Online Research Tools

It’s that time of year again! Students are scrambling to get research projects completed (or, in many cases, started!) and researchers are rushing to present their findings at conferences and in grant proposals.  The right tools can make the process of accumulating, sorting through, and synthesizing research significantly easier, freeing up time and energy for writing.

Whether you're writing a grant proposal or a children's book, one of the most important steps to producing a well written product is the collection and management of all your research. If your research is unorganized or inaccessible, it will be of no help to you in the writing process. These applications provide a variety of research management solutions that range from clipping images and words from web sites to placing your references in the appropriate citation format.

Some of these research tools allow syndication to social media sites. While that may sound like an irrelevant feature when it comes to what you really need for researching your writing project, keep in mind that society is now “wired.” If you plan on making your writing available to the public (whether for free or for a price), you would benefit greatly from marketing it yourself online to call more attention to it.

I earn NO kick-backs or revenue from any of the services listed in this post. My reviews of each product are as objective as human nature allows. Keep in mind that things change at a rapid pace online, and what was current information may be out of date in a matter of months or weeks.  Always double-check my notes yourself before committing to any service.

Whether you’re a student or professional, I hope you’ll find the following list of online research tools I’ve amassed over the years helpful.

Contents

Delicious
Blinklist
Yahoo! Bookmarks
Google Bookmarks
Windows Live SkyDrive
Diigo
Lilisto
CiteULike
Connotea
Mendeley
Evernote
Zotero
Clipmarks
Pinboard
ClipClip
Instapaper
Read It Later
Readmeo
ToRead
Google Notebook
Zoho Notebook
Marrows
Memonic

 

Delicious

Formerly known as Del.icio.us, Delicious is a free online social bookmarking program that lets you store your bookmarks in an online database. Not only does that mean that you can track dozens of bookmarks from any device with an internet connection, but it also means you can share those bookmarks with anyone you wish.

• Access your bookmarks online through the Delicious webpage.
• Share bookmarks with friends or mark them private for your eyes only.
• Associate tags with bookmarks for easy organizing.
• Add bookmarks with a click of a button using the Firefox, Chrome, or Internet Explore plugins or a bookmarklet compatible with any browser.
• Integrate your bookmarks into a blog or social networking site using a widget.

I've used Delicious for years now (since before they changed their name!) and am quite pleased with the service. It's a no-frills site that does exactly what it was created to do: organize and catalogue your bookmarks online. If you don't use Delicious, please consider using any other online bookmarking service; having ready access to research from any computer means being able to work even when you left your laptop at home.

Learn more about Delicious at http://www.delicious.com.

Blinklist

 

Not as popular as other free bookmarking sites, Blinklist has still been around since 2005. It provides the same services other bookmarking sites do, with a few key differences.

• Log in using an Open ID or a Blinklist account.
• Save webpages with a click of a button using a bookmarklet in your favorite browser.
• Access bookmarks online through the Blinklist webpage.
• Use the built-in search function to search through your bookmarks at a boasted 0.18 seconds.
• Save a copy of the pages you bookmark on your hard drive, for offline viewing.
• Share your links with friends or set up private groups with which to share links.
• Discover related webpages that Blinklist recommends you visit based on what you bookmark.
• Use Blinklist in your native language: English, Suomi, Deutsch, Italiano, Français, Español, Svenska, or Portugues.

Because Blinklist doesn't have as large a following as some of the other bookmarking services, it's worth backing up your bookmarks (as it is with any bookmarking site you use) just in case this goes the way of Ma.gnolia and Furl.

Learn more about Blinklist at http://blinklist.com.

Yahoo! Bookmarks

Yahoo! Bookmarks is a recent addition to the free social bookmarking services available online. The number of options it offers you for cataloguing and sharing bookmarks makes it a worthy contender for your patronage. If you already have an account with Yahoo!, you automatically also have a Yahoo! Bookmarks account.

