Thing No 23: Library as a research tool

I’m afraid I don’t have anything to add at this point, I’ve looked at the Research section of the ACU website and it looks comprehensive and good to know what is available through ACU.

Thing No 22: on the horizon…what more is out there?

My partner loves the Google sky map app on his phone to know which planets/stars are hovering over his head. Aurasma looks great for businesses to value add to their products/experiences. Virtual reality is interesting, it seemed that there was huge interest in the novelty value of things like Second life when that began, but it’s popularity seems to have died. There’s always something new to take the place of currently ‘cool’ things.

Thing No 21: Managing video and audio material

I loved MorgueFile, gorgeous images and good to know they’re all freely usable. Excellent list of general video and audio production guidelines in the introduction to the ‘thing’, it’s great that the 23 research things blog will still be available to look back on later, lots to take in all at once but lots of valuable information there.

Thing No 20: Making and sharing podcasts and videos

I don’t listen to many podcasts, mainly things on ABC radio I’ve only heard bits of while driving. I keep thinking I’ll do more of that when I retire…A friend recommended this TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en  and I see it’s been viewed 37,547,046 times. How did people get a message out before the internet?? My 2 student children are avid fans of The Khan academy and I’ve finally got around to looking at it too, as one of the tools in this ‘thing’.

Thing No 19: Screen capture tools

In an organisation like ACU with campuses separated by large distances, some of these tools are great for training videos. Jing looks easy to use, sounds like Captivate is good too. My partner is a university lecturer with online students and has to sometimes create videos for them, some of these tools would be helpful.

Thing No 18: Text mining tools

I had fun playing with Voyant, I made a word picture using the URL of the library home page of the ACU website. Unfortunately I couldn’t copy or download that image in any way even though it indicated that was possible – more time needed to look at it in depth.

Thing 17: Visualisation tools

More amazing tools that I didn’t know existed, I love visual presentations of data, so many interesting (and interactive, even better) ways to present potentially dry stats – lots of potential for using these tools.

Thing No 16: Mapping tools

I’ve used Google street view a lot, I used it once to find a particular shop that I couldn’t remember the name or address of, found it by ‘walking’ there as I remembered where I started and some of the streets on the way! Very handy also for booking accommodation, to know what the area looks like..I’ve used Google Earth as well.

The map overlay tools, particularly Old maps online and Georeferencer were really interesting tools.

Thing No 15: Managing research data

This is something I’ve never had to consider (thankfully I must say) but it’s good to know the tools exist. The Mantra course looks very comprehensive and well presented, and the Twenty Questions for Research Data Management is an excellent checklist to clarify the process.

Thing No 14: Reference management software

I must say I don’t use any reference management software but need to be able to assist students to use these tools – I’ve pointed people to the handy Libguides for Endnote http://libguides.acu.edu.au/endnote or Refworks http://libguides.acu.edu.au/refworks when neccessary.

The limitation of Endnote not being accessible in the ‘cloud’ seems to have been addressed to some extent with Endnote online, but apparently without the same functionality. The upside of that is it’s stability, from all accounts. I’m wondering how often the tools that ACU makes available to students are reviewed, Endnote and Refworks are the tools of choice made available through the website, but there are seemingly new ones coming out all the time?