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nekokami · 01-03-2007, 09:35 AM

As I've commented elsewhere, I'm a doctoral student, and I'd like to use an eBook reader as a tool in my academic work. I spent a little bit of time thinking about what my "ideal" software for this purpose would look like. Here are my suggestions. I post them here in the hopes that others with similar interests and needs can help refine them further (or possibly suggest existing software that can be used for these purposes).

Purpose of tool: to allow review of literature, as well as entry and analysis of qualitative data, entry (and possibly analysis) of quantitative data, and possibly creation and/or editing of drafts of research reports

Literature review/analysis:

Read PDF, txt, rtf, html, and (perhaps with conversion) doc
Allow each document to store metadata sufficient for generating MLA and APA formatted references (i.e. author, title, year of publication, publisher, etc)
For paginated documents, maintain awareness of original pagination. The easiest way to do this is probably to ensure half-page views of PDF, e.g. A5 size screen, with automatic page panning. Also allow entry of a start page offset number.
While reading a document, the reader should be able to:
- highlight text for quotes, with metadata tagging
- make notes (e.g. in margins), also with metadata tags
Export mode allows selection of specific metadata tags, and within those tags, specific entries may be selected/unselected
Export mode produces output list of all comments and quotes with MLA or APA formatted references
Bonus: include a decent RTF (at least) text editor so drafts can be created or edited on the device

Entry/analysis of qualitative data:

Freehand note writing, including sketches - will require HWR either on device or on base computer
Ability to highlight notes and tag with metadata, including multiple tags per entry and overlapping highlight "chunks"
Tool/view to search, group and sort entries by metadata, including hierarchical groups, boolean search, context search, and "sounds like" search, with search logs
Tools to search for strings in text and count occurrences of strings, create concordances, etc.
Tools to create cross-links between categories of metadata, classify codes/metadata
Bonus: semantic network tool allowing entries to be linked to nodes and nodes to be developed into networks illustrating relationships
Bonus 2: apply coding tools to audio data as well as text
Bonus 3: export to a wiki-compatable format for sharing with the research community

Entry/analysis of quantitative data:

creation and implementation of entry forms
Data-collection mode using entry forms, simple database to hold results
export to standard statistical packages (export field headers/codes as well as data)
Bonus: port R to the device (http://www.r-project.org)

It seems to me that the iLiad has the hardware necessary to meet these needs, because it has a stylus entry mechanism, but other vendors may also have (or be developing) appropriate devices.

Comments?

01-03-2007, 09:35 AM	#1
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	Academic tool suggestions As I've commented elsewhere, I'm a doctoral student, and I'd like to use an eBook reader as a tool in my academic work. I spent a little bit of time thinking about what my "ideal" software for this purpose would look like. Here are my suggestions. I post them here in the hopes that others with similar interests and needs can help refine them further (or possibly suggest existing software that can be used for these purposes). Purpose of tool: to allow review of literature, as well as entry and analysis of qualitative data, entry (and possibly analysis) of quantitative data, and possibly creation and/or editing of drafts of research reports Literature review/analysis: Read PDF, txt, rtf, html, and (perhaps with conversion) doc Allow each document to store metadata sufficient for generating MLA and APA formatted references (i.e. author, title, year of publication, publisher, etc) For paginated documents, maintain awareness of original pagination. The easiest way to do this is probably to ensure half-page views of PDF, e.g. A5 size screen, with automatic page panning. Also allow entry of a start page offset number. While reading a document, the reader should be able to: highlight text for quotes, with metadata tagging make notes (e.g. in margins), also with metadata tags Export mode allows selection of specific metadata tags, and within those tags, specific entries may be selected/unselected Export mode produces output list of all comments and quotes with MLA or APA formatted references Bonus: include a decent RTF (at least) text editor so drafts can be created or edited on the device Entry/analysis of qualitative data: Freehand note writing, including sketches - will require HWR either on device or on base computer Ability to highlight notes and tag with metadata, including multiple tags per entry and overlapping highlight "chunks" Tool/view to search, group and sort entries by metadata, including hierarchical groups, boolean search, context search, and "sounds like" search, with search logs Tools to search for strings in text and count occurrences of strings, create concordances, etc. Tools to create cross-links between categories of metadata, classify codes/metadata Bonus: semantic network tool allowing entries to be linked to nodes and nodes to be developed into networks illustrating relationships Bonus 2: apply coding tools to audio data as well as text Bonus 3: export to a wiki-compatable format for sharing with the research community Entry/analysis of quantitative data: creation and implementation of entry forms Data-collection mode using entry forms, simple database to hold results export to standard statistical packages (export field headers/codes as well as data) Bonus: port R to the device (http://www.r-project.org) It seems to me that the iLiad has the hardware necessary to meet these needs, because it has a stylus entry mechanism, but other vendors may also have (or be developing) appropriate devices. Comments?