academic reading

all you academics out there....how do you cope with reading lots of papers/pdfs/books? Do you read on the computer? Print them out? or use an electronic reader thingy?

I'm getting frustrated by being chained to the computer all day, but feel too guilty about printing out reams of paper just to read. I prefer reading articles/books on paper because I can pick them up, scribble notes or highlight things, lean back in my chair, wander over to a coffee shop for a bit, sit outside in the sun (on the rare occasion when it appears and is warm enough). Anybody have a good (and affordable solution)? or do I just need to wait a few more years for the technology to catch up?

I read most everything online. Rarely I'll print out a paper. I think a kindle would be awfully nice.

I print more than I would like to. I just can't effectively read 10+ page articles on a computer. My eyes strain, I can't focus, I can't effectively mark on it, etc.

Smaller articles or articles I'm just glancing through anyway I'll read on the computer. Sometimes I'll even use Adobe or Preview to highlight stuff, but it's slower than printing it and using a real highlighter.

I'm not an academic type unless that's a hereditary trait :p but whenever studying I print more than I'd like. I read hard copy on the train, on breaks at work, on the couch, sometimes even on the trainer.

However I recycle more than most anyone I know (except maybe your grandma). Once it's read and absorbed to my brain cells if I don't actually need to file it papers get recycled or even re-used as scratch paper and then recycled ....

Since I buy recycled paper products (yes, even the TP) it's used several times. :p

I don't feel so bad :cool:

I think this is a generational thing, but I cannot read more than a page or two on line. Although this year, I don't have as much reading to do for my program as last year, I admit, I print out all of the articles. How else could I highlight and make notes for myself? Since this is a reading strategy that good readers do, I can't see how I could do it on the computer.
I keep all of the articles from my classes, but I guess if I ever feel the need, I would put them in my weekly recycling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crankin

I think this is a generational thing, but I cannot read more than a page or two on line.

---

No, it's not. It strains my eyes. I print almost everything I have to read, as it also lets me highlight and write notes. To save paper and ink, I'll print it as multiple pages per sheet if it's a PDF and the font size works. I'll reuse the paper unless it's something I need to keep (handouts for class with notes on them, syllabus, etc).

I print. I have no problem with printing. I print double sided, or use scrap paper to print on the backsides. When I no longer need the things I've printed on one side, I use them as scrap paper to print on the backsides.

I feel your pain. I have the same dilemma right now. I am in grad school...

Last year I had access to an office where I was interning (read: lots of free printing), which made life easier. (Yes, I still used recycled paper and double sided etc. etc.)

Now....officeless.....I am left to using my own ink jet. Ugh. While I can't quite justify printing out 500 pages of reading from academic journals that I have (for ONE! paper), I also don't think I will be able to tolerate reading them online.

From what I understand, printers that have toner instead of ink (I hope I'm getting this terminology right) are cheaper to use. (Usually the big copiers/printers in offices have toner...but they also sell smaller toner printers).

I believe toner printers are more expensive outright, but that the cost is WAY offset because inkjet printer ink is SO expensive!


I feel your pain though! A lot of times I just need to read articles for a paper...to see if they are relevant. Once I decide they are, then I need to be able to write on them....so....computer screen is not so helpful.

Maybe there is a software that lets you highlight and such on PDFs (without having Adobe) for this purpose???? Anyone know of one???

I read much more efficiently and faster when I read print documents that are over approx. 15+ pgs. long.

Not only I can markup a useful article..but it's easier to BROWSE a lengthy document to get to certain sections faster since tables of contents or hypertext links in pdf file can be inhibiting for efficient serendiptuous browsing, locating a certain section within a chapter faster.

I have tried to print off sections of long .pdf /WORD documents, even if it means inadvertedly printing off an extra pg. or 2 at beginning of print job because I've miscalculated the start and end portions of report that I wanted to print off.

We have to be realistic with our human eye limitations for electronic...have you ever tried to look at a complex engineering drawing 32" x 24" size pdf with multiple colours and codes --in its totality without it falling off the computer screen? Human brain often needs to look at information fragments/sections --within broader context.

Observing information users as a librarian after several decades of dealing directly with user feedback on various database products with full text e-docs. and print equivalents, I tend to certain say that in organizations that want to be 75% electronic.. but before the end of the business day, several people have printed off the same document in 1 day..even if they only need 50% of the lengthy doc. for content comprehension.

Had the nearly laughable experience where I was trying to evaluate in totality all new publications from a large, multi-party publisher. So I went into their database which covers over 30 other sub-publishers for 20 different topics.

I had to execute separate database searches to even get a list under a topic ....since this publisher has hundreds of titles in its inventory. I would have to check under 90% of its topics. Already wasted a few min. for each fuller database record to open so that I read the new book content summary for me to even make an assessment.

I was angry and frustrated...it was a waste of 2 hrs. of time as a manager. So I ordered their free 250+ pg. print catalogue so I could plan collections development for the library and look at my budget. At least, I could quickly flip pages, jump around within the print catalogue and quickly browse to make my decisions.

Moral: There are different situations that do require print vs. electronic. It isn't always our human limitation fault. Online books don't really allow the degree of freewheeling browsing.

