Sort of tangential to the question of implementing GTD for grad students (& other academics):

I'm a grad student in a social science field, with a lot of articles that I am having trouble figuring out how to organize. I kept them in binders according to the class they were assigned for, but now I'm done with coursework and so that doesn't make as much sense anymore as it has in the past. Some of the articles from classes are relevant to my own research, while others aren't as much. Then of course there are all the articles I'm copying/printing out as I work on my research. I'd like to keep everything I have to date around just in case (I tend to keep academic stuff around for a few years after using it - until I am sure I will never refer to it again - but then I DO get rid of stuff!), and mentally having some of them associated with my classes has helped in the past since I can usually remember where to look for something. That isn't really so with all of the non-class research articles - a category like "research" just isn't working anymore.

Binders don't seem like an ideal method anymore either, unless I were to index what's where (e.g., assign a unique # to each article and assign #s to binders, etc.). Should I create categories for articles that are relevant to my research and organize them that way? Should I use bibliographic software to better organize things, or some other method? And how should I physically organize things? A filing cabinet seems like it could work better than binder after binder, except that I move somewhat frequently and have no idea how I'd move something like that from place to place (also, I live in a studio apartment and am extremely short on space).

So...does anyone have ideas? What has worked for you? (Or, conversely, not worked?) The hPDA has been great in my life, sort of a "gateway tool" that has led me to become more organized, in control, and feeling less stress, but the disorganization that plagues my collection of articles is really wearing on me. I have been getting into GTD a little bit at a time (I know, you're "supposed" to implement it all at once, but a gradual approach is working for me). Each small step I take (e.g., capturing each task I have to do in my hPDA, thinking about what I have to get done in terms of projects/next actions, etc.) helps me immensely, and leads me to seek out additional ways to improve my quality of life. My piles of articles are the next area that I want to get under control (and I have a feeling my research is going to suffer until I accomplish this). Any and all suggestions are welcome!