There are a number of online research notebook tools, including Evernote and Iterasi, but these can sometimes be overwhelming. Mobile users have an alternative for grabbing information while on the go in Catch.com. It is a note-taking tool that is available on Android devices, the iPhone, and iPad. As you grab images, Web addresses, and type notes, it can save and synchronize them out to the Catch.com site. You can also work directly at Catch.com to type in your notes.
Like many new Web sites providing information management tools, Catch utilizes tags to help you organize your notes. Unlike a lot of sites, where the tags are distinct from the content – you usually click on a list of words after creating your content – the tags are built into your content. As you type, you place a hash tag (or shebang) # in front of the word, and it becomes a tag. All subsequent notes can adopt the same tag, giving you a controlled vocabulary so that you can reuse the same keywords – same spelling, etc. – and connect up related notes. Each tagged word becomes a clickable link, so you can retrieve all related notes by clicking on the tagged word and, if you want to retrieve a different group, just click on a new keyword.
Catch also has a sharing feature, where you can send out a Twitter message or Facebook post with a link to your online note. I’m not sure lawyers would want to share in such a broadcast manner, but it’s an interesting idea that you could send a link to someone by e-mail and they could view the item.
I’m not a heavy mobile device user but I can see how this would be great for spontaneous information capture, as opposed to research requiring notebooks.
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