• Sign in using your Yahoo! user ID and password.
• Bookmark websites using a bookmarklet in your bookmark toolbar or in the Yahoo! toolbar.
• Organize bookmarks into folders AND with tags.
• Reorganize bookmarks using drag-and-drop management.
• View bookmarks in grid view, list view, or full view.
• Share bookmarks with friends through e-mail or instant message.
• Search using a search function that looks through bookmark titles, tags, descriptions, and each website.

If I didn't already have an established account with Delicious, the increased functionality of Yahoo! Bookmarks would be quite tempting. The only real downside to this service is its lack of integrated social media tools. There is no RSS feed to a page others can subscribe to or visit to see your recent bookmarks.

Learn more about Yahoo! Bookmarks at http://bookmarks.yahoo.com.

Google Bookmarks

Like other online bookmarking services, Google Bookmarks allows you to save your bookmarks online for easy access from any internet browser. Because the service is provided by Google, your bookmarks are integrated into your Google account and you can also access them through the various browser add-ons or desktop programs Google provides. Like other Google services, Google Bookmarks is free.

• Add bookmarks to your account by clicking a bookmarklet, through the Google Toolbar, through Google Maps, or by clicking the star next to a result in Google Search.
• Access your bookmarks from the Google Bookmarks homepage, the Google Toolbar, or the iGoogle gadget.
• Organize your content using labels and/or lists.
• Make lists public or private.
• Allow collaborators access to your lists.

Google is a company that focuses on the social aspect of internet browsing, as evidenced by their recent release of the Google+ service. If that service is indeed as successful as it was heralded to be and surpasses Facebook in popularity, hosting your bookmarks with Google might not be a bad idea if your goal is to incorporate social media.

Learn more about Google Bookmarks at https://www.google.com/bookmarks.

Windows Live SkyDrive

Formerly titled Windows Live Favorites, this free web service is Microsoft's version of the Google suite of services. Each user is given 25GB of online storage for files, photos, and bookmarks. Like Google, there is built-in sharing that allows you to share your files and collaborate with other Windows Live users. If you are looking for a place to host your research and drafts for easy viewing from any device with an internet connection, Windows Live may be the solution that works for you.

Learn more about Windows Live SkyDrive at http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive.

Diigo

Although Diigo began as a simple free online bookmarking service, over the years it has evolved into so much more. Not only can you bookmark sites, you can highlight information online, make notes directly onto webpages, save video/audio/photo information from a site, and collaborate with other Diigo users.

• Bookmark webpages using a drag-and-drop “Diigolet” or simple bookmarklet in any browser.
• Highlight and add sticky notes using the Web Highlighter on Chrome or the Diigo toolbar in IE or Firefox.
• Highlight in different colors and choose from two types of sticky notes.
• Use Diigo on an iPad, iPhone, or Android phone.
• Publish bookmarks, annotations and notes directly to your blog, e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook.
• Automatically add tweets you favorite on Twitter to your Diigo account.
• Archive entire webpages for offline viewing.
• Organize bookmarks by tags and/or lists.
• Search your library using several different search modes.
• Make bookmarks and annotations public or private.
• Search Diigo users by tags and add them to your Diigo network.
• Create public or private groups in Diigo and research collaboratively with other Diigo users.

Diigo's free service entitles you to unlimited bookmarks, 1k highlights per year, and 30 total cached webpages. Besides the free service, Diigo offers two upgraded plans that cost a modest amount of money. For $20/year, the basic plan includes unlimited highlights, full text search, and no ads. For $40/year, the premium plan includes everything the basic plan offers as well as unlimited cached pages, unlimited screen captures, and priority tech support.

Learn more about Diigo at http://www.diigo.com.

Lilisto

Lilisto is a free private and public online bookmark manager. Developed by Kristoff Bertram, it is not as extensive as other bookkmark managers that have a crew of developers running it. If you're looking for simplicity, this service is the one that will appeal most to you.

