Diigo SB site and an Action Researcher's Tool?

For those new to bookmarking and social networking you may ask, "What is Diigo?" For those who are experienced social bookmarkers and experiment with digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, and the many other bookmarking sites such as the 125 Social Bookmarking sites addressed here.  Diigo 5.0 provides some updates that you can use, regardless of your platform selection, and adaptable to a variety of audiences.
Read more about the Diigo 5.0 updates on their blog.

My favorite of the latest updates:

The new Android phone application called “Diigo Power Note” is being released as a part of Diigo 5.0, which enables Android phone users to collect, organize, sync and access a variety of information such as bookmarks, notes, and pictures. So you can jot down or speak your ideas and thoughts, and take pictures of things you like to be reminded to buy or research later, or business cards handed to you. With Diigo Power Note, you literally have a photographic memory.

Information on how to download and install Diigo Power Note is available here. You can use the QR code and a bar scanner to be directed to the app or visit the Market on your Android phone and search for Diigo. The latest update to Diigo's Power Note adds Speech to Text and SMS functionality.

So my new challenge is to use it to supplement the research for my dissertation whenever and wherever the opportunities arise. While this app may not be for everyone, I believe it should be a staple for individuals conducting any type of action research and particularly those pursuing degrees in fields of educational and instructional technology.


As with any changes to apps, systems, user interfaces, implementing the new tool will make it a habit. Whether you use Diigo as an educator, for personal and/or professional reasons you can see the opportunities to collaborate and gain the perspective the Blind Men and the Elephant on a research project, share the different perspectives, then have an archive for future reference.


Read more about Diigo on the About Us site. The evolution of Diigo:

Another Diigo favorite is Awesome Screenshot: Capture & Annotate by Diigo (3162) - 115,502 users - Weekly installs: 44,955 Capture the whole page or any portion, annotate it with rectangles, circles, arrows, lines and text, one-click upload to share.Check out all of the Chrome Extensions.


Do you have a favorite social bookmarking and screen capture and annotate tool? Whether you are a student in life, a formal classroom at any level, a community volunteer, the family data collector, what are your favorite social bookmarking and screen capture and annotate tools and sites?

Comments, recommendations, and shared knowledge are always welcome.

What is Psychobiography?

So we have all heard of biographies and autobiographies but I was introduced to the term psychobiography.

William Todd Schultz has an entire site called Psychobiography. On this site you can discover what psychobiography is and is not, FAQs, influential persons, Schultz's publications, annual annotated bibliography, and supplemental links.

From Schultz's site, What is psychobiography?

Psychobiography is the analysis of historically significant lives through the use of psychological theory and research. Its aim is to understand persons, and to uncover the private motives behind public acts, whether those acts involve the making of art or the creation of scientific theories, or the adoption of political decisions. Some figures who have been the subject of a great number of psychobiographical books and articles include Hitler, Sylvia Plath, Freud, Jung, Gordon Allport, James Barrie, Gandhi, Luther, Marilyn Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, van Gogh, Clinton, Bush, and Saddam Hussein.

So have you read a psychobiography?

A Google Book search on psychobiography presented 1, 055 entries.

A search using Google Scholar on psychobiography produced 7,210 entries.

While this is not the type of qualitative research I will use during the dissertation process, it presents a term that I was not familiar with. Now I am looking for psychobiographies on Educational Technologists, any recommendations?

Comments are always welcome...if not select one of the Reaction check blocks.

What else are you doing with Google Books?

On July 17, 2009, I blogged about using Google Books for a variety of groups whether you are an educator, student, parent, employer, virtual book club participant, or an individual wanting to consolidate books they have read, wanted to read, or associate books with your digital profile.

As an adult student, I started building My Library in Google Books with required textbooks and some other books on my physical bookshelf. You can add notes and tags, and annotate if you loan out the book or if you find online supplements to your books.

Of the 3 textbooks required for my current course, Research Methods & Designs, one book has a partial preview in Google Books and the other two have no preview of the book available. In all the textbooks I have checked out from libraries, rented, borrowed, or purchased...somewhere in the front matter of the book is some type of data about online supplemental information. For the textbooks required for RSH9102E, all three textbooks have some type of online supplemental information, so I just added the links to the Notes section in each of the textbooks. Long after the course is over and after I graduate, my notes will be available to me or other individuals who review My Library.

While Google Books provides access to a virtual library of a multitude of books and magazine along with previews of books that agree to display content, if there is a book you want and the preview of the content is not available, links are provided to locate the book in a library or if you want to purchase the book. The link to Find in a Library provides many additional opportunities.

Selecting the Find in a Library option opens up a WorldCat link that displays libraries that have the book based on a designated (your choice) or an associated zip code (based on your Google profile). From there you can cite the book, email or share the link along with additional features of the book from reviews, local libraries, table of contents with links to the Library of Congress, and many other features.

You can follow Google Books on Twitter @googlebooks, subscribe to the Google Books blog, check out the Google Books history, read Google Books Facts and Fiction, or the Google Books Library Project.

What is the difference in the views of Google Books? Full, limited, snippet, or no preview available.

What are you doing with Google Books? Have you built your own library in Google Books? Share the link to your Google Books library or post a comment about your Google Books experience. As always comments are welcome.