Zotero: a serious research tool for Firefox

I first learned about Zotero while looking at some promotional material for UberStudent, a new set of learning tools for college or advance HS students. Most people (and I suspect you're in that group) don't need to worry about a new operating system and and a whole CD of new software if you're already focused on research and writing. Most of us who transitioned from 3x5 cards and erasable bond into computer-based writing have likely developed our own system for taking notes and saving bibliographical information in a particular format.

On the other hand, if you're a new college student or returning for a few advanced classes,  Zotero may be worth a longer look. Zotero has a pretty good home page which starts, "Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, cite, and share your research sources. It lives right where you do your work—in the web browser itself." By being a Firefox extension or plugin, Zotero will work on Windows, Mac or Linux systems using Firefox. Additional plugins are available that allow Zotero to work with MS Word, OpenOffice or Neo word processors. As you check out the Zotero home page, note the Center for History and New Media and the George Mason Univ. logos at the bottom of the page. Somebody has thought long and hard about how to help young students write papers. Example? The interface mimics iTunes, something most college students already know how to use.

While on the home page, at least click on the icons shown for "Collect", "Organize" and "Cite" which are three individual tasks that most of us are attempting to accomplish during the process of writing a paper. What blew me out of my chair was (1) how easy it is to add new material from web pages or material already in your computer such as video or PDFs and (2) the list of major styles and journal specific styles already built into the research tool! The format is either there or may be available with another plugin. The last two tools are more interesting from a class or teaching perspective. Tools are available to sync the information among multiple computers, share information within work groups and even publish dynamic bibliographies.

And like Steve Jobs, "...One more thing!" Please play the short video on the quick start guide's first page found at: http://www.zotero.org/support/quick_start_guide. The video may be the best summary of what Zotero can do that I've seen so far. The support pages contain other basic tutorials and videos, support forums, and a blog and you may want to bookmark the page for further reference if you decide to give Zotero a more serious try.

If you've already got your own system for doing what Zotero does, God bless you and use what works for you. I may use some of my own time this Fall to see if I can catalog some of my own permanent references - some of the PDFs, videos and documents that I've collected over the past several years - and get to know Zotero a little better. At least I'm not working on a deadline.

And as for the UberStudent software, I plan to download UberStudent onto a live CD or even a spare computer and see what other new learning tools are available for advanced secondary or college-level students who use Linux. I might find other learning tools I'd like to explore. Maybe everyone currently in education already knows about Zotero which if so, only confirms my suspicion that I've been retired too long and should sit down and shut up. However, like so many other new technological tools, getting the word out about tools like Zotero to the small schools in the hinterlands always takes more time than anyone thinks. Not everything on the Internet can go viral and reach Mountainburg at the same time. We'd have a heck of a traffic jam on that little wire over the mountains!

Update: 9/20/10 Lifehacker.com likes the UberStudent software CD. Kevin Purdy writes:

We suggested last week that, for many college students, a used laptop reloaded with Ubuntu is good enough. UberStudent, an Ubuntu installation loaded with student-friendly tools and customizations, is a smart pick for getting your actual school work done.

To read the short Lifehacker review see:  UberStudent Is an Ubuntu System Custom-Built for Students

God will get them for this!...

Last week, the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa lost more than $600,000 to the usual type of electronic fund transfer theft. When one of the U.S. money-mules involved in the scheme questioned the transfer, he was told the funds were being transferred to compensate sex abuse victims. See: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/08/crooks-who-stole-600000-from-catholic-diocese-said-money-was-for-clergy-sex-abuse-victims/

KrebsonSecurity reports on Sept. 1st that criminals used a computer virus to steal the Univ. of Virginia at Wise comptroller's credentials and then electronically transferred $996,000 from BB&T to the Agricultural Bank of China. Nothing in BB&T's EFT software triggered an alarm and nobody at the bank bothered to check on the legitimacy of the transfer? How many million dollar transfers does UVA-Wise make to Agricultural Bank of China? See: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/09/cyber-thieves-steal-nearly-1000000-from-university-of-virginia-college/

Now look. I'm tired of writing about this, but I'm also absolutely convinced businesses and government agencies - whose commercial accounts lack the protections afforded to individual consumers - need to take simple, inexpensive precautions to prevent similar thefts. Brian Krebs spells out ways for businesses to protect themselves in the links attached to the bottom of the UVA-Wise article above.

From the lack of information in newspapers and national news networks, I guess the only people who think this type of crime is a big deal are the victims who have actually lost money. These are preventable crimes that need to be exposed and not hidden from the public.

More Zeus Banking Trojan Attacks

• Earlier this month, AVG's web security reports that the Mumba botnet used the Zeus banking trojan to infect 55,000 more PCs around the world, stealing bank account details and credit card numbers. See: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/02/muamba_botnet_infiltrated/ 

• In February 2010, a Virginia network forensics company, reported Zeus attacks involving 74,00 PC's in 10 federal agencies, 2,500 companies and a number of Fortune 500 firms in the financial, energy and technology industries. See:  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/02/18/massive_hack_attack/ 

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From: ArsTechnical.com

One would think that Microsoft users would be rushing down to their local computer store looking for the latest and greatest (and certainly a more secure) computer operating system, but that's really not the case. Ars Technica has the numbers and graphs to show just how resistant Microsoft users are to change. In July 2010, 62 percent of Microsoft users are still using Windows XP, but Windows 7 by rising to 14.5 percent has passed Windows Vista at 14.3 percent of computer users. Macintosh users comprise 5.1 percent of the OS market share and Linux (all varients) rolled back to a 0.93 percent share. Check out additional graphs and the full report at: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/08/windows-7-overtakes-windows-vista.ars

