CloudOn - The best app for Microsoft Office on iPad

http://site.cloudon.com/

It seems that my technology time has been mostly spent fiddling with my new iPad mini. Of course, with that comes the need to open, edit, and save Microsoft Office documents. So, here's another app - and it is a cross-platform app, meaning that you can use it whether you have Android or iOS. As a newbie iPad user, I figured that the Apple developers would surely be able to make a decent Microsoft Office app with decent compatibility with the Windows Microsoft Office. So I opened and edited a document using the "Pages" app. Much to my chagrin, the compatibility was horrible, and it ruined the formatting on a table I was editing. This caused me to have to re-write the entire document, because of course it saved over my original, unscathed document.

Unsatisfied with all of the "top 10 apps for Microsoft Office on iPad" lists, I decided to go for the more direct approach. Through a lucky search, I found an app called CloudOn. It is WONDERFUL and I will tell you why. First, I was able to open, edit, and save that same document mentioned previously, but this time with NO compatibility issues. And it was effortless to save back to my DropBox account, unlike the Pages app which required a few un-intuitive, manual steps.

One of the best things about the CloudOn app is that it looks and feels just like Microsoft Word. Here's a screen shot to prove it:

As you can see, it has the familiar "ribbon" navigation at the top. Plus, it improves your keyboard selections to include alternate keys such as CTR, ALT, and all the F-keys!

Also, CloudOn automatically saves your file as you modify it, and you can see an ongoing list of when you made revisions. Plus, you can "track changes" and make in-document annotations, just like you would in Microsoft Office on Windows.

On the left, you see the ongoing list of revisions and annotations. On the right, you see where you can annotate and track changes using the "Review" ribbon.

Also, you can easily access any file in your cloud storage, including popular ones like DropBox and Google Drive.

A screen shot of what it would look like if you were browsing your DropBox through the CloudOn app. No need to hit "save", as CloudOn automatically saves and syncs back to your cloud!

Last, but certainly not least, a great thing about this app is that it is FREE! It does have additional features available if you buy the Pro version. I've only used the app once, so I can't say whether the Pro upgrade is necessary, but I had no problems opening and editing my document in the free version.

This post is just about the Microsoft Office option in the app because that's all that I've used so far. But it was so good that it inspired me to hop on here and write you a blog post about it! It also works with Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint, plus other document types like PDF's. If the rest of the document types are anything like Word, then I guarantee that you will not need any other app for your Microsoft Office document management needs!!

Papership - An iPad app for Mendeley

http://www.papershipapp.com/

Okay, so just as soon as I said I wouldn't provide support to iPhone users, I bought an iPad mini. So, never say never, I guess :) .

Anyway, many of you have told me that your favorite resource that you learned about from my blog is Mendeley. Well, Mendeley does have their own iPad app, but it crashes and is relatively useless. But thankfully, another developer picked up on the need for such an app, and here it is! Papership is a free app that allows you to download and sync all of your Mendeley library back and forth from your iPad to your computer (and other devices).

Papership logo

This free app allows you to open, re-organize, and highlight files for your references. And it keeps your files in the folders that you have them in your library, or you can re-organize them to your liking.

Read your PDF's using the in-app viewer!

You can pay for additional annotation tools such as notes and drawings (they offer the tools separately for different price points, or as a package for $9.99). And the best part is, the annotations are compliant with the PDF standard, so you should be able to view them in other places as well! I haven't downloaded these yet, so I can't give you a report on whether or not they were compliant for my documents.

Additional annotation tools are available for purchase through the in-app store.

I should note that this app is also available for the iPhone. Click here to go to the App Store and download it today!

Mendeley - the next best thing since sliced bread?

Mendeley.com
I am excited to share this next resource with you all. It has truly made my life as a doctoral student remarkably easier! How can one program do that, you say? Well, let me show you.

First of all, it is FREE. Yes, it's free. Please note, it is free.

It is primarily a reference organization software program. But the best thing about it (in my opinion, at least) is that it is open-source, meaning that it is designed by users for users, and is thus updated much more often than a regular paid program, and it also has a much more intuitive design!

But it doesn't just organize your references. It also embeds citations into your Word document. You can also edit citations to include multiple references in one citation (such as: Gandy, 2012; Coles, 2013; Prorock-Ernest, 2010) or alter the citation to include a page number, or leave out the author name. Then, Mendeley will create a bibliography in the style that you select based on the references cited throughout your document!

That is not all that it does. You can manually enter new references into your library and "attach" the associated document (usually a PDF). You can also easily add new references to your reference library simply by dragging and dropping a document into the Mendeley screen (from your Windows Explorer screen, for instance). Mendeley then searches for information about the reference within the document, such as title, author, journal, year, volume, issue, abstract, key words, doi, and the list goes on! If Mendeley can't find the information, or has an error in the information it found, you can always fix it manually.

What if you have your reference library currently saved in another program, such as RefWorks, or EndNote? Easy! You can import references into Mendeley from most any other reference software.

But that's not all, folks! You also have a free Mendeley account online, where you can access your reference library from anywhere that you have internet access. You can also use a feature that will pull citation information right from a website, using a bookmark tool that Mendeley can install into your browser.

That's STILL not all! One of the most distinct and special features about Mendeley is that it also serves as an information sharing platform. You can go online with your Mendeley account, and find groups of other Mendeley users who are interested in the same things you are interested in. For instance, you can sign up to be a member of the "Qualitative Research Methodology" group. You can also browse other users' libraries to find literature of interest to you!

Lastly, it is a great tool for annotating your literature. You can highlight by selecting text (on newer, "smart" PDF's) or by dragging a rectangle of text (on older PDF's that don't recognize text). You can also make notes anywhere on the document. Then Mendeley has a nice view screen where you can see all of your notes on a single document, so you can review what you've annotated.

There are SO MANY MORE features to this program that I don't have time to go into. So, go check it out for yourself!!