Management of information

Objectives

• Discuss the benefits of good management practice

• Present reference management tools

• Present bookmark management tools

• Explain some information management techniques

Expected outcomes

• At the end of this module, one should be able :

– To understand the importance of properly managing information resources

– To store information in a reference management software

– To edit information stored with a reference management software

– To bookmark web resources efficiently

Introduction

It is common for people to forget information they did not save to be unable to retrieve a document they stored to look for the same thing more then once

These are consequences of lack of organization bad information management practices

Management of information: definition Management of information consists of a set of

actions performed on information and information resources in organized and systematic way: collecting, storing , organizing, annotating, commenting, citing, sharing

Importance of good information management

Reduced risk of loosing information Storage prevents lost Organization makes information easy to find

Saving time and energy Efforts are not duplicated in searching again Notes reduce the need to read multiple times

Improved productivity Efforts are spent in finding new information and

asking new questions

Focus of this module

Materials to manage– Bibliographic references– Bookmarks– Documents

Management tools– Reference managemet software– Browsers' bookmark feature– Online bookmarks

Management techniques

Reference Management

Management of bibliographic references Tools used= Reference Management Software

Desktop applications : EndNote, Procite Online tools : Connotea, CiteUlike Mix solution : Zotero

Activities Add, edit, delete citations Add personal notes Group citations Generate list of references

Bibliographic reference

Information about a document: book, journal article, web page, etc. It provides: description of the document description of the content information about the location

Reference management techniques

Adopt a tool for managing citations you work with

In a reference management software Use collection to store citations Collect citations by

Creating them Importing from external sources

Add personal notes to citations: keywords ; comments and notes

Bibliography management software

Software for storing bibliographic references Functionalities :

Collect citations, Store citations, Group citations, Enrich / annotate, Reuse citations in new documents.

Software selection criteria

Operating system Pricing Storage mode Functionalities Data formats: import / export Integration with other softwares

Collecting references

Manual creation Importing from external sources such as

PubMed: Retrieve citations in a database

Save citations in a file in the appropriate format (RIS, BibTex, EndNote)

Import the file

Storage modes

Local hard drive Pros : fast, private, internet no required,, integration

with word processor Cons : risk of destruction, limited user mobility

Remote online server Pros : user mobility, collaboration, Cons: internet needed, not integrated with word

processors Local storage & remote server

Organizing citations

Group references in collections (libraries) Add personal notes: reading notes, personal

appreciation, comments Tag records with meaningful keywords:

Indicate content Indicate location Indicate actions to perform

Zotero

Open Source reference management software URL : www.zotero.org Exists as : Firefox Extension ; Standalone

application Functionalities :

import from files, online sources ; generate bibliographies, Backup data in the remote server, integrates with word processors: Word, OpenOffice

Exercise #1

In your reference management software Create a collection (a library) Create a new citation to describe a journal article

you found on internet Import 5 citations retrieved in Pubmed Add your personal personal notes and tags generate a list of references.

Activities

1. Install zotero

2.Create a collection,

3.Add citations in the collection

1.Manually create a citation

2.Import citations from Pubmed

4.Annotate citations with notes and tags,

5.Generate a bibliography

6.Cite references in a document

1.Create a word document,

2.Cite 3 documents,

3.Generate the list of references

Bookmark Management

Bookmark management

Bookmark = record of the location (URI) of a webpage

Bookmark management tools Browser feature (menu) Online bookmarking websites

Working with a browser (1/2)

Internet explorer => « Favorites » Firefox => « Bookmarks » Add book mark while browsing At the moment of creation

URI and tile is automatically stored Edit description Add new bookmarks in appropriate folders

Working with a browser (2/2)

Bookmark manager allow user To modify bookmarks : edit title, description To Group and organize bookmarks

Create folder Moving bookmarks accross folders Attach tags (keywords) to bookmarks

Delete bookmarks Export

(In Firefox « Bookmarks / Manage bookmarks »)

Bookmarking techniques

Bookmark as you browse Group bookmarks into folders Tag bookmarks with keyworks Add meaningful descriptions Discard not needed bookmarks Create backup copies

Online Bookmarking

Online bookmarking = social bookmarking Websites used by many internet users Allow sharing and access to other users' content

Many existing tools : Delicious, Yahoo Boomarks, Google bookmarks

User needs : an account (username + password) Internet link to add and consult bookmarks

Provide browser toolbar for quick addition

Online bookmarking

To add bookmarks Open a session (login with username/password) Click on the add new button or link Enter required information : title, URI, description,

tag To access

Private bookmarks require authentication Browse using tags Search using keyworks

Activity #2

Open your browser Add to your bookmarks the following

ressources : pubmed, pubmed central, BMJ, Popline

Open the bookmark manager Create two folders « scientific journals »,

« bibliographic database » Move the about webpages to the appropiate folders Add a little description to each bookmark

Digital document management

Organizing personal collection of digital documents

Managing digital ressources Group files into folders Give meaningful names to files and folders Be consistent in organization and naming Avoid storing documents in multiple locations Make several copies for safety and backup Reference documents as you collect Deleted not needed document