WebNotes.net for Faster Research

Researching on the web and sharing the information can be a lot of work. For information I need to refer back to later I’ll either bookmark the page, or copy and paste the text and URL’s (webpage addresses) into MSWord. If I want to share the information I’ll email the URL with some notes about what the page contains.

Now I’ve discovered a much easier method for saving and sharing information using a new tool called Web Notes. With it you can highlight text on webpages, add notes to them, share the information, and save it for later. There’s no more copying, pasting, and opening multiple programs.

For easy organization and retrieval of all those notes and pages Web Notes provides folders and reports. The folder system is straight forward allowing for adding, organizing, and deleting notes. The reports tool provides full views of notes and URLs which can be saved and printed. I’ll be saving a lot of time with this tool.

Read the PC World review in the Washington Post.

Visit the:
Washington Post website
PC World website
Web Notes website

Google Web History

Have you ever wanted to go back to a really great website but can’t remember its name or how you found it?

To solve the problem try Google Web History. It allows you to view all the webpages you’ve visited by date and time. For quicker browsing it breaks down your history into keywords searched for and the name and URL (uniform resource locator) of each site.

To prevent prying eyes from viewing your history Google provides tools for removing or pausing history. For users concerned about privacy it allows you to opt out of storing your history.

In addition to breaking down your history, Google’s “Interesting Items” page makes suggestions for other sites you might be interested in and, on the “Trends” page, summarizes personal Web History data.  For my purposes I find both of these pages useless because they appear to contain raw computer generated data that has no meaning for me.

If you want to use Google Web History sign up for a free Google account and use the Google search engine. Learn more about this resource at Web History Help.

Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

If you haven’t noticed or you aren’t sure what the button on your keyboard with the little Windows logo is, exploration is a definite must. Instead of using a mouse or touch pad to navigate between open windows, manage files, and search your computer, the Windows key in combination with another key will help you accomplish these tasks in less time. Depending on how much you use your computer, the few minutes it takes to explore these keyboard shortcuts will pay you back with minutes or even hours of your time. If you haven’t used shortcuts before, just hit the Windows key and the letter following it at the same time.

Here are a few essential time saver keyboard shortcuts.

Windows-E
Use this keyboard combination instead of clicking on the Start button to view My Computer/Windows Explorer file-management tool.

Windows-D
This is really great for times when you have a bunch of windows open and need to get to the desktop. Instead of minimizing each window separately this keyboard combination minimizes all the open windows in one shot. Just hit it a second time to restore.

Windows-F
If don’t remember where a file is saved, use this keyboard combination to search your computer.

Search Your Desktop

Have you ever misplaced a file on your computer? Or maybe you’re looking for a file someone else created but don’t know where it is. Instead of wasting your time digging through folders and files you can get a software program to do the job for you.

There’s a few of them out there.

• Google Desktop

This one’s fun because you can customize it with gadgets like weather reports and news.

• Copernic Desktop

In addition to the free home version Copernic offers professional and corporate versions for a fee. Free downloads are available in 4 languages:

1. English
2. Spanish
3. French
4. German

• Yahoo! Desktop

If you’re a Yahoo! fan this desktop search tool is integrated with other Yahoo! features.

 

Welcome to Information Hound

Welcome! This is my first post for Information Hound. This blog will focus on thoughts, tips, and resources about locating, assessing, disseminating, and organizing information.