• Bookmark sites with a click of a bookmarklet you can use from your bookmark toolbar in your favorite browser.
• Organize your bookmarks with tags.
• Drag bookmarks into categories for a second layer of organization.
• Search your bookmarks by tags or search query.
• See how often you visit a site and favorite the ones you visit most frequently.
• Post your bookmarks directly to Facebook.
• Enjoy the clean, ad-free user interface of Lilisto.

Although Lilisto does not have as many features as other bookmark managers like Delicious or Diigo, I appreciate the minimalist approach to its design and usability. The simplicity is a breath of fresh air in a sea of services bloated with unnecessary features. If you find yourself drowning in the plethora of features available in other services and want to get back to the basics, give Lilisto a chance.

Learn more about Lilisto at http://www.lilisto.com/home.

CiteULike

Contrary to the name, this service does not actually cite your research for you. Instead, it is a free service that helps you store, organize, and share the scholarly articles you are reading.

• Save article details to your CiteULike account using a bookmarklet in your favorite browser.
• Search groups to see what articles they are saving that are relevant to your research.
• Browse popular saved articles in the CiteGeist library.
• Browse the table of contents of over 13,500 peer-reviewed journals to see what's new.
• Browse recommendations sent to you by CiteULike based on articles you are saving.

• Connect with other users interested in the same research fields.

While this certainly seems like a neat service, the articles that you are collecting are limited to the abstract section. Clicking on the link back to the original article brings up a sign-in page to the database that hosted the article. Having to dig out log-in information for individual databases, especially if you found the article using a multi-journal database such as JSTOR, is a pain. I personally would rather just save each file as as .pdf to my harddrive and search through them later. That way I at least have permanent access to the full-text of the article.

Learn more about CiteULike at http://www.citeulike.org.

Connotea

Aimed at academics, Connotea describes itself as “free online reference management for researchers, clinicians and scientists.”

• Save links to references with the click of a bookmarklet – Connotea will add the bibliographic information to references automatically.
• Tag saved references with as many tags as you like.
• Share your bookmarks or mark some as private.
• Access your library online from your Connotea account.
• Share links with colleagues through e-mail or through a link to your Connotea library.
• Browse other Connotea users' public bookmarks.
• Import and export your references collectively to a desktop reference manager.
• No storage limit on references saved.

Connotea is a powerful reference manager for researchers and I highly recommend it if you regularly search through peer-reviewed journals or use a desktop reference manager, like EndNote or Sente.

Learn more about Connotea at http://www.connotea.org.

Mendeley

Similar to other free reference managers, Mendeley sets itself apart with its powerful features and ease of use. It makes the task of organizing research and citing it easy and enjoyable. It is impossible to be disorganized when using Mendeley, no matter how hard you may try. Used by some of the world's leading research institutions and funded by some of the people behind Skype, Last.fm, and Warner Music, you don't have to fear that support for Mendeley will disappear anytime soon.

• Add links to references with a click of a button.
• Enjoy built in support for Mendeley in over 30 online research databases.
• Fully compatible with Word 2003, 2007, 2010; Mac Word 2008, 2011; Open Office 3.2; and BibTeX.
• Install plugins and activate features with a click of a button.
• Cite in over 1,000 journal styles or create your own citation style.
• Create bibliographies automatically in your word processing program.
• Collaborate on bibliographies with colleagues through a private group.
• Open multiple pdf files in separate tabs with your research library one click away.
• Annotate, highlight, and add sticky notes directly to pdf documents.
• Create private groups and share annotations with colleagues.
• Save and print annotations on pdf files.
• Organize research in your Library and sort through papers by author, title, journal, and more.
• Search the full text of every article in your library when you run a search.
• Use the simple navigation to find articles easily; no more difficult file names!
• Import articles from websites, other research software, or drag and drop files yourself.
• Make Mendeley “watch” a folder and automatically add files you add to that folder to your library.
• Collaborate easily with a newsfeed of your colleagues research additions or annotations.
• Share files and folders with colleagues and work together on papers in real time.
• Use Mendeley's 1GB of free online storage to backup and synchronize your library across your desktop, web, and mobile device.
• Access your library across multiple computers with Mendeley installed on each.
• Use Mendeley on a Macintosh, Windows PC, or Linux PC.
• Access your library online through Mendeley's website and work from any computer with internet access.
• Discover new research and socialize through Mendeley's public groups.
• Build an online presence in the research field through your Mendeley profile.

