- My higher multiple intelligence points are: linguistic, visual, musical, logical/mathematical (which is weird, with my dyscalculia), and intrapersonal.
- My primary computer for this work is a Mac, but I work on multiple computers throughout the course of a week.
- I'm really busy, so time and resource management is definitely an issue I need to have under control.
All of these will run on the Mac. However, where they are web-based or can run on Windows also, I'll note that.
Writing tools
- PBWorks personal wiki [free] {web app} I use the wiki to create a reference file for the major research papers I'm writing. This article from Study Hacks introduced me to the idea of wiki-based writing and completely changed how I work on these papers. I've only been using it a short time, but already see huge advantages to it. It's also really, really easy to use.
- LiveJournal [free] {web-based, iPhone app} I use the LiveJournal blogspace to write about the process of learning - the emotional pieces, what I'm learning, how I'm progressing. It's been very helpful to help me look back and track my progress. The specific reason for choosing LiveJournal for this purpose is that it has very easy options to make the posts private... which means I've got a learning journal I can access from anywhere, but that is only viewable by me or by specific friends if I so chose. Tangential note: I use Blogger for this blog. Blogger is easy to use and has a number of quite helpful features.
- Mellell I started using the Mellel word processor a few weeks ago for its incredible ability to outline and the smooth integration it has with Bookends (see below). It's so powerful that it's going to take me awhile to really uncover all of the useful ways to use it. As I find them, I will update this space.
- MS Office for Mac [was cheap because I got staff/faculty license] {Windows} I'm not a big Microsoft fan (don't get me started), but had to have this because Office is ubiquitous. Unfortunately, the templates that my PhD program so thoughtfully provides for us (yay for templates!) don't translate well into other word processing apps, so I'd end up reformatting anyway and lose the advantage of the template. One of these days, I'll sit down and reformulate the templates specifically for OpenOffice and Mellel.
- Open Office [free] {Windows} I really, really love the word prediction that OpenOffice built in. Academic writing tends to use the same multisyllabic words over and over, and word prediction saves me hundreds of keystrokes when using these words.
- VUE [free] {Windows} VUE is hard to describe fully. The best I can do is to say that it's an extremely powerful mind map. I use VUE to tie together different documents and resources as I plan processes, so it's somewhere between an organization tool and a writing tool. I also use it as you would any mind map to brainstorm ideas.
- MacSpeech Dictate This where my geekiness shows most, I think... However, I do have a serious reason for spending the money on Dictate. I've got some repetitive stress injury issues with my hands. Using Dictate allows me to take some of the strain off of my hands and use my voice to write instead. Since it's really difficult for me to divorce the acts of composing and typing, I most often will use Dictate for notes. Since I use large blocks of text from each of the theorists or research articles I'm reading to start synthesizing ideas and themes, I just dictate those big blocks (with citation information) into my wiki. Lots of text, really fast, without numbness. I like it.
