Tools to Enhance Your Research Skills

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Part I Getting Started – Brainstorming

Part II Gathering Data – Surveys, Comparison Tools

Part III Visualization – Gadgets

Part IV Sharing – Files & Thoughts

Part V Staying Updated – Info Comes to You

Part I: Getting Started - Brainstorming

MS Word/PowerPoint/Excel > Insert > Smart ArtHierarchies, boxes, cycles, processes, etc.Save to the web (my.uwest.edu) and share.

Bubbl.us:Quick and easy hierarchical and brainstorming maps. No registration required.http://bubbl.us

Mind42:Attach pictures, icons, notes, links, to-do lists.Collaborate on the map with other people, share.http://mind42.com

Part II: Gathering Data – Surveys, Comparisons, Statistics

Google Forms – Survey Google Account http://docs.google.com Create new “Forms”

Britannica World Data Analyst Tables & Charts of

Comparisons of Current Demographic data Cell phone subscriptions Cause of death – Disease of the circulatory system Gender Distribution

Chronological Comparisons Country Rankings

Part III: Visualization – Gadgets Google Spreadsheet Gadgets:

http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=92575 Heat Maps Timelines Interactive Distribution Charts Organizational Chart

Part IV: Sharing – Files & Thoughts Files

Dropbox (Application installation required) Box.net Microsoft SkyDrive 25 GB online storage (Check your my.uwest.edu email account)

Blogs Blogger WordPress Microsoft Live Spaces (Check your my.uwest.edu email account)

Websites Google Sites Microsoft Live Spaces (Check your my.uwest.edu email account)

Documents/Images Google Docs

Sharing via Email setup or URL Microsoft Office Live (Check your my.uwest.edu email account)

Sharing via Email setup/password protection/etc.

Part V: Staying Updated – Info Comes to You RSS Feeds

From blogs, newspapers, forums, websites. Whenever a new item is posted, it will push the link to you. Example: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/ Click on the symbol: (Firefox – Live Bookmarks) (IE – Favorites:

Feeds Menu) Use Google Reader as a Feed Aggregator (Think Email for RSS feeds)

Google Alerts Enter a keyword(s) you are interested in, and every time it is

mentioned in a newspaper, blog, videos, you will get an email. Use “” for phrases Use – (minus sign) for NOT

“University of the West” -indies

The Mother Lode of Tools Digital Research Tools (DiRT)

http://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/ A large list of digital tools to help you in your research,

whether it is statistics, brainstorming, visualizations, etc. Shows whether the program is free/commercial, online or

offline.