Where was Mendeley when I was in graduate school?! I could have definitely used this research manger back when I was in school. Its design is easy on the eyes, it makes having to organize articles and citations a thing of the past, and it automates many of the time-consuming tasks of writing a research paper. When so many organizations and individuals use Mendeley as their choice of research management software, you'll be in good company if you use it. And with a pricetag of free, you can try it out at no cost to yourself.

Learn more about Mendeley at http://www.mendeley.com.

Evernote

Recognizable by its elephant logo, Evernote is a note organization system that has both a free and a premium version. While it includes a desktop application (available only for Windows and Mac), its true power lies in its ability to sync your notes with its online system, letting you access them from any computer, phone, or alternate device with access to the internet.

• Clip words or pictures from webpages.
• Upload your own documents (free users are limited to .pdf documents).
• Upload photos from your phone, scanner, or computer.
• Access dozens of online tutorial videos.
• Search through your clippings and documents quickly with the search function.

Evernote is quite comprehensive in allowing you to store virtually anything in its system, and it has a devoted user-base that swears by it. The free version is powerful enough for most users, but you do have the option of purchasing a premium account if you need more functionality and more bandwidth. The premium package allows you up to 1G of uploads, .pdf searchability, lets you upload any file type (not just .pdf), gives you access to your note history, increases the speed of image recognition, pushes you to the front of the line in tech support, and eliminates advertising. Premium will cost you $5/month or $45/year. If Evernote is your choice for research organization, use the free version to start with and upgrade to premium only if the amount of information you are saving justifies the cost.

You can learn more about Evernote at http://www.evernote.com.

Zotero

Zotero is a very powerful research tool that lets you not only store your research, but also cite it properly. Created by George Mason University, this behemoth of a research tool was originally intended for use by academics. You don't have to be a scholar to reap the benefits of this tool, however, and its future development seems to be taking it in directions that will make it even more useful than it already is.

• Capture information from any web resource (book, magazine, web page, photo gallery, etc.) you are looking at with a single click of a button.
• Archive entire web pages in your library.
• Upload and store a variety of file types in your library (.pdf, spreadsheets, images, etc.)
• Tag research with labels for easier searching and access.
• Add notes alongside your research.
• Cite research in any major citation style (including thousands of journal-specific styles).
• Drop citations into Word or OpenOffice through plugins.
• Drag and drop bibliographies into e-mails, blog posts, or any word processor.

Each Zotero user is allotted 100MB of free online storage, with more storage available for a modest monetary investment. $20/year will get you 1G, $60/year will purchase 5G, and so on. I've used Zotero before and found it to be user-friendly. The number of different things it can do is comparable to much more expensive software programs like EndNote and Sente, but at a fraction of the cost (and that's if you purchase extra storage!).

You can learn more about Zotero at http://www.zotero.org.

Clipmarks

Run by a cool group of guys, Clipmarks lets you literally cut text, images, and video out of any site and store it in your Clipmarks online account. Because all storage is online, you can access your data from any device that is connected to the internet. While you can see other people's clips (be careful that you don't spend too much time just browsing through others' clips!), you have the option to make your own clips private if you don't want others to see your collection.

