how to manage browsed web pages more effectively?

Posted by Prem
Jan 22, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Jim,

Hi, I’m a newbie in this forum. I am a content developer, having worked as a journalist, instructional designer, and a script writer for 3D animations and spot presentations. Most of my work requires a lot of referencing on the web and in libraries.

For years I was looking for that ideal PIM whih would serve both my note-taking and my referencing needs. About a year ago I discovered KnowledgeWorkshop (http://www.lmsweb.com/main/index_fla.shtm) which has an efficient archiving capability and a lot of the functionality that people expect from a PIM. I have not seen much written about this software, while a lot is spoken about Ultra Recall. I have found KnowledgeWorkshop far better than UR.

This software is also very strong on indexing and search. In addition it has the ability to store tasks (with reminders and alarms), making it something of a GTD as well as a personal repository for researchers.

But the biggest attraction for me is its ability to save snapshots of the numerous webpages I visit. KnowledgeWorkshop creates a repository of all the research that I do, and saving a snapshot is a simple drag-and-drop function. I also have the choice of saving either the URL only or a local version of the webpage for offline browsing. I have found it very efficient in storing even the multimedia bits on a webpage such as the .swf files.

Another advantage is that I can store the whole webpage or a section of the webpage. The software also allows me to download all the pages on a website to whatever level I choose.

Here are some of the other advantages that I have had from this software:

1. The interface is like a 2-pane PIM with the flexibility to store pages in as many nodes and sub-nodes as I want.
2. I can annotate, highlight, or add notes directly on the stored webpages.
3. I can pull into my topic tree any document such as .PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, etc.
4. The software can save citations which display the source from where the page/document was dragged-and-dropped. This could be the original website URL or the local file path.
5. I can add text directly into KnowledgeWorkshop topic trees by opening a “Note” page. The software provides most of the formatting functions that the average wordprocessor provides. The Note page can also embed and display rich media like animated gifs. Video clips etc can be included as attachments or sub-nodes.
6. After including webpages, word documents, PDFs etc to my tree, I can add additional attachments.
7. The search and highlight facility is impressive. The search operation extends to the MS Office PDFs and other formats that are included in my topic nodes.
8. The software allows me to publish my research material either as an XML-based package or as an mht-based mini website. The XML-based package can be accessed by those who have the KnowledgeWorkshop software or viewer. The mini website can be accessed through any browser.
9. The software has a portable version which can be used from a pen drive or external drive.
10. There is a free version of this software, which has a limit on the number of nodes that can be created. But this is pretty much good enough for students and researchers who do not have to create large repositories.

So Jim, I guess you could look at this software as it might serve your purpose.

Prem