Living in the cloud

As an iX zombie, I am addicted to my iPhone and to a lesser degree, my first generation iPad. I also roam alot in my capacity as a UX librarian, so there is a high need for my documents, indeed my life, to be mobile.

Thought I would share my favorite cloud sites! To start with, how I find out about cool new things:

Chronicle of Higher Education Profhacker Great tips about academia and technology.

Lifehacker There is a lot more to this site than just technology tips, but the basic premise is tips and tricks for getting things done.

DiRT Digital Research Tools A Collaborative project started by Lisa Spiro to identify and review mostly free digital tools. The site is arranged by “what you need to do,” so it becomes easy to identify tools that do text analysis, or allow you to collaborate.

Ok, onto the tools!

1) Dropbox Never email yourself a file again! Downside: does require  a download. Works great on an iPhone.

2) Google Docs:  is provided to google users to create and share files on the web.  Google Docs allows multiple users to work collaboratively and in real time on shared online documents.  With access to a web-based word application, spreadsheets, presentation and forms,  Google Docs is an incredibly useful service that anyone working on group projects will love.

3) Mendeley: Facebook for academic papers. It becomes easy to build a network around a paper that interests you. You can also create a group, and share things privately.

• Organize research materials into a personal library
• Assign tags to materials
• Create groups of users to collaborate on research projects
• Build a profile page that shows resume, grants and awards

• How It Works: http://www.mendeley.com/how-it-works/
• Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.mendeley.com/faq/

4)Linkedin Your rolodex in the cloud!

 

 

Other interesting sites:

• HUBzero: connect a communities in scientific research and educational ideas
• Academia: share your academic life; you can follow researchers of your choice.

Ambient Findability

Peter Morville wrote the book Ambient Findability in 2005. The online link is:  http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com/0596007655 on the Rice campus. I wish I would have found it in 2005, but I didn't! I just saw the author's name on a whiteboard this week. I feel that I'm coming a little late to the party, but it is a fascinating book about trying to explain how people find their way through an age of information overload. The subtitle of the book is: What We Find Changes Who We Become. I find this a truly intriguing statement. In part, because I am a librarian, and we are taught about the real power of Serendipity and in part, because of my strong interest in the history of scientific communcation. What scientists find when they do research, colors what they discover, and how they think. So, the larger question for me is: how do we help researchers to find things in an ever-increasing age of information? This is a topic I'm going to be thinking about for a while!