Zotero and Me

Before Christmas I downloaded Zotero as an add-on to my Firefox browser. I went on to gather a number of sources but then left it for a number of weeks while I worked on other essays. When  I returned to it to do further work I couldn’t find it on my browser so went looking for my account on the Zotero website but no joy. I emailed the guys at Zotero who also searched for my account before tactfully suggesting that maybe I had just downloaded Zotero but never registered online and synced my stuff! Unfortunately, they were dead right! I had downloaded Zotero but when I got rid of my old laptop my Zotero and Firefox went with it. Anyway, a little wiser, I began again. This time I registered online too so hopefully I can access my Zotero files from any computer though I haven’t tried that yet. I am still trying to get used to saving things to Zotero instead of bookmarking them but am getting better.

I recently downloaded a Zotero add-on for Microsoft Word for generating footnotes and bibliographys. Above is an example of a bibliography I generated using this. Actually creating a bibliography made me realise how very useful the programme is so I look forward to a long and happy relationship!

Reflections on Cohen & Rosenzweig’s “Digital History”

I quickly browsed over this book at the start of our course. However, I decided to reread it now I have done a fair bit of work on my blog and feel I have a better grasp of the differing possibilities of using digital resources for history. In the introduction the authors discuss the different visions of the future, both positive and negative, which academics had for the impending digital age (this was in 1993). While enthusiasts envisioned a virtual learning environment without classrooms and books as a positive development, sceptics bemoaned a future where libraries would be defunct. However, as usual, the future did not turn out as predicted. When I was a kid we thought the future would be filled with flying cars and Star Trek like clothes. Instead we got mobile phones, ipods and a world of knowledge at our fingertips – different but probably even more amazing! I can live without the flying car but not my phone! I remember my dad saying in the future we would take pills which would supply all the calories and nutrients we needed instead of eating dinner but, of course, this never happened and I don’t think ever will as some of the rituals we humans have developed such as eating dinner together or reading books are too important to us fulfilling more than just a function.

As I read, I reflected on what computers and the internet have meant to me as I did my degree and as I do my masters. Certainly, to paraphrase Cohen and Rosenzweig, my laptop is my pencil. It helps me create quality work by enabling me to redraft and order my scattered thoughts which would be way more tedious on paper. I also have abysmal handwriting but my word processor renders this inconsequential. More important though is the effect of the internet on my research.

Mind Mapping and Learning Styles

I first created a mind map as a second year exercise in history and found them an effective way to plan an essay. Our digital history class discussed their use again last term so I decided to try out one of the free internet programmes, Xmind, and create one for my dissertation. I found using the programme handy as it is easy to go back over areas to add/develop an idea which is more difficult with a hand-drawn map. This also means it is easier to work on the map over the course of a few days rather than all at once. However, I am not sure it engages the creative juices in the same way as the hand-drawn map.

US - Iranian Relations Mind Map

On Wikipedia it says mind maps encourage brainstorming and act as a “graphical method of taking notes” but I tend to use them to provide structure to my plans and order my thoughts as often I get lost following ideas or lines of research which ultimately prove not to warrant such in-depth study. The hierarchical structure that the mind map imposes makes clear the weight of importance due to each idea. Whilst doing my mind map and researching the concept I came across some literature on learning styles and began to reflect on whether I had a learning style and if so what it was. I followed a UCD paper I found on google to Richard Felder’s site. As well as being a professor of Chemical Engineering he also is involved in the National Effective Teaching Institute in the US. On his site a took a test to discern my learning style the results of which I will add below along with my mind map. Although not strongly in any one camp it does show I am more a reflective than active learner and more verbal than visual. Reflective learners like to think thing they learn through to grasp them while active learners prefer to put ideas/concepts/formulas to the test to see how they work and learn this way. Verbal learners gain more from written and spoken explanations while visual learners do better if facts and ideas are expressed in pictures or diagrams.

My Learning Style Results