Infoselect 9 Preliminary Version

Posted by Kenneth Rhee
May 15, 2006 at 09:07 AM

Dominik Holenstein wrote:

>I agree
>with you Daly that for academic work IS 9 might not be the perfect application. ndx
>Cards, ADM or UR are better for these purposes.
>

I beg to differ on this issue. I think IS9 is superior to ADM, Ndx cards, or UR when it comes to managing information given its superior search capability, outlining, and database function, etc. The only thing it’s lacking is bibliographic tool, but you can create the database within IS to keep track of that if you want. I tried to use ADM, ndx cards, and UR for my academic work, but after a few days, I give up on those programs given their limitations on one thing or another. Ndx Cards showed the most promise, but its limitations on searching, bibliographic tool, and outlining left much to be desired in my experience. The combination of Endnote and IS9 is a great combination for doing academic research if you want a separate bibliographic software.

However, for me the best still remains Notabene when it comes to my academic research. If I weren’t using Notabene, I would be using IS 9 and Endnote for my research. As it is now, I use IS 9 to supplement Notabene. I keep all my research meeting notes, ideas, and miscellaneous stuff in IS 9. In fact, I also keep my interview transcripts in IS 9 as well (I do use Nvivo or Maxqda for my final analysis) . Oh, I forgot to mention that I still use Inspiration 8 for mind maping or concept mapping when it comes to brainstorming or generating new ideas for my research. I discovered that there is not one software that does everything I need to do my research, but with a few well-designed software programs right now, I can accomplish my goal.

Of course, others may have different experiences and YMMV.