Re: how do scientists use org mode?

[tsd@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye)]

Aloha Christoph,

Welcome to Org Mode.

I'm an archaeologist who has found Org mode to be a great help in my
scientific work.  I use it as a laboratory notebook, a project planner,
a platform for carrying out statistical analyses, and a tool for putting
together compendia for reproducible research projects.

I prefer to put everything for one project in a project-specific Org
mode file, with a structure something like this:

* Introduction
* Results
* Conclusions
* Laboratory notebook  :noexport
* Project plan :noexport
* Statistical analysis :noexport

In this hypothetical example, the first three headlines hold the
publication, which will be exported to LaTeX.  The last three headlines
are not exported, but set up spaces to accomplish different kinds of
work.

In one case, I use the publication facility of Org mode to create a web
site that tracks a long running data entry project.  Blocks of R code
summarize the data entry with tables and graphs.  I update this
periodically so that the members of the team can see where we're at and
spot data entry errors.

I don't make anywhere near full use of Org Mode's capabilities, but find
that I am (by my own standards, at least) insanely productive in this
environment.  It is flexible enough that I feel free to add information,
knowing I can reorganize later without difficulty.  It is structured
enough that I don't waste time looking for things.  Even at the early
stages of a project, when the best organization hasn't crystallized yet,
it is easy enough to identify bits and pieces so they can be easily
found later.

hth,
Tom

GMX Christoph 13 <christoph-13@gmx.net> writes:

> Hi
> this is my first post here and although I am evaluating org mode with great interest, I am also asking myself in which way other scientists are making use of org mode. It will take a while to get my head around how to accomplish certain things in org mode but for the moment I am intrigued by *why* one would want to approach the problem of organizing one's research with org mode and in which way. 
> Are you putting exclusively your todos in, well, your todo file and perhaps keep project-related things, such as data and progress, notes, ideas etc. somewhere else? Or do you embed your notes and todos within their original context, i.e. is org mode your one-stop solution for data management? Do you maintain a separate file for every major project you are responsible for or involved in or throw everything into one or few humungous  files and differentiate using hierarchies and tags? 
> In the past I have hit some road blocks not so much with other softwares but rather concepts such as GTD, which I think is tailored to the needs of people outside science, so I would deeply appreciate your views and experience.
>
> If this list is geared towards the proximate aspects of development and less towards philosophy of usage, I apologize
>
> Christoph
>

-- 
Thomas S. Dye
http://www.tsdye.com