• Clip directly from Firefox and Internet Explorer using a browser plugin.
• Syndicate your clips to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, and more.
• Post clips to your blog using direct blogging integration.
• Print only your clips to save paper and time.
• Search your (or others') collections with the search function.
• Edit or delete clips after you've clipped them.
• Add comments to clips with no character limitation.
• Organize the clips in your collection into folders.

There is a 1,000 character limit on clips, so if you are looking at a very long article online, you may have to break it up into 2 or 3 clippings. While that may feel cumbersome, remember that you don't need to clip articles in their entirety; clip the bibliographic information you'll need for citations and the parts of the article that are relevant for your purposes.

Recently, Clipmark developers have created another service called Amplify. This service is almost identical to Clipmarks (and features full integration with Clipmarks.com) EXCEPT that the bookmarklet is embeddable in ALL web browsers. So if you prefer to browse using Opera, Safari, Google Chrome, or even Flox, you can now use Amplify to get all the benefits of Clipmarks for your specific browser.

Clipmarks and Amplify are both free services with no disclosed limit on storage space.

Learn more about Clipmarks at http://clipmarks.com/.

Learn more about Amplify at http://amplify.com/.

Pinboard

Frequently compared to Delicious, Pinboard's tagline is “Social bookmarking for introverts.” The site aims to cater more to users' need for speed and utility, and less to users' social networking needs. While not free, the modest fee of $9.36 (it goes up a small increment with each new sign-up) helps keep the service free of spammers and advertisements. If you need added storage, Pinboard offers archival accounts for $25/year. These accounts will store a complete cached copy of every bookmark you make as well as allow users full-text search of their entries.

• Use from any browser using a bookmarklet.
• Add notes to and tag entries when you bookmark them.
• Import your existing bookmarks from Delicious, Diigo, Ma.gnolia, and other sources.
• Mirror public bookmarks you make on Delicious, Instapaper, Read It Later, and Google Reader.
• Save notes to yourself as though they were bookmarked pages.
• Tag bookmarks for easy cataloguing.
• Mark bookmarks you don't want others to see as private.

If your emphasis is on collecting research and not on publicizing your work at the same time, the no-frills functionality of Pinboard will appeal to you.

Learn more about Pinboard at http://pinboard.in.

ClipClip

Self-described as an "online scrapbook," ClipClip is a free web service that lets you "clip" text and images from webpages without having to bookmark the entire webpage.

• Clip text and images using a bookmarklet in your favorite browser.
• Access your clips online from your ClipClip account.
• Choose which clips to make private or make them all public.
• Tag and comment clippings.
• Organize clippings into folders.
• E-mail clips to friends and family.
• Create or join existing groups to share clips easily.

While I readily admit that ClipClip is a neat service that would make researching projects much more efficient, it's almost identical in function to Clipmarks. Clipmarks is also more popular and has the added feature of being fully integrated with most major web browsers through a downloadable plugin. The choice is ultimately yours, and if you enjoy supporting the underdog, ClipClip would be the way to go.

Learn more about ClipClip at http://www.clipclip.org.

Instapaper

Created and maintained by Marco Arment, Instapaper is a free online tool that I absolutely love and have used for several years now without problem. It allows you to “save” webpages and articles for later viewing by clicking a button in your bookmark toolbar.

• Use from any web browser.
• Organize articles and webpages into folders.
• Save webpages as text only to get rid of annoying ads or photos.
• E-mail links or long messages directly to your Instapaper account for later viewing.
• Send articles to Instapaper directly from Google Reader or any of over 140 iPad and iPhone supported apps.
• Download reading material for offline viewing as a Word document, Kindle or ePub ebook.

When you're researching writing projects, you will often come across articles and websites that you are either too tired or in too much of a hurry to read fully. Normally I would bookmark them to come back to them later. I highly recommend that you use either Instapaper or another similar service to keep your bookmarks menu free from clutter.

Learn more about Instapaper at http://www.instapaper.com.

Read It Later

Created by Nathan Weiner, Read It Later is another free online tool that is almost identical in fuction to Instapaper. There are a few differences between the two that are worth noting, however.

