The staff at Himmelfarb Library are committed to providing the academic and research support you need throughout your time at George Washington University. This post provides information on downloadable applications and features that will help you stay organized, maintain focus while studying or help you take high quality notes. If there’s a study app or feature you’d like to highlight, let us know in the comments!
Box- Box is an online storage management system that protects your documents and allows you to access them through the Box website or app. Save your lecture notes, essays or research notes on the platform and download them onto a new device, such as your phone or tablet, at any time. Box also allows for collaboration. Simply share the file or folder link with a colleague and assign them editing privileges. Any changes made to a file will be automatically saved to your Box drive, so you never have to worry that you may lose information. Your GWU user ID grants you access to Box and many of its features including Box for Office Online and Box for Google Workspace. Let Box help you stay organized this academic year.
Focus Mode for Smart Devices- It can be difficult concentrating on an assignment or studying for a test when your phone, laptop or tablet is sending constant alerts for new messages or app notifications. The focus mode is an integrated feature for many current smart devices and is easy to activate. When this mode is in use, it will automatically silence unwanted phone calls, text messages, app notifications or other distracting alerts. During set up, you can allow notifications from certain apps or listings in your contacts so you can receive emergency notifications from friends or relatives. Depending on your device, you can create a schedule so your phone will automatically enter and exit focus mode during certain times. If you’d like to develop a consistent sleeping schedule, then many devices include a Sleep Mode that works similar to the Focus Mode. For Android users, this feature is located in the ‘Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls’ section under your settings. For Apple users, this feature is located in the ‘Focus’ section under your settings.
Note taking Apps- There are an assortment of note taking apps available for smart devices. One of the most popular note taking apps for the iPad is GoodNotes 5 which allows you to take unique and detailed notes, mark up PDF files and store your notes in one location for later reference. The app is free to download, though after your first three notebooks you will need to pay a one time fee of $7.99. Another popular note taking app is Notability which includes many of the same features as GoodNotes. Notability is free to download, but you must pay a fee to access all of the features and tools. CollaNote is a free note taking app that is regularly updated by the developers and offers a similar experience as both GoodNotes and Notability.
Interested in more resources to help you prepare for the new semester? Read our previous posts ‘Back to School Tips & Tricks’ and ‘Cool Tools: Back to School Edition’ for more resources and tips from Himmelfarb staff on how to succeed this academic year. Be sure to subscribe to Himmelfarb Library News to receive notifications for newly published articles on library resources, health sciences history, research support and more.
