My name is Wendy Limbert. I’m an independent evaluator (http://www.limbertconsulting.com) and am also affiliated with Collaborative Research Associates (http://www.cr-assoc.com/) . I gravitate toward research and evaluation projects related to non-profits and/or social policies affecting disadvantaged groups. I am always on the lookout for new articles and reports in my topic areas, new technology tools, and handy tips from colleagues. I’ve found it difficult at times to keep up with the seemingly constant flow of new information and resources that I come across and want to file away for future use.

Rad Resource: I now use Google Sites to set up private websites that let me store and manage all sorts of information. Google Sites is a free service that lets you create websites (you choose whether to make them public or not). No programming required – simply click your way through selecting a name, template, and theme for your site, and you’re ready to go!  http://sites.google.com/

For my online library, I used a blank template and added the pages I wanted. When I come across useful websites or documents, I go to my google site and add the items to my resource list or online filing cabinet. You can categorize and sort your items any way you like, making it easy to see and find what you have. And, it saves a lot of paper and filing space.

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

Google alerts, information management

My name is Susan Kistler, and I am the American Evaluation Association’s Executive Director. It is my pleasure to contribute each Saturday’s post to the aea365 blog. One challenge is staying abreast of what’s being said about an evaluand or about you or your practice. For me, for instance, I want to know what’s being said online about the “American Evaluation Association” as well as when people refer to “Susan Kistler” (go ahead, admit it, you’ve googled yourself). Rather than doing google searches whenever the item comes to mind, consider having google send notices to you.

Hot Tip: Create Free Google Alerts – they provide a way to receive emails containing links to new online content containing key words that you identify. A natural starting point is to set up alerts for the name of a group with which you work. However, there are multiple uses for alerts. Let’s say you are working with a group that is striving to change the way we talk about new immigrants. Two possible phrases are “illegal immigrants” and “undocumented immigrants” and this group is working to increase use of the latter. Regular alerts would allow you to understand the nature of what is being said, and to see that language change over time. For those evaluating social media and/or online communications, google alerts can be an essential part of the ‘listening’ function.

Key features:

1. Filtering: They may be scheduled for a frequency that meets your needs, including receiving notices as they occur, daily, or weekly and they may be set to look at all sources, or just news, groups, blogs, videos, etc.
2. Management: You can set up and manage multiple alerts, with different frequencies, terms, and scope.
3. Delivery: Alerts may be sent to an RSS feed, or to email, a key ease-of-use function for many.

Process:

1. Identify the key words on which you wish to set up notifications,
2. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and set up one or more alerts, if using a phrase rather than a stand-alone word, put the phrase in quotes such as “undocumented immigrants”,
3. If you set up multiple alerts, it is worth setting up a management account to be able to see and refine all of your alerts information in one place. First, set up a google account (http://www.google.com/accounts/?hl=en). Then, go to the google alerts page and you will see a “manage your accounts” link

Finally, if you are not getting exactly the responses that you anticipated, refine your search using the advanced search tips found here: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861.

This contribution is from the aea365 Daily Tips blog, by and for evaluators, from the American Evaluation Association. Please consider contributing – send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

Google alerts, technology