoft OneNote • Simplenote • Google Keep Open the following website to explore and discuss pictures and brief descriptions of the features of these applications and websites: https://www.themanual.com/culture/best-note-taking-apps/ • What are some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each of these apps/websites? • Which apps/websites would you like to try using, and what do you think they could assist you with?

8. Google Keep - Let’s try it! • Log in to your Google account (same as your FlashLine information) • Click the group of dots in the right-hand corner near the first letter of your name to access the list of Google apps you can access, click “More,” select “Keep,” which has a yellow lightbulb icon • Click “Edit labels” on the left side of the screen and create a label for one of the courses you are taking, or the title of a project you are working on • Try typing a to-do list that goes with the course or project from the label • For additional practice, make another label and type another note • Think about your impressions of this website/app as you create this note

9. Best Reference Management Programs • RefWorks (paid) • Zotero (free) • Microsoft OneNote (paid) • Mendeley (free) • CiteULike (free; only a website, rather than software) Open the following website to explore and discuss the brief descriptions and chart of the features of some of the best reference management programs available: https://www.scribendi.com/advice/reference_management_software_solutions.en.html • What are some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of each of these reference management programs? • Which reference management programs would you like to try using, and why?

10. Mendeley - Let’s try it! • Software can be installed, or its features can be accessed using a web browser • Go to: https://www.mendeley.com/guides/web • Skim the list of features available for use with a web browser • Follow the instructions on this page to create an account, or log in • If you already have a Mendeley account, log in and use this time to explore your Feed page, and add some suggested articles to your library that relate to your research interests, or check the quality of the APA citations in your library. • If this is your first time using Mendeley: 1) Click “Search” towards the right side of the screen, and type in a keyword related to one of your research interests; 2) Add some articles to your library that you may want to read later; 3) View at least one PDF; 4) After adding some articles to your library, click “Library” and explore; 5) Click the check mark to the left of one of your articles and wait for a box to pop up. Click edit and make sure the citation follows APA format rules; 6) Click on one of your articles and add a sticky note.

11. Free Cloud Storage Services • Google Drive (15GB) • Media Fire (10GB) • Icedrive (20GB) • Mega (15GB) • Dropbox (2GB; affordable plans) • pCloud (10GB) • OneDrive (10GB; 1TB may be available with valid student email address) • iCloud (5GB) • Amazon Drive (5GB) • Sync.com (5GB) • Degoo (100GB but intended for online backup rather than cloud storage) Click the following links if you want to read more about the features of the above cloud storage services: https://www.whizlabs.com/blog/best-free-cloud-storage/ https://www.cloudwards.net/the-top-5-cloud-companies-with-large-free-service-plans/

12. Google Scholar, Google Drive, and APA Format • Log in to your gmail account (same as FlashLine) and open Google Drive. Create a Google Doc and title it “References from Google Scholar” or a specific keyword associated with your research interests “References: New Literacies” • Go to “Google Scholar” (https://scholar.google.com/) and search for a keyword related to your research interests. • Locate three articles published within the last five years about this topic, and try to only select articles that have corresponding PDFs available. Click the quotation mark listed under the article, and copy/paste the APA citation to the references page (Google Doc) you created. • Once you have copy/pasted the three APA citations into your Google Doc, check and edit them for APA format. • If you still have time, try to create a new folder in Google Docs that corresponds with the keyword you searched for, and place the three PDFs into this folder.

13. Coggle: Free Mind-Mapping Tool • Go to the following link to explore images of some of the features available with the free version of Coggle:https://coggle.it/#features • Check out some of the following examples of Coggles that PhD students have made about various topics: • https://coggle.it/diagram/WLhdTUDcAAAB-zve/t/new-literacies • https://coggle.it/diagram/WcZgvIue8QAB7YTC/t/learning-theories • https://coggle.it/diagram/VqaIniKF5XUuu8Dz/t/creswell%2C-ch-1-introduction-to-educational-research • https://coggle.it/diagram/WigBbrEWPgABDFlT/t/constructivism-and-social-constructivism • https://coggle.it/diagram/Vy66CkKYYXUmPWSV/t/differentiated-instruction • Would you consider using Coggle? If so, how would you use it?