Sparksfly

Have flash drive (and Firefox Portable Edition), will travel.

sparksfly — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:19:14 +0000

As I dive into learning more about Zotero (and trying to actually use it), I am simultaneously considering the benefits of using portable applications. The data (citations, web page snapshots, notes, associated URLs, etc) that one collects using the Zotero Firefox extension is stored on the local drive. This will make using this productivity tool less useful for working at multiple computers at work, home, and on the road, unless one becomes acquainted with Firefox Portable Edition. Theoretically, I could avoid owning a computer but still have a set of highly personalized apps, passwords, and preferences ready to plug in to any freely available computer. I may have to sell my computer (and my car) and ride public trans to the local library with my 4GB flash drive neatly stowed in my pocket. On second thought, I don’t think I could be that far away from my tea kettle and my fuzzy slippers for those long computer sessions.

Zotero- a researcher’s citation, note, and file management dream!

sparksfly — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:37:56 +0000

I am more excited about a new web app than EVER! I was on the Endnote site looking for recent updates. I then saw a link for Endnote in Wikipedia and decided to check it out. This led to me to this comparison of reference management software page. I zeroed in on Zotero right away because of the recent update. What a GOLDMINE – This is AWESOME. It is a Firefox extension for researchers. The best part is that it resides within the Firefox browser. No more exporting citations when doing web research. The screencast tutorials are a great way to peruse the possibilities. And – I love the fact that it integrates with open office – which Endnote does not do. And there is even a wordpress plugin. I cannot wait to learn everything I can about Zotero and start linking my enormous full text article PDF collection to it. You can also link other file types like images to references. This causes me to consider the possibility of Zotero acting like a mind mapping tool.

Inaugural post

sparksfly — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:00:39 +0000

Welcome to Sparkslfy. I had lots of fun this weekend re-aquainting myself with WordPress. The sparks for the logo were a slow exposure taken of me twirling a sparkler on July 4. Sparksfly will be a blog about anything and everything that makes my “sparks fly!”