Easy - No-Brainer

I'm quite cofident that these programs are easy to learn and use and very likely to be worthwhile.

They're Sorted by Major Category (Research; Routine; Teaching) and Subcategory. Some programs appear in several categories.

Category	Name	Comments
Routine: Administration	ClipMate	What it Does: Enhances the windows clipboard dramatically Runs on: PC only Price: $20 Best Feature: Efficiency of doing multiple copies from a document and then pasting in another. Worst Feature: Two different "views" or"modes" can be confusing. Learning Time: Minutes --- Export/Import: Good My use: Daily --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: Remembers copy and paste (clipboard) functionality - and much more - includes a good screen capture (making an image file of something on the screen). Use it if you do a lot of copy and paste. Administration note: Use it when there is lots of copy and paste or you have "boilerplate" text to place. Review & Comments about ClipMate in Academic Tools Blog
Teaching: Classroom	Google Earth	What it Does: View and zoom the entire world Runs on: PC, Mac, Linux - Uses Web Free Uniqueness: It's one of only a few tools to provide this combination of functions Best Feature: Wow factor when exploring a geography-related aspect of a course. Worst Feature: Interface a bit clunky when going beyond basics. Learning Time: Minutes --- Export/Import: Medium Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: What a splendid, ever-improving tool. If you use it regularly it's worth it to spring the $20/year for the "plus" version. Classroom note: Wow factor is still high Review & Comments about Google Earth in Academic Tools Blog
Research: Resource	Google Alerts	What it Does: Sends EMails about news based on your search criteria Runs on: Web Free Uniqueness: It's one of only a few tools to provide this combination of functions Best Feature: Works as promised Worst Feature: The user can sometimes be deluged with emails. Learning Time: Minutes --- My use: Regular --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: It's wise to test your search first to be sure you're getting the kinds of things you want. Resource note: To stay abreast of news - probably in related fields rather than primary Review & Comments about Google Alerts in Academic Tools Blog
Research: Search	Google Scholar	What it Does: Web search of scholarly material Runs on: Web Uniqueness: It's one of only a few tools to provide this combination of functions Best Feature: Focus on the scholarly material - reduced irrelevant "hits". Worst Feature: Doesn't index everything (nor does any other service). Learning Time: Minutes --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: If you're off-campus access it through the library to have access to full-text of many services. They'll appear automatically in the results. Review & Comments about Google Scholar in Academic Tools Blog
Research: Search	Google Search Tips	What it Does: How to search effectively via Google Runs on: Web Free Best Feature: Can focus/narrow searches Worst Feature: Must memorize to be effective. Learning Time: Minutes --- My use: Daily --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: My most useful is "site:drexel.edu" - it finds stuff that Drexel search engine buries. Search note: To make Google more effective e.g using "site:edu" to restrict searches Review & Comments about Google Search Tips in Academic Tools Blog
Routine: Storage	HTTrack	What it Does: Capture a complete online website to your computer for local browsing Runs on: PC and Linux Free Best Feature: It's quite easy to capture a website Worst Feature: It can be a very big space eater. Learning Time: Minutes --- Export/Import: Good My use: Infrequent --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: Useful when must look at a website when not connected to the interet. May not capture websites that are "database driven" - many large ones. Storage note: For offline or archival access to websites Review & Comments about HTTrack in Academic Tools Blog
Routine: Utility	Find and Run Robot	What it Does: Finds things you use regularly on your machine Runs on: PC only Free Best Feature: Quick easy way of starting many programs and files. Worst Feature: A bit slow finding files not used regularly. Learning Time: Minutes --- My use: Daily --- Confidence in Evaluation: Good Comment: A near-ideal tool for a single purpose. Once you're comfortable with it you should explore the capability of customizing the "rules" it uses to sort what it finds. Review & Comments about Find and Run Robot in Academic Tools Blog

 

Update: 2006-11-26