Grad School Supplies

[ShewantsthePhD101]

I've seen this thread in other places and though I'd start something similar here. Any religion/religious studies specific supplies recommended for PhDs?

[xypathos]

Any idea on how these threads have gone elsewhere?

My approach so far has been to read compiled texts in my major and minor sub fields, along with 1-3 journal articles a week. I aim for 3 but with coursework and life I’m lucky if I get 2.

i do a thorough read of each and then reconstruct their basic argument on a yellow notepad. I then do a very quick reread and plug in holes. These notes I keep in binders that are categorized. Fortunately (or unfortunately) reading lists for fields are pretty set in stone + what our unique focus adds. So, I don’t have to do a lot of searching and adding. 

So for actual supplies, I buy a lot of paper, pens, and binders.

I guess notecards, book resources, and such for language study if that’s needed. 

[ShewantsthePhD101]

They've more or less been your basic supplies. Paper, pens, computers, a good bookshelf, etc. Stuff I already know/have for my MA>

I never would have thought of doing all of that reading. That's fairly impressive.

[sacklunch]

Many prefer to read on their computers. I do use my laptop a lot for reading, but I like to print articles/books (sorry, world) I know I will return to in the future (notes in the margins). I have a decent monochrome printer with cheap ink replacements (it's a Brother, if you care).

[fides quarens intellectum]

I was gifted with a Surface pro and a stylus last Christmas completely out of the blue by my mother in law. I have since almost exclusively used that for reading articles or ebooks because the stylus allows me to make extensive marginalia notes and I can print them out if I need to later on. 

[xypathos]

1 hour ago, sacklunch said:

Many prefer to read on their computers. I do use my laptop a lot for reading, but I like to print articles/books (sorry, world) I know I will return to in the future (notes in the margins). I have a decent monochrome printer with cheap ink replacements (it's a Brother, if you care).

I'm the same way! I print articles out and mark it up the old fashioned way. I got into it while at Vandy and Dr. Lim really encouraged his students to forego laptops. Props to the people that mark up pdfs on their computer, I just couldn't get into it. I feel a little bad for the forest that I've killed off but I just tell myself to blame the profs that assign 200+ pages of reading a week and give it to us in pdfs rather than telling us to buy the book.

[ShewantsthePhD101]

Have any of you tried the BoogieBoard Sync, ReMarkable tablet, or any other paper substitution/e notebook? I like writing by hand (deeper cognition) as opposed to typing, but I'd like my notes to be easily accessible via technology to look back on later.

[MarthUser]

Some things that have helped me/things on my wishlist to help me:

A second computer monitor (I do a lot of primary source research, so it helps me to have dual-screens, my laptop for notes and a monitor to project what I'm looking at)

Cheap bookshelves from IKEA (I already have two, and will probably need two-three more before I finish this year...)

Amazon Prime Account --> gets you books within two days. 

Noise-cancelling headphones. You'd be surprised how non-quiet libraries/study halls can be. 

[menge]

I'll second the tablet, second monitor, and Prime suggestions. I'll add that a citation manager can be a tremendous tool, if used well. I have mine synced to the cloud so that I can access articles on my tablet, annotate them, and access them later on my laptop/desktop. It's also a huge timesaver for formatting bibliographies.

[fides quarens intellectum]

Second monitor would be awesome.

[Deep Fried Angst]

I would second most of the above. 

A monochrome laser printer for the home is a life saver. Even though I have virtually unlimited printing privileges on campus, I still find myself needing to print a lot at home. 

The second monitor is a lifesaver for research, tedious TA work (Netflix on one screen adjusting all the dates in the syllabus on the other), and grading.

Noise cancelling or isolating headphones are a great idea, especially wireless ones so you don't have to pause your music or take off your headphones every time you need to get up to get a book off your bookshelf.

A book stand for your desk to make research, reading, and note taking easier. No more awkwardly trying to hold down pages while you type up the quote you need. 

An Audible subscription. Audio books make the walks across campus and to the car more enjoyable and I don't have to listen to the freshmen talk about how hard their semesters are going. 

Then, your favorite brand of whatever school supplies you like. Anything that brings the stress level down some is well worth it. 

[Averroes MD]

On 1/4/2018 at 6:46 PM, menge said:

I'll second the tablet, second monitor, and Prime suggestions. I'll add that a citation manager can be a tremendous tool, if used well. I have mine synced to the cloud so that I can access articles on my tablet, annotate them, and access them later on my laptop/desktop. It's also a huge timesaver for formatting bibliographies.

Which citation manager do you recommend ? 

[pinoysoc]

On 1/5/2018 at 10:45 AM, fides quarens intellectum said:

Second monitor would be awesome.

This helped me in my GIS course. Having Arc10.3.4 and another application window opened helped workflow. Bummer that the resolution made it hard to work when I wasn't working on GIS software.

8 minutes ago, Averroes MD said:

Which citation manager do you recommend ? 

I recommend Papers. But check with your school if they have a preferred citation manager that you can get for free.

[sacklunch]

Hold off on the citation manager. Most schools offer free software downloads with a student login; you can usually get programs like Endnote for free once you have your login.

Depending on what kind of research you do, several monitors is a great help. At least in my area, it would be a nightmare to have less than two monitors (I have four, actually...). 

[menge]

18 hours ago, Averroes MD said:

Which citation manager do you recommend ? 

I use Mendeley- many faculty and friends I know use EndNote. I use Mendeley because its free and has most of the functionality I desire: cloud sync for access from multiple devices, ability to open doc and annotate in program, searchibility, MS Word integration. Though my University gives us a free subscription to EndNotes, I don't know where I'll be in the future and don't want to deal with the hassle of migrating libraries to a new software. Might be worth talking to folks who work in a similar area to you and see what they use. There might be some features that a certain program has that could be useful in your area/subdiscipline. 

[Deep Fried Angst]

18 hours ago, Averroes MD said:

Which citation manager do you recommend ? 

I use Zotero. Free. Editable. And if you know some coding you can make adjustments to the style guide yourself in the source code. Definitely still has some kinks to work out, but overall it gets the job done without spending money. 

[mdivgirl]

On 1/8/2018 at 10:19 AM, dmueller0711 said:

I use Zotero. Free. Editable. And if you know some coding you can make adjustments to the style guide yourself in the source code. Definitely still has some kinks to work out, but overall it gets the job done without spending money. 

I have just started as a research assistant to one of my professors and this is what he uses and recommends.  The library at my school also offers several classes to teach how to use it.  I haven't figured it out yet, but it looks impressive.  Also, can't beat free.

[psstein]

Zotero is great.

If you're a NT student, buy the Nestle-Aland. I bought one for my undergrad thesis and it paid for itself many times over.

[Almaqah Thwn]

One thing I wish I had invested in early on for grad school was a nice $50-70 copy of the Hebrew Bible. Instead, I was poor in seminary and bought a cheap $30 one, in which pencil writing bleeds through like ten pages. While I do have Accordance (Which is a must if you're working with the languages. Moreso than the other Bible language programs such as Logos or Bibleworks, which are less user friendly and clunkier), sometimes it's just nice to have a hardback to work on in your bed or to take to a class so that the professor can know you're not secretly parsing the verbs when they're not looking.