Organizing Potential Chaos
As you proceed through courses like this, we expect that you will find lots of links to useful material that you will want to use or refer to later. How do you manage all this so you can find something in 6 months when you want to make use of it? Some people print it all and end up using a lot of paper and toner. This is not the ideal, because it is wasteful, environmentally unsustainable and the cost can accumulate. Some people like to bookmark such links and end up with a huge list of bookmarks. They can be organized into categories to help with retrieval, but you may find a way that suits you better by examining the following table.| Method |
+
|
-
|
| 1. Print them | Minimal effort initially | Wasteful Cost can accumulate Can easily be lost Not searchable |
| 2. Add to favorites/bookmarks in your browser | Minimal effort initially | Lists can get very long Not searchable |
| 3. Use a social bookmarking tool such as Diigo, Delicious, or Zotero. If you are not familiar with social bookmarking, watch this short video. | Can be shared with others Can get the benefit of other people's research | Need to setup an account and be careful with security. Check out the Wikipedia entry on social bookmarking and note the risk of spamming. |
| 4. Create a list of links in a Word document. You might use a table with columns such as title, topic, link and comments | Searchable Can add your own comments for future reference Can keep track of any useful material – not just web sites Easy to backup up with your documents | Need to setup the document |
| 5. Combination | Choose to suit your own preferences | Not all in the one place |
Dead Links
Everyone has had the experience of looking for a website only to find the URL or link you are given does not work any more. The Way Back Machine, the web archive, may be able help you out of this dilemma.
Boom The way back machine, there are controversial videos that censorship now blacks. Now we know!
ReplyDeleteI find this chart very helpful. I haven't thought of some of these ideas. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement to organize from the beginning. Comparing the different options through a chart makes it easy to consider and make a choice.
ReplyDeleteThanks also for the web archive information. While it may be common knowledge for some, it was news to me. I am sure it will come in handy at some point.
Bookmarks are great, since you can make categories for bookmarks. Also, remembering to remove old bookmarks that you don't use often would also help in keeping things sorted.
ReplyDeleteI find that certain browsers are much better at organizing bookmarks compared to others. I currently use Vivaldi, while most of my colleagues are using Chrome. I find Vivaldi IMMENSELY more organized, less RAM intensive, and significantly more functional in terms of workspaces, bookmarks, and jumping between websites.
I rather use Bookmarks, it is easier to find when needed. I often go back and delete the ones that are no longer needed.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of copying and pasting the link in a Word document but I will definitely try the social bookmarking tool.
ReplyDeleteInteresting options. I have experienced the loss and will explore new ideas
ReplyDelete