Academic Software Roundup for Linux

The open-source spirit (not to mention non-existent pricetag) of the Linux OS is appealing to many academics, I daresay, but they (myself included) may be hesitant to switch over to an entirely new operating system, devoid of their favourite programs. Mac users have an array of delightful programs for academic work (DEVONthink, I’m looking at you), but even us Windows users have some favourite standbys. Why make the switch over to a new system if we can’t find programs to handle our academic tasks?

I did some prowling through a very useful list of Linux apps to see if the functionality of the most important academic programs could be duplicated in Linux.

Referencer
PDF Manager, Citation/Bibliography Manager
Replacement for: Yep, Papers, EndNote

gPapers
PDF Manager, Citation/Bibliography Manager
Replacement for: iPapers, Papers

KeepNote
Note-taking software
Replacement for: EverNote, OneNote

BasKet
Note-taking software
Replacement for: EverNote, OneNote, UltraRecall

Alexandria
Book-cataloguing software
Replacement for: Delicious Library, Books, Book Collector

A couple of cross-platform programs to remember if you’re considering making the switch: Zotero works on Linux, as does Mendeley.

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Addendum: Some bonus Linux software links from helpful commenter Xonan!

Zim
A desktop wiki under constant development

Okular
PDF reader with highlight and commentary features

cb2bib
Extracts bibtex data from the clipboard, PDFs, etc

kdissert/semantik
Mindmapping software

Argunet
Java software for building argumentation maps

Integrate Zotero with gedit
Plugin for gedit text editor that allows to add citations from the Zotero bibliography manager to LaTeX documents

Thanks, Xonan!

Filed under: Academia, Bibliographies, Bibliography, Books, Computer, Gnome, Linux, Open-Source, Organization, PDF, Software, Tools, Ubuntu

Maple and other Windows outliners

I’ve been looking for a lightweight outliner program to handle my piece-meal thesis work. I discovered Maple, which seems to be what I was looking for, from this list of outliner programs for Windows.

It lets me organize my writing into manageable sections, then easily work on each once I have the sources at hand. Also, I can export the tree as a flat file in doc, txt, html, or rtf.

In my ideal world, it would have support for footnotes or endnotes, but I guess you can’t have everything.

Maple
By Crystal Office Systems
Free 30-day trial, $21.95 US to buy

Filed under: Computer, Files, Organization, Research, Software, Thesis, Tools, Windows, Writing

Windows alternatives for DEVONthink

Many academics who use Macs swear by DEVONthink for organizing their research and files. Over at AcademHack, there’s even an entire category devoted to academic uses for the program.

I was intrigued by the organizational abilities of this program, and mourned my Mac-lessness. However, there are some alternatives for us with PCs. I’ve listed a few of the most promising DEVONthink replacements by price:

EverNote (free)
MyInfo (free 28-day trial, then $50)
AskSam (free 30-day trial, then $150 and up)
Nota Bene (free 30-day trial, then $249 and up)

Any other ideas for DEVONthink alternatives for Windows?

Addendum: This seems to be a current topic! I just discovered this thread over at The Efficient Academic group, which may also lead to some good suggestions.

Filed under: Computer, Files, Mac, Organization, Research, Software, Tools, Windows

More Bibliographical Management Tools

After my last post, two helpful commenters suggested some further tools to consider for managing references.

Michael Dunn suggested JabRef, a bibliography reference manager that works with BibTeX format.

Rick suggested wikindx, a bibliographic and quotations/notes management system that can be used for either the single-user or for collaborative efforts.

While investigating these leads, I also came upon the Bibliophile Initiative, whose goal it is to “promote collaboration between developers and end-users of bibliographic databases.” They maintain a list of bibliographic database applications and utilities which I found to be a useful tool.

A big thank you to Michael and Rick for your help and suggestions.

Filed under: Academia, Bibliographies, Bibliography, Computer, Files, Online, Organization, Research, Software, Thesis, Tools, Web

Web 2.0 Bibliographical Management roundup

Since I use multiple computers, my dream is to manage my bibliographical information online. I haven’t yet found a Web 2.0 (as in a central online solution) to successfully manage all of my bibliographical information. But I haven’t yet given up hope!

These are the various solutions I’ve found thus far. Perhaps they may be of help to others:

CiteULike
Connotea
Easy Bib (they also offer the more powerful paid MyBib Pro, which I’m considering)
RefWorks

Any other suggestions?

Filed under: Academia, Bibliographies, Bibliography, Computer, Online, Reading, Research, Software, Thesis, Tools, Web

Caboodle

Caboodle is an organizer that collects random snippets of text or images. Pretty simple concept. But the interface is so orderly, and yet so versatile. I can already see how I’d use it for managing an upcoming research project… if I had a Mac.

Found via the ever-helpful Lifehacker, this is enough to give me a relapse of Mac-envy.

Filed under: Computer, Files, Mac, Organization, Research, Software, Tools

AcademHack roundup

AcademHack offers great lifehacking resources for academics (and has an exceptionally clever title, to boot). It was one of the blogs that inspired me to start this one, and I read it regularly.

I wanted to make a roundup of my favourite AcademHack posts to date. Though AcademHack is Mac-centric, there are still plenty of helpful posts for those running Windows (such as myself).

Alternatives to Microsoft Word
Finding a Journal: WorldCat
Checking the Web: Scrutinize This
Avoid Site Registration: BugMeNot Firefox Extension
WorldCat goes Public: Search the Web for any Book
Wiki Notepad Applications for PCs
Top Ten Academic Applications
Top Ten Academic Applications for Students

Filed under: AcademHack, Academia, Computer, Files, Online, Organization, Research, Software, Time Management, Tools, Web

Anxiously awaiting Firefox Scholar

I am anxiously awaiting the beta launch of Firefox Scholar. At the moment, there’s simply a basic description of the software to tantalize us. The Q&A on Firefox Scholar over at Dan Cohen’s blog just whets the appetite a little bit more.

Filed under: Academia, Computer, Files, Online, Organization, Research, Software, Tools