Lanterns

I took this picture on the terrace of a local coffee shop while waiting for some friends to show. I was feeling pretty low when the lanterns came on and reminded me that things usually get better and that light always finds a way to break through.

Mendeley

Perhaps this post is long overdue, much like my thesis, but it's been a while since I have posted anything. My thesis has consumed me; however, this post is thesis-related and so I don't feel that guilty posting it.

For those of you who have to manage references or any type of literature for that matter, I'm sure that you may have heard of programs that are designed help you manage your bibliography, like EndNote, for example. I tried EndNote and I never really got the hang of it, also it's ugly. And you have to purchase it. So, for us starving students, it may or may not be an option, depending on whether or not you want to pay your bills.

Evaristo recommended Mendeley to me ages ago and I never really got around to using it until I was up to my eyeballs in references and the sheer number surpassed my ability to remember pertinent information from each one. So, I gave Mendeley a shot and it rocked my world. Is that just sad or what?

Without Mendeley, writing my thesis would (note the use of the past tense) have been so much more difficult. I won't give you a rundown on all the features, all the great things that Mendeley allows you to do, but I will say that if you are thinking about trying out a reference manager, I really wouldn't waste my time with anything other than Mendeley. It's free, and it's awesome and it will keep your head from exploding. You will need to invest a good chunk of time importing, organizing and tagging (tagging is crucial!) your references, but once you do, it's ridiculous how powerful a tool Mendeley can be when you are writing research papers, theses or anything academic for that matter.

If you're interested, here's a video for Mendeley. It's rather boring, but it's the best video out there for Mendeley and it does give you a good idea of what Mendeley can do for you.