![]() ![]() ![]() After I’ve filled in each of these thoughts, I stand back to look at my mind map. For this paper, I would write one section on manufacturing issues and another on regulatory problems. I often make each of these thoughts its own topic in the paper, with lists of facts and sources related to that topic. On its own, TheBrain provides the tools I need to connect ideas and track my sources. I’ve had it happen before, and now I don’t have to worry about it happening again. ![]() And because all of the information lives on the cloud, there is no possibility of losing all my research. For instance, I marked the document “Titanic” Disaster: Report of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate as being about both “Regulatory Problems” and “Manufacturer’s Fault.” These labels helped me draw connections while I wrote the essay.īecause I can search for words in my text, TheBrain functions as a powerful database. As the following screenshot shows, one thought can connect to several others. Then, as I read, I can take detailed notes in the article, including the page number! This process makes for super easy referencing once I go to draft. The reason TheBrain is so powerful for my research is that I can put the title of the article both in the thought name and in the beginning of the written text. In this case, my “parent thought” was “Dialectic Essay,” and the “children” were my two ideas, “Manufacturer’s Fault” and “Regulatory Problems.” After organizing my materials this way, I could sort all the sources I found under one of these subtopics. I wanted to investigate whether the Titanic sank due to regulatory problems or as the result of manufacturing issues. For example, I recently wrote about the Titanic, and I decided to use TheBrain to organize my research. Below the paper thought, I then create a “child” note for each source that I’ve read. I create a “parent” note for the semester, with a “child” for the class, and a “child” for the paper that I’m working on. I’ll illustrate with the method that works best for me when writing papers, which I discovered after a lot of trial and error. It’s all a bit complicated, but I think an example can help explain how it works. Thoughts that are at the top of the network are “parents,” and any lower thoughts, or sub-thoughts, are “children.” Thoughts can be connected to multiple parents and multiple “siblings.” These connections show me how thoughts relate to each other. Basically, the database contains connected “thoughts,” or notes, that I create. I use it exclusively for cataloging my thoughts about papers, but it could be useful for any project that involves connecting ideas. TheBrain is a free mind-mapping, personal database ( ). That all changed when I found my dynamic duo: TheBrain and Zotero. My overall disorganization made transitioning from research to writing a bit of a pain. When I took notes for my research, I didn’t have a system that helped me organize which quotations or information went with which source. TheBrain and Zotero: Tech for Research EfficiencyĪt the end of my sophomore year, I realized that I wanted to use tech to help me write more efficiently. ![]()
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