Online technology
for supporting research can be categorised as follows:
- Websites with useful information for researchers
- Some generic online tools for aspects of research
- Tools for Communication and collaboration
Websites with useful information
There are many of these, and they need to
be read with discretion, but they can be useful for quick reference. In some
cases, you may need to be logged on at your institution in order to gain
access. Examples include:
- Emerald: http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/research/guides/methods/
- Sage: http://methods.sagepub.com/methods-map
Potentially even more useful because of
their specificity, though possibly needing more time to explore, are OER (Open
Educational Resources). Good sources include:
- MIT Open Course Ware: https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
- unow, University of Nottingham: http://unow.nottingham.ac.uk/ (replacing ‘Xpert’)
- OU’s Openlearn: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/
- OER Wales/ Cymru: http://www.oerwales.ac.uk/
- iTunesU: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/itunes-u/ (particularly useful if you like audio)
‘MOOCs’ (Massive Open
Online Courses) could also be useful, especially when run by academic
organisations such as Stanford University. And don’t
ignore YouTube- amongst all the silliness there are very handy video-clips
which can provide concise information in an easy-to-follow way.
Again, there are probably a large number of
online tools that could benefit research. One useful area relates to the use of
surveys, particularly when research methodology is quantitative. Such tools
have advantages over other methods of survey administration, such as anonymity
of response, and built-in analytic tools. Examples of online survey tools include
Surveymonkey (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/ ) and Google forms (https://support.google.com/docs/answer/87809?hl=en).
Another
group of online tools can be helpful for planning and reviewing, and are
particularly useful for visualising information. Mind-maps are good for this
sort of activity, and whilst a pencil and paper could suffice, digital forms of
mind-mapping give outputs which are clear and easy to read and re-use. A good
example of this is ‘Mindmeister’ (https://www.mindmeister.com ), especially
because it allows real-time editing by one than one person, and hence provides
options for collaborative activity. Offline, downloadable mind-mapping software
is also available, eg. Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
. ‘Flowchart’ tools such as Gliffy (www.gliffy.com)
and Diagramo (www.diagramo.com ) can also
be very useful, particularly for planning logical sequences such as the
paragraphs in a literature review or
thesis.
Many online
tools have ‘social’ aspects allowing for sharing of information, and one such
is ‘social bookmarking’ which allows individuals to collate and tag useful
web-pages. Tags are searchable (if made publicly available), and hence useful
resources can easily be shared and located. One current example of this type of
tool is Diigo (https://www.diigo.com ). Social media in general can
be very useful for research, and applications such as Facebook and Twitter give
opportunities to ‘follow’ experts,
share knowledge, promote research, and receive feedback
from peers. Websites such as Academica.edu, Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/ ) and Figshare: (https://figshare.com/ ) are specifically aimed at researchers who
wish to promote their work, and make links with appropriate individuals and
networks.
Last but not
least in this section is a consideration of referencing tools - an important issue
for anyone aiming to write research articles, theses, or academic essays. Many
academic institutions promote specific applications such as ‘Refworks’, but
there are also free online tools that can be very helpful. One example is ‘Mendeley’
(https://www.mendeley.com). This provides an online
store of articles, reports etc, and because of its ‘social’ nature, there are options
to locate similar sources. Perhaps most useful, though, is its referencing
plug-in for Word which seems to have a wider range of referencing styles than
Word itself, and easier editing options.
Tools for Communication and
collaboration
Several
of the tools already mentioned allow for collaboration (eg. Google docs and
Mindmeister), but there are several more that can be very handy for
researchers. ‘Cloud’-based storage as provided by Microsoft ‘OneDrive’ and Dropbox
(www.Dropbox.com) mean that it’s possible
to access specific documents from different locations and devices ( so long as
you’re online), and it’s usually possible to share files with individuals for
review or editing. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have become
important ways of communicating, but online
‘notepads’ such as ‘Piratepad’ (http://piratepad.net)
can provide simple ways of having an online ‘conversation’, and can be open
even when the focus is something completely different (this particular also has
the benefit of not needing a login). However, there’s no substitute for a real
conversation, and Skype is a real boon for times when colleagues are located in
different campuses or even continents, and commercial versions can allow for
‘lecture’ type communication (the free version does not do this well for over
three participants).
This is a brief
summary of a field that is huge and evolving rapidly. Such change is a good
thing in the sense that new and better tools are constantly appearing, but it
may mean that some tools and websites may change ownership or disappear
altogether, so it’s best not to become too dependent on any one tool, and to ensure
that any important work is stored at multiple locations, offline as well as
online (memory sticks are best avoided due to their limited lifespan).
