I have been using Google's RSS reader over the past year and at this point probably have a couple hundred articles/forum posts/blog posts starred for future reference. I have read them all but I want to keep them around because each one has a tidbit of information I might need/want to use someday. I basically have the digital equivalent of a huge stack of magazine articles torn out over a year's time because "this could come in handy someday." The Google RSS reader doesn't allow any sorting, labeling or good searching capabilities.
Has anyone come across a smart way to track/organize these? I know you can bookmark them but then your bookmark system is tied to just one browser at just one computer. I am hoping for something cloud-based.
How do you keep track of interesting articles long term?
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jacob
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Answer 1) No, nobody has ever found a good way of keeping track of wisdom. This is why the same wisdom is rediscovered over and over again throughout history.
Answer 2) I bookmark them. And then proceed never to revisit them. In general, in order to really OWN knowledge, I would typically write something akin to the review article including all the sources. This act essentially turns the information into knowledge. Practicing the knowledge then turns that into wisdom. Once that has been done, there's really no longer any reason to keep the references.
Answer 3) Bookmarks are typically (most browsers I've seen) stored as a html file. They can be imported to other browsers, etc. It could easily be that cloud based computing is a fad just like any other version of the web and won't be the dominant form a decade from now.
Answer 2) I bookmark them. And then proceed never to revisit them. In general, in order to really OWN knowledge, I would typically write something akin to the review article including all the sources. This act essentially turns the information into knowledge. Practicing the knowledge then turns that into wisdom. Once that has been done, there's really no longer any reason to keep the references.
Answer 3) Bookmarks are typically (most browsers I've seen) stored as a html file. They can be imported to other browsers, etc. It could easily be that cloud based computing is a fad just like any other version of the web and won't be the dominant form a decade from now.
There used to be social/cloud bookmarking services such as del.icio.us, but that got bought out and then shut down. There might be such a service but I wouldn't really trust it.
I would bookmark and back up all bookmarks to Google Drive and Dropbox once a month or something (there might be a way to automate, I haven't tried). As jacob mentions, it's simply copying a file.
I would bookmark and back up all bookmarks to Google Drive and Dropbox once a month or something (there might be a way to automate, I haven't tried). As jacob mentions, it's simply copying a file.
Here's a couple ideas.
1) Perhaps not the most effective idea if you're trying to limit unnecessary costs, but you can just print this stuff out, thus building your own home "library." If legitimate wisdom is valuable enough to you, it may be worth it, though you then have to organize everything and take up space with storage.
2) Another idea I've used before is to simply copy/paste the articles into a Word Document and then upload them to DropBox or another online file storage system so you won't lose them if your computer goes down. Just takes a sec if you've already got the Dropbox link download to your folders.
The great thing about this is that you can organize as you see fit. If you'd rather read the articles at their sites, include the original link, but copy/pasting the entire piece backs you up in case the website disappears.
1) Perhaps not the most effective idea if you're trying to limit unnecessary costs, but you can just print this stuff out, thus building your own home "library." If legitimate wisdom is valuable enough to you, it may be worth it, though you then have to organize everything and take up space with storage.
2) Another idea I've used before is to simply copy/paste the articles into a Word Document and then upload them to DropBox or another online file storage system so you won't lose them if your computer goes down. Just takes a sec if you've already got the Dropbox link download to your folders.
The great thing about this is that you can organize as you see fit. If you'd rather read the articles at their sites, include the original link, but copy/pasting the entire piece backs you up in case the website disappears.
I agree with Jacob that there's no perfect system. But for practical reasons we each have to figure out what works good enough for us.
I used to have a filing system (on paper), with folders for all subjects that I was interested in. When I read something worth remembering about finance, I'd drop it in the "Finance" folder. It worked, but it took up a lot of space.
I now have a similar system with folders on the computer, in which I save articles as PDF's or even just HTML.
But my primary system of storing knowledge these days is a bunch of Word documents, one about each subject, in which I add each gem of knowledge that I encounter to what I already know about the subject, with references to sources. There's a lot of work in these summaries, but when I need to see what I know on a specific subject, I can look it up in seconds, instead of having to re-read a bunch of articles and studies.
I used to have a filing system (on paper), with folders for all subjects that I was interested in. When I read something worth remembering about finance, I'd drop it in the "Finance" folder. It worked, but it took up a lot of space.
I now have a similar system with folders on the computer, in which I save articles as PDF's or even just HTML.
But my primary system of storing knowledge these days is a bunch of Word documents, one about each subject, in which I add each gem of knowledge that I encounter to what I already know about the subject, with references to sources. There's a lot of work in these summaries, but when I need to see what I know on a specific subject, I can look it up in seconds, instead of having to re-read a bunch of articles and studies.
In a word: Evernote.
Get a free Evernote account. If you're using Chrome as your browser, get the Evernote plugin... if not, why not?
(Probably there are plugins for other browsers as well.)
Whenever you see something online you want to keep, highlight it and right click. Once that plugin is installed, one of the options is to send to Evernote with the Evernote Web Clipper. You can choose to clip the entire page (if you don't have anything highlighted), just the URL, or just the portion of the page that you have highlighted.
Once the notes are there, you can organize them however you like (folders, tags, etc.). There are free mobile apps as well.
