tools for research

I was thinking about using google documents for my research experiment this semester - using online ‘free’ tools.  ars technica had and interesting article about zoho - an online word-processor that syncs with google gears for off-line (god forbid) use.  As much as a google-head as I am, I’ll give it a whirl - it seems free, there are no ads…  perhaps they are following the same business model as google and charging businesses only.  Without mail though, I don’t see it as particularly compelling for them.  Zoho and Zotero, sounds exotic.

I get a few calls each year from students (but mostly concerned parents) wondering what kind of computer they should buy for student life. Mac or PC?

Well, it depends. These days you get what you pay for. A reasonable standard laptop from a department store running windows costs about $1K to $1.3K. Add another $500-$750 for more RAM, an external harddisk for backups, a bag, insurance, anti-virus software, an ‘office’ package of word processor and spreadsheet and you are around $2K. Its scarily similar to the cost of a macbook. Cost isn’t an issue, and that makes sense when you realise these companies are all competing very keenly on price.
The issues that do matter are support, ease of use, compatibility and reliability. If you have good support (a solid geeky mate who doesn’t mind helping out at short notice) go with their recommendation - a Macintosh zealot will try to avoid your virus ridden PC, a microsoftite will shudder at the thought of handling the unknown country of the Macintosh. Otago has good support for both from the ITS HelpDesk, but different universities handle it very differently, some will refuse to handle your machine entirely!

I use a macbook - its easy to use, its got great hardware and is very easy to use. It doesn’t suffer from viruses and spyware (yet though it is possible that could change) and should give me 5 or so years of use. A PC will need a serious upgrade after 3. Compatibility is occasionally an issue, some major software vendors like to spread FUD about this, but in reality is rarely a problem.

Linux is an option as well. Especially for those who are fond of tinkering, and what to reduce the cost of their computing equipment you can end up with what is essentially a cheap Macintosh using Ubuntu and an older laptop with plenty of RAM and an upgraded hardisk. Your local Linux User Group will happily help out, and if you are strapped for cash, but not for time, it could be an excellent alternative. HelpDesks are usually a bit terrified of Linux, but once your local geek has you up and running, you probably won’t have too much of a problem.

What you’ll need, regardless of operating system (not an exhaustive list):

• 1 Gigabyte of RAM (or more)
• An external Hard Disk for backup, the same size or bigger than the hard disk of the computer
• 500 Gb of Hard Disk space
• DVD writer
• Wireless support for wireless G and WPA2 Enterprise

After a few days thinking and talking to my collegues, I’ve decided on the software I’m going to use for the first experiment: google documents (with google gears for offline help) and zotero all running on Firefox.  The first task is going to see if I want to run this portably, using a nice USB key as my repository.  This is because its tricky to share zotero between browsers, but I think the zotero server may solve that at some point in the future.

The first problem is I don’t see a Harvard reference style for zotero, and that’s the style I’m expected to use in social sciences here at Otago.  I’ve used a hacked version of Harvard in endnote before, so I’ll have to find something similar.

Can you do a university course using open source and free online software? I’m going to try to do an entire semester’s work without touching proprietary applications. The goals are:

• Interoperability - everyone has to be able to read my work at the end
• Cross platform - I should be able to work at a PC _and_ a Mac, though as I’m not working on a linux box ATM I’m not going to test that.

the tools I’ll need are (to begin with);

• An editor
• biblographical software
• notes storage

Any suggestions?