A big part of my research involves video data which means that I spend a lot of time transcribing video for analysis and to use as examples in presentations. To help with transcription I use InqScribe which let’s you transcribe while viewing the video. Two features I particularly like: 1) it can embed a timecode which you can then use to jump back to that point in the video; and 2) It will automagically export subtitled quicktime files for you (A MUST for presenting video).
Zotero is a free, open source, reference manager that works as a Firefox extension (making it cross-platform). Each version is better than the last, and while I don’t use it exclusively, I find it incredibly helpful while browsing for articles. It makes it incredibly easy to grab all of the citations off of a web-page such as a google scholar listing, and boasts many of the same features as Endnote including pdf storage and Word integration. It’s not yet my primary reference manager, but it may be soon!
Incidentally, if you are already using Zotero, you can use Zotero to grab citations for any articles that I have a PDF for simply by viewing the page on which they are listed.
Endnote is my primary reference manager. It allows me to store and retrieve academic references, link PDFs to the reference when I have them, and insert both references and an APA formatted bibliography into my word documents as needed. I highly recommend using it early, regularly, and with notes / annotations so that you have everything in one place from the beginning.
Academic Tools | Joshua July 20, 2009 | 
View Comments 