Let's Get Organized

Now that the grant I've been working on the past month is finished, I'm ready to get back to the routine of going to the Stabi every day. However, I woke up yesterday morning to a good amount of snow and decided not to head to library just yet. For one, the lure of a picturesque view of the Isar canal from my window kept me cozy at my desk with my cup of coffee. In addition, I knew I had some serious organization problems to tend to that had escalated while I was working on the grant.

To make the best use of my time and money, I've been maintaining a two-fold approach to research. The long opera reviews I find are photocopied for scrutiny at home. The short reviews are simply typed into my computer and saved for future reference. I was proud of this method; but then I realized that everything was hard to find with my original notes taken in several legal pads. I needed to create a master database so I could find these reviews quickly.

I decided to spend the day logging every review onto my computer (not just to tally everything turned up for statistical reasons), and highlighting the ones I intend to review more closely later. I made sure to indicate in the database whether they were saved on my computer electronically as a PDF or JPG, typed into a computer log, or buried in stacks of photocopies . The whole process was a pain, but I think I've saved myself some stress down the line. It also reminded me I need to be more on top of things to make sure I don't forget to write down pertinent information. After flipping through old magazines and newspapers for hours it's hard to keep focus; but enforcing sound research habits should keep me in line.

The next step is to set up the smart tables on Microsoft Excel so I can sort everything by composer, opera, reviewer, journal, year, and other parameters. And they said dissertations aren't fun until you're in the writing stage...