The Google Notebook: A New Way to Organize Research for Your Writing Projects

Have you ever wished when you were doing research for an article for Associated Content, or for a book or paper you are working on that you could just single out the information you needed? That somehow you could just do that and then look at later so that you didn't have to clutter up your favorites list on your web browser by saving the website and then going back through it again when you were ready to write your article, paper or whatever? Well now you can!

Google has come up with a very nifty little tool called the Google Notebook that allows you to copy and select text and pictures and save them to one location. So no more going back through website after website looking for the key points you wanted to make in your article, paper or book. No more cluttering up your favorites list with websites you are only going to look at a few times for research, and or spending time trying to find websites that you forgot to save when you found them the first time.

Other nifty features of the Google Notebook are that you can also type in your own notes as well. In addition, you can also change the font, the font size, the font color, highlight sections with multiple colors, add bullets and numbering, and Bold and Italicize selected words. This is not just true for any notes you type, but the ones you copy and paste to your notebook as well. Finally, you can sort and filter your notes with the click of ae button in the right hand top corner, and clicking on the Tools drop down menu allows you to print your Google Notebook, export it to Google Docs, rename your Google Notebook, delete your Google Notebook, and much more!

As far as I'm concerned the Google Notebook is a writer's best friend. It takes the guesswork out of research and allows you to compile a set of research notes and pictures that you can then use when you are ready to write your article, paper or book. What is more, you can save this "notebook" and make it accessible to others online. So, let's say you are working with a group of students, co-workers, or a group of writers on a project, but maybe you are unable to get together and discuss said project right away, or you are each in different states or countries. With Google Notebook you don't have to be in the same room to start doing the research. Each participant can go online and begin doing the research, taking notes and finding appropriate royalty free pictures, and adding them to a notebook that everyone in the group can have access to. One way that this is especially helpful is that it prevents duplication of information and sources because each person can see what the other has done before they begin their own research, or when they are ready to dive into the next chunk of research.

Speaking of sources, this is another fine advantage to using the Google Notebook. Can't remember who made that quote you want to use, have a piece of information you want to use but can't remember the source? Once you find your source information again, you can copy and paste where the information came from along with the quote or block of information so that when you go to do your writing you have that information at your fingertips and don't have to go and seek it out as you are trying to write.

Now that I've told you some of the wonderful advantages of using Google Notebooks, you can download your copy of Google Notebook here. The way Google Notebook works is you download it to your hard drive, install it, and then your computer will save this special plug-in to your web browser. You will know that it has been installed correctly by the web page that pops up and says that the plug-in has been installed. Once this has been done and you have either signed in or created an account with Google, you can then close this window. You will notice on any web page that you open after that, that there is a small notebook icon at the bottom right hand side. You click this to open a new Google Notebook. Open up one of your research web pages in a new tab and select the pertinent information with your mouse, once you have done this, click on the small gold star at the bottom of the Google Notebook window. This will add the information you selected with your mouse to your Google Notebook. Google Notebook automatically saves any notebooks you create using this plug-in, so if your power suddenly shuts down, or your computer decides to arbitrarily reboot itself, you will not lose anything that you have saved or typed to your Google Notebook.

Want to share your Google Notebook with co-workers, fellow writers or whomever? It's easy, just go to the right hand side at the top and you will notice a link called, "Sharing Options," clicking on this will take you to a window that shows you how to share your Google Notebook with whomever you want to.

As you can see the Google Notebook is a very handy tool for writers, students, teachers, and anyone who has the occasion to do research. This is one free tool that you will want to get your hands right away!