If you are one of 62 percent of the Microsoft faithful who are still using Windows XP and for good reasons still don't wish to upgrade your older computer right away, help is available. Fred Langa, senior editor of the Windows Secrets Newsletter, has an extensive checklist of things you can do to extend XP's usefulness on your existing older hardware for a long time. The list doesn't have to be completed all in one sitting. Instead, it's arranged in a logical fashion and with a little TLC and patience you can extend your computer's long-term health even further. If you're really serious about keeping your Windows XP system, see: http://www.windowssecrets.com/2010/08/12/01-Preparing-Windows-XP-for-the-long-haul

No less an authority than PC World stirs the security soup by pointing out that Linux's open source software is inherently more secure than Windows for small business owners and others like schools and local governments who can't affort a large IT security staff. The fact that fewer people use Linux and Linux's inherent diversity makes a less attractive target for the people who write malware is only part of the answer. PC World's Business Center looks at the PC security issue at: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/202452/why_linux_is_more_secure_than_windows.html

Maybe Linux users should just be thankful that Microsoft complacent customers have become a gigantic "honey pot" that keeps the bad guys with the malware focused on the much larger Windows market and less on Macintosh and Linux systems. At the end of the XP's life span, please stay as safe and secure as you can.

Grownups need more training and kids need adult supervision

Home Computers and student achievement revisited: 
 Several months ago, I sent out a note to several friends in education about the Duke research study which reported that having a home computer does not automatically raise test scores and in some cases can lower test scores of low-income students. Mike Cassidy, Mercury News, had a column on the topic and includes a link to the original Duke study and adds information about a second study by Columbia which also reports lower test scores. At least the second study points out the importance of parental monitoring and supervision. Cassidy's column can be found at: http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_15634370

The two reports and links to download copies of the two reports are:
Scaling the Digital Divide - Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement
http://www.caldercenter.org/upload/CALDERWorkingPaper_48.pdf
Home Computer Use and the Development of Human Capital
http://www.columbia.edu/~cp2124/papers/computer.pdf

On the same Monday morning, I  also found a hint on where the students may be spending their computer time when they're not supervised. Social networking and blogs have shown a 43% increase in the last year and now take up 22.7% of online time according to a Nielsen Company study. Americans spend 10.2% of their online time on games! See: http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/08/nielsen-social-networking-and-gaming-up-email-uncertain.ars

On a personal level, I've still resisted the urge to return to the Facebook-type social networks because of serious security issues previously reported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Data mining used on social networks can be a trap for the uninformed, careless and unwary. Furthermore, I'm still not sure old Infantry officers are supposed to "twitter" about anything. It certainly sounds undignified for grown men and women.

I once used Facebook to follow a friend from Tallahassee Community College while she was on a 6-month trip to China and wondered how many members of the Chinese and other intelligence services were looking over her "electronic shoulder" as messages were transmitted back and forth to the States. Later I dropped the service entirely when unmoderated comments and posts from other users started tasting as stale as World War II surplus tea bags. Scott D. Harris refers to Facebook and other social networks as a "time suck." Personally, I would also add several other dimensions, but maybe that's just me and I could be wrong.

The need for even more student, teacher and parent training:
Fortunately, Cassidy and the two research papers and other reports may actually help us make a case that educators still need to push for more student, teacher and parental training about computers and improved levels of follow-up and student supervision. For that reason, I was particularly pleased to learn that Van Buren (AR) School District invited Ian Jukes to speak to district teachers about how technology is in a period of disruptive change and how their students will live and work in an era when the future is even less predictable than most adults now comprehend. The district even took an extra step - hosting an evening session for parents and interested community members!

At one point during Jukes' presentation, he pointed out the disconnect between the need for schools to teach basic skills measured by state standards and student test scores and the growing importance of teaching higher level skills to prepare our students to work and succeed in a world of ever more rapid change. Most of the evidence leads to the belief that our students will live in a far more dangerous and changing world. Communities and their schools can no longer afford to prepare our kids to live and work in 1955. Jukes concluded his evening presentation with a quote from Erik Hoffer, "In times of radical change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves perfectly equipped for a world that no longer exists.”

Of course, Jukes uses the Internet and technology to share his message with people who want to learn more. He suggested the audience check out the 21st Century Fluency Project at: http://www.fluency21.com for additional information. Be sure to check out some of the articles on the blog. (Access to some materials may require completion of a free registration.) And yes, I've put Jukes' blog with its multiple authors on my daily scan list.

Yet I still harbor a concern. From my perspective of almost 40 years of training and teaching, computers are like table saws. They are both valuable tools. We already know how to make table saws much safer with saw blades that instantly drop down out of the way if they sense a cut into skin. Unfortunately,  we usually don't purchase the safer table saws because of their higher price. At this same point, we don't yet know how to secure Facebook or even our own home computers or business and financial networks. We still need more actual research asking how long-term exposure to computers, smart phones and networks changes how children and adults think, learn and react as they are swept away in the flood of information on the Internet.

I appreciate the access to new information that's already available at my very fingertips. But in my own middle-world, somewhere between the 1940's and the mid-21st century, most table saws and computers can still cause severe damage if used carelessly, thoughtlessly, or without properly trained teachers, parents and other adults to help supervise and keep things safe.