In 2014, I wrote about a newer Microsoft application called OneNote. It was and is still an excellent free program. Even if you do not have Office you can still get OneNote for free. Go to OneNote.com to read all about it. Also note that OneNote comes with a preinstalled version in Windows 10. It is not quite the full version but you can get the entire thing by going to this much shortened link, rd.dblclx.com/onenote-ron. It is also available for most smartphones, PCs, Macs and most any device that can connect to the internet. Yes, both OneNote (also most of the Office apps) and Clipper are available on the cloud at Office.com.
If you gather information for any reason, i.e. article research, recipes, sports, or simply thoughts, OneNote is something at which you should take a serious look.
OneNote uses an organizational process you may be familiar with – a paper notebook, like you used in school…no matter when you graduated. Your OneNote notebooks consist of Sections and Pages. I research columns and put related ideas, files, pictures, links and entire webpages in a section for each specific article idea. Over time I have built up a lot of information.
I can copy and paste most anything into OneNote, including pictures of any kind. Something interesting to mention is that most graphics you put in OneNote which have text on them are searchable. It takes a while converting the graphic text to actual text in the background. Think how helpful that could be. You can paste the link to YouTube and most any other video site into a page and the video will be added to the page in OneNote and be fully playable on that page, with a link back to the original.
You can get much more detail on OneNote online, Google for it. But now onto OneNote Clipper (also easy to find more about online).
Clipper is a browser add-on that started out about three years ago which makes OneNote even more productive. Add it to your browser which is a very simple process in Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer, which are the ones I tested it on. It can also be installed on Edge but in my opinion, it was too convoluted to mess with. It does not work on all browsers. Next, you must have a free Microsoft account. If you do not have one, go to Office.com and signup for an email account. Then you get all of Office online.
Clipper allows you to “clip” anything you see on a website and add it automatically to a notebook. You see a site you want to include in your research, click the Clipper icon in your favorites bar then choose either “Full Page“, “Region“, “Article” or “Bookmark.” Full Page gives you a screen shot of the entire web page, however links do not work. A link to the original page is provided. Region allows you to convert a selected area of the page to a graphic. Article grabs the textual information making all links active in the page. Finally, Bookmark, which will add a link to the original page and a few words from the site.
Your choice is then added to a notebook you select. Go check it out and enjoy!
