ProtoScholar: From Student to Scholar: Recent Comments

Comment on History in the making

Amy — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:40:20 GMT

Only Palin, the less experienced, is on the bottom of the ticket, not the top... that DOES make a difference. She still has more executive experience than Obama.

But I agree with you, forget about woman this, black man that... decide on the issues and who is right for the job.

Comment on Mind Mapping the Literature Review

Brittany — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:45:01 GMT

Hi Rebecca,

I noticed your post on mind mapping and thought this was the perfect opportunity to tell you a little bit about MeadMap.com. As an important voice to college students, I thought I’d tip you off to a great new study tool. Mead® Map (www.meadmap.com">www.meadmap.com), a new online application designed to help students save time and work smarter, might just be the best new “school supply” this year, but you won’t find it at the bookstore.

Study Smarter with Mead Map:
Developed by those behind traditional school supply favorites like Trapper Keeper® and Five Star®, Mead Map helps you instantly and efficiently compile class notes, research, club meeting minutes, and group projects from any computer with an internet connection – no downloads required. Collaborate in real time with group project and club members from any computer, any time!

Try it Before You Buy It:
Anyone interested in checking out Mead Map can sign up for a 30-day trial at www.meadmap.com">www.meadmap.com. After that, subscriptions are just $25/year or $15/six months. Let’s admit it, that’s just a couple less fast food trips for the year!

Be our Friend:
If you think Mead Map is blog post worthy, you link to our blog (www.blog.meadmap.com) or become a fan of Mead Map on Facebook, we’ll give you a six-month trial! Just respond to this e-mail with your feedback, and we’ll get you all set up.

Real Examples/Links to Share:
We know a picture is worth a thousand words, so check out some of the real life examples of how Mead Map can work in everyday college situations:

-Note taking example:
http://go.meadmap.com/meadmap.html#mapid=3079&publishKey=cZdEOb5AQ2

-Group project example:
http://go.meadmap.com/meadmap.html#mapid=4761&publishKey=b2zPwa7uZu

-Student organization example:
http://go.meadmap.com/meadmap.html#mapid=3673&publishKey=5f0Z4heGHT

-Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mead-Map/26180496996

If you are interested in learning more about Mead Map and the promotional offers, please feel free to contact me at 216.912.2865 or via e-mail at bgonzalez@landaupr.com. We look forward to hearing what you and your readers think about this new resource for college students.

Comment on Note taking - Part 3

Mike Brown — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:31:07 GMT

I vote for doing a second pass. The more you process that pile, the more you're embedding it into your thought processes.

Radical idea: After compressing your notes, pull out your digital recorder and read it through again. Or use the compressed notes to "lecture to the wall." Does anything new pop out of your brain that you weren't expecting?

Comment on Note taking and organization

Mike Brown — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:16:21 GMT

This Ask Metafilter thread has lots of good advice. And there are similar threads on askmefi if you click the "notetaking" tag.

How do I take notes on big books? | Ask Metafilter
http://ask.metafilter.com/31113/How-do-I-take-notes-on-big-books

I prefer the idea of skimming the book, marking what appears significant, maybe on a separate sheet of paper, and then going back through a second time and only noting those items that are significant to you. Lots of stuff you come across the first time turns out not to be important as you get deeper into the book.

Also, note how you *feel* about what you read.

Comment on Here's my new Planner, same as the old Planner

Natalie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:15:17 GMT

Hey there (long time lurker de-lurking)
I found your other post on creating a student planner to be the most useful I've come across, and your current idea of keeping 2 planners is genius!

I've struggled for a long time in that I never wanted to add personal things to my planner because it's huge enough as it is! But keeping 2 so each one is fcoused and I don't have to carry it around all the time is inspired. Or perhaps I'm just particularly thick...

Ka kite!

Comment on 2 small history rants....

Diane — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:57:55 GMT

I agree totally about the History channel. It is turning into some kind of reality show channel like everything else. Reminds me of A&E - remember when that channel actually had Arts & Entertainment oriented programming? Now nothing but trash!

Comment on Note taking - Part 2

History Enthusiast — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:21:52 GMT

I think it is difficult to not read linearly. I always feel guilty when I don't read a book cover to cover!

I use Zotero too, and there is a way to attach a Word file to each entry. I keep my notes in Word files like you do, but I try to remember to attach that file to the Zotero citation. Don't know if this helps, but there you have it.

Comment on Note taking - Part 2

Turducken — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:24:34 GMT

You're right, I'm using an old version. Still, there would have to be a lot of improvements before I'd pay commercial price for it; that was chosen as a random example, not as the ultimate sticking point.

Comment on Note taking - Part 2

Jacob — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:45:04 GMT

Turducken: If that's your major objection to Endnote, then you're either using an old version or you need to poke around it a little more. You can print any selection of entries (including annotations) based on a search of any fields, and without any interaction with Word. The one thing I've been wanting is automatic completion/updating of the "created" and "last modified" date field for each entry. It looks like the newest version (X2) has those features though. Hopefully I can upgrade soon.

As for RefWorks, I agree with its unimpressiveness. I use Zotero as a capture tool for some online work, but I always export it to Endnote. Zotero's method for saving the database has never been clear to me, it doesn't appear to handle links to locally stored files as well, and I don't like having to run Firefox whenever I'm working.

Comment on Note taking - Part 2

Turducken — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:55:41 GMT

I actually think EndNote is somewhat overrated. Now, don't get me wrong, it beats entering citations by hand every time, no question. But it has quirks and bugs, and there are what seem to me to be obviously desirable features it is missing. For example, you have to use Word to get output; you can't tell EndNote to make a bibliography out of all entries that meet X criteria. So if you have something else that is working for you, don't feel as if you're missing out.