• Use the bookmarklet from any web browser (Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have extensions you can install).
• Edit and tag entries to categorize them for easy organizing.
• Download reading material for offline viewing.
• Save webpages as text to get rid of annoying ads or photos.
• Share an article when you're done reading it through a number of social media sites.

Incredibly popular, Read It Later has more than 2 million users. If I were not already a satisfied user of Instapaper, I would definitely give Read It Later a try.

Learn more about Read It Later at http://readitlaterlist.com.

Readmeo

Readmeo is a free online service that allows you to bookmark webpages to return to later when you have more time to read them. Similar to a bookmarking service, the purpose of Readmeo is to save reading material.

• Save webpages to your Readmeo account using a bookmarklet.
• Organize your saved pages into folders.
• Add stars next to particularly important pages.

If you dislike InstaPaper and ReadItLater, Readmeo's simplicity may appeal to you. The lack of social media integration makes Readme better suited for use as a bookmark manager of webpages you want to revisit later, but don't necessarily want cluttering up your main bookmark manager service.

Learn more about Readmeo at http://readmeo.com.

ToRead

ToRead is a free e-mail bookmarking service that lets you read webpages offline. It is very limited in its scope, but can be very useful if you're most comfortable accessing e-mail during the day and enjoy (or need to be) reading material offline. By dragging the bookmarklet into your favorite browser, you can click the button anytime and automatically e-mail yourself the contents of whatever webpage you were looking at. Unregistering from the service is included in your registration confirmation e-mail (which can be regenerated if you happen to lose it), so you can try this service out without fear of getting stuck with an account you don't want in the future. Unless you need the offline functionality of this service, InstaPaper and ReadLater provide the same function with a wider array of reading options.

Learn more about ToRead at http://toread.cc/.

Google Notebook

Google Notebook is a part of the Google suite of services. (If you have not yet looked at all of the services that Google offers, please consider going to Google.com and clicking on the “more” option to see a list of all the free applications Google has developed.) Google Notebook is free web clipping/note storing service that allows you to clip the parts of webpages you wish to keep and type notes for safe-keeping as well. It is meant to be a place to virtually store ideas, research, and anything else you would normally jot down in a physical notebook.

• Log in to your Google Notebook using your Google account.
• Install a browser extension for Internet Explorer and Firefox to clip, bookmark, or create notes without leaving the browser screen.
• Create multiple notebooks and create sections within notebooks.
• Organize bookmarks, text notes, and clippings into notebooks and/or using labels.
• Search your notebook(s) content with a search function.
• Export all your information to Google Docs.
• Invite collaborators to add to or delete from your notebook contents.
• Share your notebook as a public web page.
• Easily remove collaborators or notebook webpages if you change your mind about sharing.

When I was in graduate school, classmates would type their notes directly into Google Notebook while listening to the professsor lecture. It was convenient, free, and always available via the internet. Unfortunately, Google is no longer developing Google Notebook, which means there will be no future updates and it is not open to new users. Unless you already have an account with Google and activated your Google Notebook user acount, you're out of luck.

Learn more about Google Notebook at http://www.google.com/notebook.

Zoho Notebook

Similar in function to Google Notebook, Zoho Notebook is a productivity application provided by Zoho.com. Its main function is to help you collect and access research or other information online.

• Sign in using your Facebook, Yahoo!, Google, Google Apps, or Zoho account.
• Create text, image, video, or audio content and embed them directly into your notebook pages.
• Clip information from webpages using the Firefox browser plugin.
• Attach files directly to notebook pages.
• Embed RSS feeds as objects directly into your notebook pages or add entire webpages into your notebook.
• Create multiple notebooks and pages within notebooks.
• Integrate other Zoho services into your notebook or create new spreadsheets or writer pages directly in your Zoho notebook.
• Share notebooks, individual pages, or parts of a page with collaborators or publish them online.
• Collaborators can work on one notebook at the same time making the notebook a virtual whiteboard.
• Skype and Zoho chat are integrated into shared notebooks so you can call or chat with collaborators who are online.
• Easily revoke sharing privileges if you change your mind.
• Save work automatically and revert back to previous versions if need be.

