Where can I find advice on how to make notes on academic journal
articles for writing a PhD? I find that I have so many journals to
read and want a quick way to find what I need and collate it.

Hi maxb_max-ga,

  I've run into that same problem myself 
  during my own PhD studies.  There are
  several bibliographic utilities out 
  there for you to choose from.

  The Google Directory lists many of them:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Technical_Services/Cataloguing/Bibliographic_Utilities/?tc=1

  As farmergiles noted, EndNote is a great
  program.  I don't use it myself, but I
  have friends that rave about it:

http://www.isiresearchsoft.com/

  I use Procite and I'm very happy with it.

http://www.procite.com/

  Finally, I read about Citation back when
  I was searching for a tool.  I never downloaded
  it, but you might want to check it out.

http://www.citationonline.net/

  I hope that helps you.

            dogbite-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by maxb_max-ga on 29 Apr 2003 13:24 PDT

Thank you.

The software looks great and I will definitely buy one of the
packages. In addition, let me clarify my problem and see whether you
have additional comments:

I have a huge pile on journal articles in front of me. I choose one.
Is there an approach I can use to elicit the info most relevant to my
hypothesis without having to read the whole article? Now, once I have
used whatever techniques you may suggest in answer to that question,
do I now use one of those packages to store the info I have gained? Do
you use Procite in this way? I thought these packages were mainly for
storing info for the reference section of the thesis, not for storing
info within the papers?

Many thanks

Max

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Clarification of Answer by dogbite-ga on 29 Apr 2003 13:48 PDT

Hey maxb_max-ga,

  When I read a paper, I usually:

    1) look who the authors are, to see if
       i'm familiar with them or where they work
    2) look at the title and abstract
    3) glance through the references
    4) read the introduction and look at
       any tables or figures
    5) read the entire paper.

  I might stop at any point if I lose interest.

  And yes, the citation software allows you to
  keep notes about what you read, not simply
  note who wrote it, etc.

  Good luck with your papers!

           dogbite-ga

Try EndNote 6 bibliographic software.  If you are a registered student
you can purchase a copy at Academic Superstore.com