I've decided to go in a somewhat different direction this week as I continue to research Web 2.0 tools. My past research has centered around tools for my students to use in the classroom. I decided to look this week at tools I can use as a student. In this pursuit I've discovered Mendeley.com. This site is a true 2.0 tool for serious students involved in research. Mendeley is a free tool for organizing your research materials. It works across all major platforms, and includes an importer button for your tool bar. Mendeley allows you to import your research materials in a number of ways. The importer can save abstracts, keywords, and citations from a number of sites including Ebsco. In addition, you can drag and drop your PDFs into the Mendeley desktop. The program then extracts the document details, including keywords and references. Your resources are now available to you from any computer by simply logging on to Mendeley.
Your research materials can then be organized into collections. This enables you to work on multiple research projects at one time, or to organize your files by sub-topics for your primary project. Articles can be filtered by publication, author or keywords.
I currently teach middle school students an introductory course on writing a research paper in collaboration with the social studies teacher. At this age, the emphasis is on process and the number of sources required is quite limited, however the statistics view in Mendeley can definitely benefit students as they are learning to review the available literature. Viewing the number of times the various articles have been accessed can assist the students in selecting articles to review. The simple organizational tools will help the students develop their own organizational hierarchy, thereby improving the flow of their writing.
The final, and to my mind, most exciting attribute of Mendeley is the ability to share collections. For my purposes, I can invite my critical friends to review the materials I am considering and make recommendations. The broader implication is the ability for colleagues to collaborate even if they are not in close proximity. Through shared collections, the amount of material reviewed can grow exponentially. Within my class, there are usually several students working on the same topic. The ability to share collections should improve the depth and understanding the students derive from their research. Each student will still be responsible for interpreting the data and creating their own paper.
Sharon, I love this; what an invaluable resource. Thank you. Jeff and I have been looking for a way to collaborate on our research and have it available to us both in one place.
ReplyDeleteSharon, this tool looks truly powerful. I had wondered in fact if such a thing existed as I struggled to organize my growing list of sources for the literature review reference list. Once I was up to twenty-five sources, even something as simple as alphabetizing the list became somewhat of an editing nightmare.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my "One Minute Message" regarding Scorch. I'll be involved in an online theory course beginning in May and can't wait to see how things play out regarding this application.
Also, thanks for finding Mendeley. I will be sure to sign up.
Sharon,
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Dana and I are collaborating on our AR project, and this will be a fantastic tool to share our research. I also like that we can invite our critical friends to view this as we go. I also see possibilities for this post-EMDT with colleague support for our in-district technology needs.