Like Google, Zoho is an online application suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet application, calendar, planner, and notebook (to name a few). Zoho Notebook is just one of the applications available and if you are interested in hosting your files online and have yet to choose a service provider, I recommend you check Zoho out.

Learn more about Zoho Notebook at https://notebook.zoho.com.

Marrows

Developed by a Turkish startup, Marrows is a free online social bookmarking/web clipping service that emphasizes the social nature of the Internet. Instead of trying to compete with similar services like Delicious and Clipmarks, it aims to become a useful tool in a researcher's toolbox.

• Sign in with Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, or create a Marro.ws account.
• Bookmark sites using the Firefox or Chrome add-ons or a bookmarklet in your favorite browser's bookmark toolbar.
• Clip only the parts of a webpage or article you want and type and store notes alongside your clippings.
• Mark bookmarks as public or private.
• Organize your saved bookmarks and notes into categories and create tags for items.
• Download your (or others'!) saved clips and bookmarks in PDF, HTML, DOC, or TXT format.
• Connect with and follow other Marrows users.
• Share your bookmarks and notes with others through RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail.
• Join and create groups of users with similar interests.
• Track your items and comments on a line graph and see your recent activity.

I am quite impressed with this service. Despite not being very old, it rivals its competitors in terms of user friendliness and features. It even has features the more established bookmarking services lack! I do hope this service gains popularity; once it does, I would have no reservations about switching over to it. There is one small issue, however, with Marrows: Reading the tour and “about” sections of the website, it's quite clear that Marrows was launched by people whose first language is not English. Only a few grammar errors actually show up in the Marrows service itself once you log in because you generate most of the content on your Marrows webpage.

Learn more about Marrows at http://marro.ws.

Memonic

Memonic is a free web service that lets you capture, organize, and share information. Not only does Memonic allow you to clip web pages, save them for later viewing, bookmark them, write notes, and “gather” information; it does all of this while sporting a clean, creative user-interface that is very easy on the eyes.

• Sign-in using your Facebook, Twitter, or Memonic account.
• Install Memonic plug-ins for Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, or Opera.
• Download Memonic applications for a web browser, iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, or Mac.
• Clip web content.
• Create notes.
• Save webpages for later viewing.
• Bookmark webpages.
• Use the “Gathering” mode for long research sessions.
• Take screenshots and clip information from Word and other applications using the Windows destop app.
• Forward e-mails and attachments directly to your Memonic collection.
• Organize your content in folders, tags, and groups.
• Make your content public or private or viewable only by those you invite.
• Share content directly to Facebook or Twitter or e-mail.
• Collaborate with others by creating or joining groups.
• Customize the look of your Memonic page.
• Save paper by creating super compact printouts.

Memonic easily bundles the services provided by web sites like Clipmarks, Delicious, ReadItLater, and others into one great looking site. The only downside is you are limited to only 100 notes, 3 groups, and 2 MB max per attachment when you sign-up for a free account. The premium account will cost you $28/year and allows you the ability to create an unlimited number of notes, create/join an unlimited number of groups, upload attachments that are up to 20 MB in size, and use “Gathering” mode (unavailable to free users). If you're a student, you might want to look into the student discount Memonic offers. If not, take the tour and decide whether you like the bundled features enough to pay for one service instead of signing up for several different services that provide more storage for their free accounts.

Learn more about Memonic at http://www.memonic.com.

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I’m only a single person and the Internet is ever so vast! Let me know if there’s a research tool I’ve missed that you think belongs on this list.

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Photo credit: Zzpza

Posted in: online-tools, research