Thing 14: Zotero / Mendeley / citeulike

OK so I've got quite a bit of catching up to do really consideing we're already on Thing 18 and I'm only just doing Thing 14. So... Here goes...

Zotero
While I haven't downloaded Zotero yet and haven't decided whether or not I will, from looking at the video included in Thing 14 I can see it's uses. As with many of the various Things so far it won't really help me in my day to day job but is something that may come in handy over the next year or so as I progress with my Chartership (on a side note I have FINALLY managed to get a Welsh apeaking mentor, oddly enough though he's from outside Wales it's a bit of a worry that people don't use the language in their day to day work - but that's an argument for another day.) I can see how keeping a bibliography with links and PDFs in Zotero is a good way to go about things. Though looking back to my student days links and bibliographies kept in a word document seemed to do the trick equally well... And yes I know that it does have an awful lot more to it than just as a Reference saving tool but I doubt I'd use it for much more than that. At least for now. When I start my reading I may change my mind. I'll definitely try it and see if it makes a difference.

Mendeley
Again I haven't downloaded this yet. If I do decide to download either of these two it'll probably be Zotero as I use Firefox anyhow, and Zotero seems to have more features. But yet again I can't see it being of much use to me in my current post. But then again if I can make use of these things during Chartership should I get work somewhere else in the future I'll have the knowledge and the ability to use them, and to show others how to use them as well.

CiteULike
CiteULike is a definite no no for me. I really can't see how it would help me in the least. From the three things in Thhing 14 Zotero is my favourite followed closely by Mendeley and I think when I have a chance I'll play with both. While they're not very useful for me at the moment they may become so given time! And therefore it's worth giving them a chance.