This is how I use Evernote and I LOVE it.
Get a free Evernote account. If you're using Chrome as your browser, get the Evernote plugin... if not, why not?
(Probably there are plugins for other browsers as well.)Whenever you see something online you want to keep, highlight it and right click. Once that plugin is installed, one of the options is to send to Evernote with the Evernote Web Clipper. You can choose to clip the entire page (if you don't have anything highlighted), just the URL, or just the portion of the page that you have highlighted.
Once the notes are there, you can organize them however you like (folders, tags, etc.). There are free mobile apps as well.
This is how I use Evernote and I LOVE it.
I cut and paste the links into a journal that I keep on-line in a cloud, along with a keyword and sometimes a quote from the article. Then I can search for them whenever I want. I use Penzu, although there are many other options like Evernote, etc.
The key to any storage system is making sure it is searchable. Then you don't need any fancy indexes or organization.
I find it most efficient to just have one mind-dump place where I put everything that is non-numeric (goals, thoughts, reflections, quotes, articles, musings, random pictures and links) -- that way there is only one place you need to search. Keeping separate documents for separate lists like a filing cabinet sounds logical and organized, but it usually ends up being inefficient because it does not take advantage of the search function and requires additional up-front organization for each piece of data. Worst systems require you to search in multiple places instead of doing it en masse.
Another place to email articles that are in pdf or common e-pub formats is to a Kindle or another reader. These again will be stored in a cloud, making them easy to find and access.
The key to any storage system is making sure it is searchable. Then you don't need any fancy indexes or organization.
I find it most efficient to just have one mind-dump place where I put everything that is non-numeric (goals, thoughts, reflections, quotes, articles, musings, random pictures and links) -- that way there is only one place you need to search. Keeping separate documents for separate lists like a filing cabinet sounds logical and organized, but it usually ends up being inefficient because it does not take advantage of the search function and requires additional up-front organization for each piece of data. Worst systems require you to search in multiple places instead of doing it en masse.
Another place to email articles that are in pdf or common e-pub formats is to a Kindle or another reader. These again will be stored in a cloud, making them easy to find and access.
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ICouldBeTheWalrus
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I use http://pinboard.in Not free. It's like del.icio.us was, but actually developed by someone who cares about the product.
On the other hand, it's like a sort of clutter. 95% of everything I ever bookmark I never look at again.
On the other hand, it's like a sort of clutter. 95% of everything I ever bookmark I never look at again.
Hi,
if you are a bit handy with the command line, you can use a combination of wget to store your articles and grep -R to find things.
Another option is zotero.org , it just works in your browser and allows syncing to an online service or your own server.
Both options save your data also locally and free you from external cloud services to depend on.
With both you save the blog posts you are interested in, resulting in a searchable archive that may last longer than the online presence of the articles.
if you are a bit handy with the command line, you can use a combination of wget to store your articles and grep -R to find things.
Another option is zotero.org , it just works in your browser and allows syncing to an online service or your own server.
Both options save your data also locally and free you from external cloud services to depend on.
With both you save the blog posts you are interested in, resulting in a searchable archive that may last longer than the online presence of the articles.
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LiquidSapphire
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George the original one
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The web is ephemeral and everchanging. What was there yesterday is gone tomorrow. Systems crash, companies go bankrupt, and individuals die.
Therefore, if the content is of more than a passing interest, then I'll download it and store a local copy. No worries when the web is disrupted.
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Bookmarks suck, especially when sites reorganize internal material. They were not designed for intensive research usage, even when organized within folders. Use bookmarks for getting yourself to the general neighborhood, but don't rely on them for finding content after more than a couple years (or more than a couple hundred pages).
Therefore, if the content is of more than a passing interest, then I'll download it and store a local copy. No worries when the web is disrupted.
***
Bookmarks suck, especially when sites reorganize internal material. They were not designed for intensive research usage, even when organized within folders. Use bookmarks for getting yourself to the general neighborhood, but don't rely on them for finding content after more than a couple years (or more than a couple hundred pages).
The web is ephemeral and everchanging. What was there yesterday is gone tomorrow. Systems crash, companies go bankrupt, and individuals die.
+1
If there's important information in a web article, make a local archive copy on your disk. Often the salient points are one or two facts. I copy those into a collection of text files on my computer. There are many powerful tools for organizing digital text. Rarely an entire article is worth archiving. In those cases I print it to PDF. There are good tools for organizing files too.
+1
If there's important information in a web article, make a local archive copy on your disk. Often the salient points are one or two facts. I copy those into a collection of text files on my computer. There are many powerful tools for organizing digital text. Rarely an entire article is worth archiving. In those cases I print it to PDF. There are good tools for organizing files too.
@ J_ : if you are not handy with the command line, easiest is to start with the firefox browser and to install the zotero plugin. Then you can start collecting web references (web pages, pdf etc, even local files from your hard disk) with a copy on your local disk (if you wish). Zoter indexes everything and you can attach notes to anything. Finding something boils down to using search or a hierarchical index.
If you want to get more fancy you can sync your references automatically with your own server or with an zotero online account. And obviously you can export out of zotero for other uses.
If you want to get more fancy you can sync your references automatically with your own server or with an zotero online account. And obviously you can export out of zotero for other uses.