The idea of having all my notes attached directly to the webpages they refer to was irresistable. So irresistable that I got overexited about ReframeIt. To make a long, painful story short – ReframeIt was a mistake. Good riddance to it. Now that I’ve uninstalled it my computer is running at its usual just above sloth speed. And I really did love annotating the webpages that I was reading, that is, until all my notes disappeared – this mystery is ongoing. And then there is the level of uncertainty with having all my notes on third party applications. I’m screwed if they fold, as has been the case with web annotation appliations in the past.
Despite all the rave reviews for ReframeIt (and leaving aside my mishaps with it), I just don’t think it lives up to the hype. I found the collapsible sidepane became more of a nuisance than a help, and the comments just aren’t that easy to read. I can see how ReframeIt would be useful for small communites of researchers for collaboration, but this kind of existing community needs to be a prerequisite for using ReframeIt. Trying to create a community by enticing people to sign up for ReframeIt is not so simple.
In my efforts to make some sort of public database for my research, I’ve shifted from delicious to Diigo. It meets all my requirements of social bookmarking, tagging, and note-taking. The annotation is easy with highlighting and sticky notes. And so far, Diigo hasn’t lost any of my notes. Really, it’s the little things that matter.
I guess this is just an example of trying to figure out the best way to do online research–it seems much more time is spent doing it wrong than getting it right.
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