I love Excel. And the Internet.

I've always had this weird love for Excel.  Every time I learn something new about it, I'm fascinated and then I remember how many things I have no idea how to use.  For example, clicking the function button and seeing all the possible functions you can use.  Or even just searching one word to see all the formulas that appear and do so many things I don't have a use for but wish I did just so I could say I used that obscure formula.

Excuse my rambling -- Cold meds are my friend today.

I use Excel frequently just because tables are easy to organize my information and I can quickly upload them to my personal website.  Most of what I use them for is simple calculations, but it's easier than doing the math every time I want to figure out a hockey stat!

I've spent the past four hour or so working on my soundboard for Intro to Research and I certainly have a new appreciation for the internet.  For those of you who aren't in the class, we have to research the "oldest object" we own and create a storyboard complete with artifacts, primary sources, etc. regarding its authenticity, how we got it, so on and so forth.  A few months ago, my Grandma gave me a silverware box filled with a couple sets, mismatched pieces, and some very old partial sets.  Other than knowing what significance those older parts had to my family, my Grandma knew nothing about the style, manufacturer, etc.  I sat here for close to four hours researching the patterns on the silverware until I found out all the information - one even dates back to 1916!

After I gathered the info, I realized that without the internet and people who created detailed records for their hobby (collecting silverware) for all to use, this project would have been really difficult to complete without any paperwork, etc.  I probably would have had to find an antiques collector or appraiser and hope they could determine all of that on their own.

Week 5

I have always been a big fan of Microsoft Office and all the different things you can easily do with it, especially Word.  It might be the "nerd" in me, or the procrastination... but I always used to play around with Word and try to figure out new things to do within in.

I still find myself learning new techniques, especially during the projects I've had to do at UB so far.  I don't particularly love the paragraph tool, but I do find myself using it at the end of writing a paper just to make sure everything looks nice.  Thankfully it does!

By far, the best thing I could have ever learned to do in Word is adjust bullets, paragraphs, etc.  I can't tell you how many times I tried formatting a resume in my undergrad until I learned how to really do it the right way.  I use it all the time, probably even when I don't have to use it... maybe I'm making up for all that frustration and lost time!

And staying with Word -- I never thought I'd say this, but I absolutely love EndNote.  I could not figure out how to properly use it last semester and I ended up citing everything the long way, but I've finally taken the time (and it wasn't even that much time!) to figure it out... it makes everything so clean, neat, and easy!  I know there's plenty more I can learn to do with EndNote, which I hope I figure out soon, but just figuring out how to attach citations simply and keep track of my references makes me a happy camper.  No more Word docs of links to articles and journals for this girl!