We just bought my mom a Kindle for her birthday. I got a chance to check it out briefly before she took it home (when they were visiting) and man, it's slick! We didn't get her the newest version because she'll mostly be using it for pleasure reading and the old one had all the options she wanted. Apparently you can highlight and make notes as you read. It is surprisingly thin and comfortable to hold. The text is way easier on the eyes than a computer monitor. Honestly, if I was still in school and could justify it, I'd get one for myself. As a student, it would have been wonderful to put all the research I needed into one slim little thing like the kindle instead of having to lug around HUGE backpacks full of books!

Most of the research I do, I do online. I read it there, too. I only print things out when I need to travel and then I only print sections that I need. I just take notes in a notebook instead of on the documents themselves (something I got in the habit of doing ages ago since I did a lot of library research for my degrees).

For pleasure reading, I like paper books. I would HATE to sit in front of a computer for my leisure time since I do it all day for work. Of course, who has time for pleasure reading? ;)

I hate to but I have to print. I have a muscle imbalance in my eyes and reading off the computer screen exacerbates it. After an hour my head will start pounding. I do what everyone else does, print both sides, recycle paper, use old paper to print the backside. It's still VERY expensive. I use my inkjet b/c the university printers suck! My papers have a lot of scientific readouts of different sorts and I can't even tell what they are showing if I use the on campus printers. Plus a lot of them are color coded and there are only a couple of color print stations on campus so for convenience sake I just print at home and continue to dish out for ink:( I soooooooooo feel your pain, I have an inner struggle with the print or not to print dilemma daily.

Consider that Back In The Day all that stuff would have been printed out in journals and they'd be waved over that xerographic mo-sheen, feeding it quarters and dimes.

I've been known to put "two pages per sheet" and print on both sides.

I struggled with how to take notes because typing spoiled my desire to handwrite note cards... and then I discovered I could make powerpoint slides and print out nine per page and work 'em the same way (spread 'em out on all available flat surfaces...)

I hate color figures.

I don't print in color (it costs $$, even at school, where b/w is free to me). If I get to a figure that didn't print well or I can't read without color I'll go back to the computer and look at that figure. Annoying at times (especially when I'm curled up under a tree outside), but it works I suppose.

I bought a laser printer when I realized I would be printing so many articles. It was expensive, but worth it.
And yes, when I was (briefly) in a doctoral program in the early 80's, I spent at least $20.00 a week xeroxing articles at the library. My children were shocked that I actually had to go to the library and get the articles out of a journal to do this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crankin

I bought a laser printer when I realized I would be printing so many articles. It was expensive, but worth it.
And yes, when I was (briefly) in a doctoral program in the early 80's, I spent at least $20.00 a week xeroxing articles at the library. My children were shocked that I actually had to go to the library and get the articles out of a journal to do this.

---

What alot of people don't realize is some of the decent full-text journal articles/books cost money to access. Your libray ID card as a taxpayer where you live for your local library or the university library ID card for the local university library that you use, is worth..money. That card is part of your membership/eligibility which your library system buys hundreds or several million $$$ worth of annual licensed access rights to those meaty research databases.

This information is really not "free" for those who don't have your library ID number or those who don't want to walk into the library to use the computer. Some of the libraries control paid database access in this way...they must to honour the publisher's licensing terms.

Doing a google search does not allow one to scour into hundreds of proprietary research databases. This is reality of the information marketplace and of technology itself.

I have printed a lot of articles in my 12-year academic career, and I have kept a lot of them, too. I have returned to my notes sometimes more than half a decade after first making them. I kept everything in alphabetical order. Well, not EVERYTHING. But many articles nonetheless.

I love to go read in a chair away from the computer. I think it's healthier and brings about a different way to think, compared to what happens in my brains when I'm reading online... Not sure it's generational: I've been using computer intensively since the age of 8 or something, but there's nothing like paper.

... and, I would argue that sometimes using paper might be better than getting another electronic gizmo full of heavy metals and plastics that will pollute the earth forever. But I have never seen comparative data on this. But it does give me another excuse for not getting another electronic device...

I pretty much print out everything that is under 15 pages. The rest I save to my desktop and read at my leisure (hahaha,,,, did I just say that??? I have no leisure).
I figure that my time is worth something and if I can read an article that is printed up and in my hand when I have a little break, I have made good use of the paper.
All in all, I had a little talk with myself and told myself to quit freaking out about paper and ink and just consider it part of the cost of my degree.

Yep, every article I get is through my university's database membership, or put up on Blackboard as part of the required reading for the syllabus. On the rare occasion that they don't have what I need, I can apply to get it through a consortium of university libraries in Boston that my school belongs to.

I print out if I'm going to use it for research or teaching. If it's just a quick, "oh, this is interesting," sort of article, I can read on line. But for taking notes, I need to have it on paper. And then I put it in teaching or research files. My file cabinets are massive. :(

Print.
Read in a comfy chair, in bed, or in the bath.

When I'm done, use the back for scratch paper or birdcage liner.
When that's done, recycle.

Sitting at the computer provides too many opportunities to get off task.