This section will introduce you to a variety of tools to help you write with others.
Make sure what you write via email is clear, respectful and does not misrepresent others or misinform your recipient. Your NDA email address and your signature is an indicator of your academic reliability and authority. Include the link to your ResearchOnline@ND author results page or your ORCID in your email signature as this can prompt email recipients to investigate your publications.
Speaking to a collaborator over the phone can quickly clear up the small confusions and misinterpretations that proliferate in emails. Internet based phone services (VoIP) can save money for long distance calls and may have video capabilities.
Zoom is an online meeting/virtual conferencing tool. Use Zoom in your studies to communicate online by video with users within and outside of NDA, send instant messages, share screens, and annotate a presentation.
Many telephones and VoIP services allow conference calls allowing a group of collaborators to discuss their research together. Videoconferencing using tools such as Zoom can be used by both staff and students to communicate across two or more locations. You may also be able to use video conferencing from your desk or mobile phone.
Wikis allow you to create, edit and use content together via an ordinary web browser. It is like a web page that you can edit yourselves. You can control who can view, contribute or edit and attach files or images and data. There are many wiki sites where you can create a wiki for your group. Some offer free access (usually limited) with advertisements, or you can pay for a premium wiki.
NDA offers access to OneDrive and Teams for you to share files with colleagues, both inside and outside of NDA, or synchronise (sync) your own files, so you can access them any time, any place, from any device.
The File Server allows private storage (H: drive), and shared storage (S: drive).
Note: The H and S drives, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and portable storage devices should not be used for the storage of master copies of research data.
All staff need to consider the most appropriate tool for your needs considering the type and classification of information you are sharing or syncing. All file sharing and sync tools are to be used in accordance with the relevant IT policies and research data management policies.
For research data storage options see our Research Data Management guide.