britmom
I'm a slightly less sleep deprived, but still cranky
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« on: February 04, 2012, 10:21:01 AM » |
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I'm looking for a programme that will enable me to draw/edit diagrams to help me plot out my research ideas. Any suggestions?
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Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy - Girl Interrupted
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tee_bee
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« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2012, 11:58:24 PM » |
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It's hard to find this sort of software for free. You can do pretty nice outlining with MS Word if you already have it, but it doesn't give you the visual metaphor you get from Inspiration and others. There's a drawing tool that's like a very lightweight Visio in Google Documents. I'd be curious if anyone sees any free mind mapping tools.
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2012, 01:25:14 AM » |
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Just a couple of weeks ago, a colleague told me that she uses MindMeister. It's evidently a free online mind-mapping tool, and it has a free app for Android, too. It downloads your mind maps to .pdf and some other kinds of files. I forget which ones, because .pdf was the only one that I thought I'd use.
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!>
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daniel_von_flanagan
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« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2012, 05:14:09 AM » |
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I think the biggest open-source project has been Freemind, but Freeplane seems to be the successor. I occasionally use SciPlore, a fork of Freemind, because it has easy pdf handling/organizing built in, but the authors of Freemind are planning a move to a fork of Freeplan instead. - DvF
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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voxprincipalis
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« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2012, 08:03:14 AM » |
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If you are on a Mac, you should check out MindNode. There is a free version to try, and the paid/pro version is only $20. I own this and like it a lot. VP
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If you need me, I'll be hiding under a rock until mid-August. Try not to need me, unless you come bearing Chinese food.
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britmom
I'm a slightly less sleep deprived, but still cranky
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« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2012, 02:41:49 PM » |
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I use a PC.
Freemind looks pretty difficult to use. I like the look of MindMeister - it appears to be $5 a month, with a 30 day free trial.
Inspiration also has a 30 day trial, and seems to cost $59. (Would have to go through a different sales company for the UK). I don't know whether I'm missing something, but that seems rather cheap.
Mind Genius is a bit more at £59/$91 with a free trial.
It seems those are the best options...hmmm
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Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy - Girl Interrupted
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octoprof
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« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2012, 02:53:21 PM » |
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Any one using an iPad with this sort of app?
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Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things... Mark Twain It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Professor Dumbledore
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fayefaye
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« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2012, 03:05:12 PM » |
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I am only guessing that you've gotten back from an interview because of the subtext of desperation in your questions
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daniel_von_flanagan
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« Reply #9 on: February 05, 2012, 04:11:41 PM » |
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Freemind looks pretty difficult to use. You could also look at Freeplane. There are some tutorial videos there. (Disclaimer: I haven't tried this yet, am waiting for the sciplore migration.) Often "hard to use" means "more features". Good user interfaces can be less obvious at first for novices than bad user interfaces. - DvF
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The U.S. Education Department is establishing a new national research center to study colleges' ability to successfully educate the country's growing numbers of academically underprepared administrators.
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britmom
I'm a slightly less sleep deprived, but still cranky
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« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2012, 02:40:44 PM » |
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Well, I finally went with Mindmeister. I liked the fact that everything's stored online so I can access stuff from different machines. It cost £25 ($40?) for the year on an academic's deal. Pretty happy with it.
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Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy - Girl Interrupted
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vieted
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« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2012, 07:13:37 AM » |
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Why don't you use Xmind Free. Another great mind maping software is VUE from Tufts Uni. Give them a try (use their portable version, you won't have to install any thing.
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