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Import from Evernote

 

Do you use Evernote on your smartphone or tablet for mobile data collection—for example, to record interviews or make field notes?  Do you use Evernote to make notes, collect images, or clip content from web pages? You can gather your data in Evernote and then import your notes later into your NVivo project.

What do you want to do?

 

Using Evernote to gather your research materials

There are many different ways you can use Evernote to gather your materials. For example:

  • If you are working in the office, you can use the desktop version of Evernote to clip web pages, make notes and keep to-do lists.

  • If you are working in the field, you can use Evernote on your smartphone or tablet to record field observations, record interviews or take photos of research settings and participants.

As you create notes in Evernote, you can add tags to them—you can use this as a preliminary coding technique. For example, if you made an observational note about access to medical services in a remote community, you could add the tags remote, medical services.  The tags can be converted into theme nodes when you import your notes into NVivo, and the entire content of the note will be coded to these nodes.

For more information on the ways you can use Evernote for mobile data collection, refer to Bring in your sources and get organized (Collect data on mobile devices (with Evernote).

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Which import method should I use?

You can import your notes by either of the following methods:

Import from How it works Comments
An Evernote account Connect to your Evernote account from within NVivo, and then select the notes (or notebooks) that you want to import. This is the simplest way to import your notes.
 
Folders are automatically created for your notebooks and all the notes from a particular notebook will be grouped together in a folder.
An Evernote export file Export a notebook or selected notes from Evernote to a .enex file, and then in NVivo choose to import notes from an Evernote export file.
 		 This method can be useful when you regularly use the desktop version of Evernote, and have a large amount of data to import (for example, a large number of notes with attached video clips).

In this situation, you may find it is quicker to import the notes from your computer than download them from your Evernote account.

If you use this method, the structure of your notebooks is not preserved. If you want to keep the notes from each notebook in separate folders in NVivo, you should import each notebook separately.

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How notes are imported into NVivo

You can import individual notes or entire notebooks into NVivo.

When you import your Evernote notes, they are generally converted to document or PDF sources—other source types (for example, audio or picture sources) may be created, depending on the type of content you have within your notes, as explained in the following table:

Contents of the note Is converted to

Text only—in plain or rich text format.

Document source which you can edit in NVivo

A web page which was clipped and saved to Evernote via Evernote Web Clipper.

Either a PDF source or a document source, depending on how you clipped the web page.

Use the 'Simplified Article' capture in the Web Clipper if you want the web page to be converted to a document source.

Includes an attached file(s) in a supported document, PDF, picture, audio or video format.

 

The attached file is imported as a new source—for example, an audio or picture source. Attached files in unsupported formats are ignored.

If the note also contains text, then the text is converted to a document, with 'see also' links to the sources created from the attached files.

The sources created from attached files are stored together in a new folder that is added to your project.

The sources created from your notes are assigned to the source classification 'Reference', and information about the note (for example, date created and the author) is converted into source attribute values.

If you want to keep notes from each Evernote notebook in separate folders in NVivo, the easiest way to achieve this, is to import  from an Evernote account—folders are created automatically when you import your notes this way. If you are importing your notes from an Evernote export file, you can export each notebook to a separate .enex file and then import them into separate folders in your NVivo project.

If your notes are tagged, you can choose to convert the Evernote tags to theme nodes and coding when you import notes into NVivo.

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Import notes from your Evernote account

While working in NVivo, you can connect to your Evernote account and import your notebooks and notes. To do this:

  1. On the Data tab, in the Import group, click From Other Sources, and then click From Evernote.

The Import from Evernote dialog box opens.

  1. Select to import from An Evernote account. If you have already logged into Evernote (via NVivo) you can choose to import from the current account or switch to another.

  1. Click OK.

  2. Enter your Evernote username and password, then sign into Evernote and authorize NVivo to access your notes.

  1. Under Select notes to import, select one of the following options:

  • All notes not previously imported  Selects all notes that have not been previously imported into your project.

  • All notes  Selects all your notes—if you have a large number of notes the import may take some time.

  • Selected notes  Allows you to choose which notes you want to import. Select or clear the check boxes as required.

  1. Clear the Create and code nodes from Evernote tags check box if you do not want to import Evernote tags as theme nodes.

  2. Click Import.

NOTE  

  • If you receive a message indicating that the Evernote login webpage cannot be displayed, check your Internet connection. If the problem persists, check whether you are accessing the Internet via a proxy server. You may not be able to log into Evernote via NVivo if you connect to the Internet using a proxy server that requires authentication.  

  • NVivo uses the title of the note and date it was last updated to determine whether a note has previously been imported. If you change the title of the note in Evernote or update it, it will be imported again and you will have two versions of the note in your project.

  • To create case nodes from your Evernote tags, move the imported theme nodes into the Cases folder.

Logging into or switching Evernote accounts

When you log into your Evernote account (via NVivo), the icon is displayed at the top-right of the ribbon.

You stay logged into Evernote until you choose to log out—even between NVivo sessions. To log out of Evernote (via NVivo), click the Evernote icon and choose to Sign Out.

You can log out of one Evernote account and switch to another. To do this—on the Data tab, click From Other Sources, then click From Evernote and choose A different Evernote account.

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Import notes from an Evernote export file

You can export notebooks or selected notes from Evernote to a .enex file and then import them into NVivo. To do this:

  1. On the Data tab, in the Import group, click From Other Sources, and then click From Evernote.

The Import from Evernote dialog box opens.

  1. Select to import from An Evernote export file (.enex).

  1. Click OK.

  1. Under Select notes to import, select one of the following options:

  • All notes not previously imported  Selects all notes that have not been previously imported into your project.

  • All notes  Selects all your notes—if you have a large number of notes the import may take some time.

  • Selected notes  Allows you to choose which notes you want to import. Select or clear the check boxes as required.

  1. Clear the Create and code nodes from Evernote tags check box if you do not want to import Evernote tags as theme nodes.

  2. Click Import.

NOTE  

  • Evernote export files must be created using a supported desktop version of Evernote: Evernote for Windows (version 3.1 or later) or Evernote for Mac (version 3 or later).

  • NVivo uses the title of the note and date it was last updated to determine whether a note has previously been imported. If you change the title of the note in Evernote or update it, it will be imported again and you will have two versions of the note in your project.

  • To create case nodes from your Evernote tags, move the imported theme nodes into the Cases folder.

Understand how Evernote tags are converted to nodes

If a note is tagged, you can choose to convert the tags to theme nodes when you import the note. The theme nodes are created (if they do not already exist) and the entire content of the source that is being created is coded to these nodes. The nodes are stored in a folder named 'Evernote Tags' within the Nodes folder.

If you want to create case nodes from your Evernote tags, first import them as theme nodes then move them into the Cases folder.

If you do not want to create nodes when your notes are imported, clear the Create and code nodes from Evernote tags check box.

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