Whistful

Hello all, Does anyone have suggestions or thoughts on different reference/citation management systems? Mendeley vs. Endnote vs. Zotero, etc. My partner, who is in the sciences, uses Mendeley and likes it a lot. It seems fairly robust, but I'm not sure what most people in the humanities prefer. Are there any systems that are particularly good for organizing digitized primary sources? I'm starting my PhD in the fall and want to get myself as organized as possible this summer! Thanks!

When do people usually reach out to potential advisors? What do you include in the email? Do you ask to meet? I have a few people in mind, but am feeling nervous and don't want to make a poor first impression.

My advisor always liked at least an "okay," "got it," or "thanks" to make sure that it was received and noted. I prefer the same - it makes it easier for me to check it off my list. I don't think she was ever particular about being properly thanked via email, because the gratitude was implied in the first email. That said, I don't think it can ever hurt. I can't imagine someone getting that peeved over an extra two word email. A separate issue but still on the topic of email etiquette - a pet peeve of my prof's was students starting emails with no greeting or just "hi."

Hello! I have my Master's in American History with a focus on late 19th-early 20th century women's history, and plan to apply to PhD programs this year. My (tentative) short list looks like: - NYU (I have a background in museum work, so am particularly interested in their public history program.) - Rutgers (Virginia Yans) - Columbia (Stephanie McCurry, AKS) - UPenn (Kathy Peiss) - CUNY (Harriet Alonso) I'm specifically interested in social and cultural history, and did my MA on issues of female identity surrounding adulthood and marriage. Any other programs people know of that fit the bill? Also would love to hear perspectives on Public History vs. History PhDs... Happy to be here to commiserate and get some good advice.