online note taking tools

Google Notebook is going away. Wah!

I wouldn't care so much if I didn't ask my students to make use of online notetaking tools during their research. So, here is the result of my very short quest to find a (FREE) replacement (for tomorrow's class).

I started with an article that compares/contrasts some tools.
http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/05/28/7-apps-for-online-note-taking/

I chose two to look at, based on the article:

1. Notefish
http://www.notefish.com/index.php

My main hang-up with this service is that it requires that you download the widget that works with your browser to copy/paste things to your notefish notebooks.

The interface is limited--you can only copy/paste things to the notebook; you cannot link to them for example. Only text and pictures are available. However, I like simplicity. If I'm writing a research paper, why would I need to put videos in my notebook? Fewer features=fewer distractions.

I could live with all of these if it weren't for the downloaded widget. This makes the tool less useful because people like students who use different computers (and computers they don't have admin priviledges for) can't use the service at a library computer, for example.

2. Zoho Notebook
http://notebook.zoho.com/nb/login.do?serviceurl=%2Fnb%2Findex.do

At first, I didn't like this one as much as Notefish because it seemed overly complicated. It has so many features, most of which I know I'll never use and that most of my students won't use while researching an academic paper.

However, it has not silly widget-thingy to download, which means that my information is available on any computer with an internet connection. Plus, it looks very easy to export the notebook pages into something my computer could read off-line. Plus-plus, it has a tool to import my existing Google Notebook pages (I suspected this might be the case when it told me that I could log on using my google login).

And, I got to liking the over abundance of features. Plus, the way the pages are set up as tabs in the "books" makes it really easy to navigate around.

I miss Google Notebook, but maybe I'll learn to like these others.
m

All my classes are FULL

Really. They are bursting at the seams. Please don't ask me to add you. I can't.

m

Maren's Wou Office Hours

Hi Folks!

Here are my Spring 2009 Office Hours:

Monday: 1-1:50 PM
Tuesday: ONLINE 1-3 PM
Wednesday: 1-1:50 PM

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I'll be logged on to Meebo for online office hours.

On Tuedays, there's an 80% chance that I'll be in my office (Todd Hall 338), but I won't guarantee it.

Have a good day!
m