Sidepad is being used at SST as part of a Research Project at Portland State University
Please see the participant cover letter and the cover letter for parents and legal guardians to give informed consent.
Questions, suggestions, comments, problems?
Please report them to the SST Sidepad Coordinators (
)
Do NOT send e-mail to your teachers or to the PSU research team (to preserve anonymity).
Sidepad documentation
Quick Sidepad user guide: http://sparce.cs.pdx.edu/apps/Sidepad/userguide/howto.html
Detailed Sidepad user guide: http://sparce.cs.pdx.edu/apps/Sidepad/userguide/Save Sidepad documents to any folder you choose in your EAccess 'homes' folder. Sidepad documents have a '.spad' extension.
If you would like to have a copy of base documents that you reference in a Sidepad document, save base documents to any folder you choose in your EAccess 'homes' folder. You do not need to save the web pages you reference, unless you think that page might move or disappear. Sidepad will be able to re-navigate to the page in a web browser (unless the page has disappeared).IMPORTANT note about plagiarism: Sidepad makes it easy to select bits of information from a wide variety of information sources and makes it easy to see the actual excerpt from the original source. You are responsible for making sure that you do not plagiarize other material. (Use bibliographic citations, as appropriate, if you decide to use excerpts.) You can configure Sidepad to include the excerpt, automatically, for all new items by setting this option available to you by right clicking on the Sidepad window.
Using Sidepad at SST
You MUST Log into your EAccess account before you use Sidepad at SST.
Sidepad has been installed on all lab computers, library computers, and laptops at SST that are running Windows XP.
You can use it on any of these machines, particularly if you save your Sidepad documents (*.spad files) to your EAccess account.There should be a shortcut to Sidepad on all of these computers. If you do not see a shortcut or if you can't find Sidepad on the start menu, please contact one of the SST Sidepad Coordinators.
The log files associated with your use of Sidepad will be created in a directory in the Shared EAccess space. Thus, log files will not be created properly if you do not log in to EAccess. The SST Sidepad Coordinators will send us the log files periodically.
If all base documents a Sidepad document references are stored in your EAccess ‘homes’ folder, or if they are on the web, you can open the Sidepad document from any computer at SST. If you want to take a Sidepad document (along with any or all of the base documents that it marks) to another environment, e.g., to your home computer, then you must use the Pack function to get it ready to go and the Unpack function to set it up in the new environment.
IMPORTANT: Sidepad saves information critical to its functioning in a special folder called 'SPARCE' in your EAccess 'homes' folder. You must not alter the contents of this folder in any way. Your Sidepad documents might be adversely affected if you make any changes to this folder.
Using Sidepad on your personal computer (non-SST computer)
You are welcome to install Sidepad on another computer using these instructions. The User Agreement describes how you are using it at your own risk and also that you agree not to distribute Sidepad.
Follow these steps to install Sidepad on a non-SST computer:
- Read the User Agreement carefully.
- If you agree to the terms of use, study the READ ME carefully.
- Download the files required to set up Sidepad and follow the procedure in the read me.
When you are finished using Sidepad at a non-SST installation, we will provide you with a procedure to send your log files from your home or personal laptop computer to the research team.
Sidepad Files
Sidepad uses five types of files.
| File type |
SST Installation |
Non-SST Installation (at home or on your laptop) |
| Sidepad documents |
Stored wherever you save them. We recommend that you store them in your EAccess account. | Stored wherever you save them. |
| Base documents |
Stored wherever you save them. We recommend that you store them in your EAccess account. You do not need to save a copy of live web pages but you can if you would like to. | Stored wherever you save them. You do not need to save a copy of live web pages but you can if you would like to. |
| Log files |
Stored in the Shared EAccess space. | Stored in a directory on your local computer when you install Sidepad. |
| Mark repository | Stored in your EAccess account. | Stored in a directory on your local computer when you install Sidepad. |
| Sidepad information package | Stored wherever you save them. | Stored where you save them. |
Acknowledgment
This work is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0511050.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the research team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
The following people have contributed to this project:
Principal Investigators: Professors Lois Delcambre and David Maier.
Ph.D. Students: Sudarshan Murthy, Dave Archer.
Past
contributors on closely-related projects: Shawn Bowers, Mat Weaver,
Lonxing Deng.