Digital Research Tools (DiRT) Wiki

Digital Research Tools (DiRT) brings together snapshot reviews of software that can "help researchers - professors, students, think-tankers, teachers, librarians, corporate intelligence gatherers, and other inquisitive folks - do their work better". Because, as digital information proliferates, researchers need tools to find, organise, manipulate, analyse, and share information, while trying to keep up with the hundreds of tools that can help users to be more efficient and innovative, DiRT was created to support researcher choices.

According to the website: “We do our best to keep our reviews clear and straightforward rather than full of jargon. We also group tools into categories so that researchers can identify relevant ones more easily. We cover a range of software, including tools, to help you manage and share your bookmarks, create bibliographies, analyze and visualize texts, brainstorm, collaborate, collect data, etc. Although we generally prefer tools that are free (open source is even better), we also cover software that comes with a price tag (if seems to be worth the money)."

"Types of Tools

• Analyze statistics
  
• Analyze texts
  
• Author an interactive work
• Blog
  
• Brainstorm/generate ideas
  
• Build and share collections
  
• Collaborate
  
• Collect data
  
• Communicate with colleagues
  
• Compare resources
  
• Conduct linguistic research
  
• Convert/manipulate files
• Create a mashup
  
• Edit images
  
• Find research materials
  
• Focus
• Make a dynamic map
  
• Make a screencast
  
• Manage bibliographic information
  
• Mine data
  
• Network with other researchers
  
• Organize my research materials
  
• Perform qualitative data analysis
  
• Search visually
  
• Share bookmarks
  
• Share information
  
• Stay current with research
  
• Take notes/annotate resources
  
• Transcribe handwritten or spoken texts
  
• Use mobile devices
  
• Visualize data
• Write a paper
  
• Write collaboratively

Background Information

 

• About this wiki
  
• Articles and reports on digital scholarship
  
• Contributors
  
• Editors' Picks
  
• Guidelines for contributors
• Other sources of information about research tools
• Tips for selecting software"