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Re: Managing your collection of books and papers
| Re: Managing your collection of books and papers |
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Author: Hans L Rieder
Posted: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 13:10:00 -0800
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Dear Peter:
Much of what you do is actually an issue of personal preference, and for
some this solution, for others that solution works best. Mine thus not
be the best for everybody. Nevertheless, I venture into giving some
considerations to your points below.
Peter.Malling "pma" wrote:
>As a researcher, you have both books and articles.
>
>1. Do you enter both books and articles into the same database (if you
>keep one big database, as seems to be the norm)?
>
>
I have one single database. I renamed the 5 user defined fields into a
5-step hierarchy:
Subject
Area
Heading
Sub-heading
File name
The SUBJECT then may comprise my specialty interest, other interest,
private stuff, etc. In the AREA it starts to split into whether I find
it in PERIODICALs on my bookshelf to which I subscribe and nothing comes
further down the hierarchy or BOOKS in my bookshelf and nothing comes
further down the hierarchy. If I have photocopies of papers physically
filed away in several filing cabinets, they are obviously more difficult
to locate. My initiation to RefMan some 15 years ago was actually with
the intent to find the stuff. For instance, in my specialty
tuberculosis, I would use AREAs "Transmission, pathogenesis, and
epidemiology", "Diagnosis", "Interventions", etc. Within each I would
use sub-headings, and then the name of the physical file (that is a
folder(s) with the papers in it. So, the first is to have a logical
physical organization which then also becomes a searchable (non-indexed)
field, in addition to the indexed fields which may also contain papers
that may be found in other "File names" and are searched for in RefMan
by the "usual" way. I can get my hands on a specific physical paper
within less than two minutes (out of some 13,000). Of course, I have
been making PDF files of the papers since this possibility came up with
RefMan and then access is obviously instantly.
To have several databases provides in my opinion no advantage, only
disadvantages.
>
>2. Do you enter ALL material, you get, into the database. If you buy a
>new book, do you then enter it into your database instantly, or do you
>wait until you maybe use it for your writing? That is, do you aim at
>keeping the database as a mirror of your physical collection, or do you
>use it more pragmatically, according to your needs in writing?
>
>
Material obviously accumulates. I have thus long decided to always do
everything right away, else it will become so much as to be depressing
and when it comes to writing, I want to write, and not go through the
mechanics first. It takes some discipline, like with other things in
live of which you better make a habit.
>
>3. When a book is added to your collection, then do you always enter it
>in the database?
>
>
Right away, then it is done.
>
>4. What do you do with edited books? Do you enter all the chapters in
>such a book, or only a reference to the full book? And then, when you
>need a chapter from an edited book, then do you enter it as a separate
>record, which means that you database will be quite fragmentet,
>including only references to the chapters, you've used in your own
>writing?
>
>
>
That is indeed painful, and in my case not always possible. Thus,
first, I add the book as a whole. Then, if I read it, and it has a
relevant chapter that might ever in the future could be of relevance
(obviously, in some multi-authored books, this will never be the case),
I enter it after completion reading as I then know which keywords are
relevant.
>On one hand, it would be nice to have a fully updated database,
>reflecting everything you have. On the other hand you don't want to use
>your precious research-time entering records in the database that you
>might never use.
>
>
Why not? Over the years using RefMan, I learned that both PC storage
capacity (that is relevant for my 12,000 PDF files linked to the
database) is faster evolving than I could be spending. RefMan had in
the beginning a ceiling on the number of references that could be
entered that I was afraid to reach, but the software development always
outpaced my entering capacity.
>
>It would be nice if somewhere you could just enter the ISDN-number of a
>book, you got, and then download the information (several records with
>all the chapters, if it was an edited book) and import it into RM. But
>maybe something like this would be possible using Z39.50 sites, but
>then which hosts should you choose? I tried to choose Danish Royal
>Library, but it didn't return any posts on searches which should return
records.
>
>
On this subject, I cannot comment, I have no experience.
>
>Best regards,
>Peter.
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>_ This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
>Security System.
>
>
>
>
>
On a final note, I have been watching this list for quite some time, but
I have never entered into any discussion. I am amazed, how people
criticize this and don't like that or are bothered by that. There is no
perfect software, but what this one has given too me is incredible. In
my specialty, I have the largest, easiest retrievable database in the
world, the problem is not with Reference Manager, the problem is with
international copyright laws that make it illegal to share paid-for PDF
files that are linked to a searchable database. Obviously, the company
that has given us Reference Manager has not yet been able to produce a
functional system that at least the database can be shared over the
Internet with thousands who are interested, it is still the small-scale
"professor and his students" kind of stuff, but even here, you can find
a work-around with the right IT people and overcome this only relevant
limitation of a great software package.
Best regards,
Hans
--
Hans L Rieder, MD, MPH
Jetzikofenstr. 12
3038 Kirchlindach
Switzerland
Tel: +41 31 829 4577
Mob: +41 79 429 9945
Web: http://www.tbrieder.org
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