Rating: ★★★★
Evernote is a cross-platform freemium application designed for note taking, organizing, and archiving.
Overview
What distinguishes the Evernote app from other research tools is in the the application’s very name, Evernote is all about notes. As a student researcher who relies extensively on annotations, and highlighting to process information, I find Evernote an extremely beneficial app. Further, I believe Evernote is a wonderful way to bring together more traditional methods of research, which rely upon published articles, books, and hand-written notes, and digital practice. Indeed, the app’s intuitive design is perfectly suited to bringing old-school notetakers like me from the stone age .
Though I do think the simplicity and intuitive design of Evernote is one of its greatest strengths, this same characteristic also means that it lacks the sophistication of other research tools– something to consider if you are embarking on academic research that requires the use of multiple sources. Though Evernote allows you to put your readings, notes, etc. all in one place, it is not capable of automatically generating a correctly-formatted bibliography or footnote like the app Zotero.
Evernote is a freemium app, meaning that a selection of functions are only available with a premium subscription. I have the free version and have found that I had uninhibited access to all the functions I need to complete research papers. The only glaring exception is the search function is limited by premium access in some capacities, but this by no means hinders the overall functionality of the app.
What Evernote Can Do
Once you sign up, and download the Evernote application through an easy process, your left with a simple page that resembles a file folder, with a left pane that has a few short cut categories, such as “notes” and “notebooks.”
These categories both lead to pages that resemble tools and applications we are all familiar with. The note page resembles a Word document, with a left pane that opens up to your collection of notes. You can label you note, and just start typing, including the ability to change font, font size, bold, underline etc.
The menu above the note highlights how Evernote has many more capabilities than ordinary paper notebooks or stand-alone word-processing files. A button next to the title allows you to create and add tags to a note, a meanings of filtering for the search function. Other interesting functions also featured in the top menu above the note include the ability to record audio and embed it the note, as well as a Photo Booth picturing taking element. Another notable tool in this menu is the paperclip button, which allows you to attach documents or files of all sorts to the note. For example, if I am writing a note about an article I am reading, I can attach the article right to the note.
Much like the category of ‘notes,’ the ‘notebook’ category contains separate collections of your note pages. If notebooks relate to one another, you can also form ‘notebook stacks’ that further coordinate your research material.
The Evernote Web Clipper
What most compels me to use the platform for all my research projects is the ‘Evernote Clipper’ function. Though I am aware other resource tools such as Zotero also allows you to save web content at the click of a button, I find Evernote unique in its possibilities to organize web pages, articles and sources found on the internet. For example, if you are on the New York Times website, and you find an article relevant to your research, you just have to click the small elephant button in the right corner of your browser (which appears when you download the Evernote Clipper app) to save the item in Evernote. The button will open a box with different options. You can ‘clip’ internet content in forms such as an article, a simplified web page, a screenshot, among others. Then, you can save the clipping to a particular notebook, where it takes the form of a note.
What I find most useful is that I can ‘clip’ content from the internet, and my personal analysis of the content can all appear in the same note. As a result, my sources and notes on the sources are much better organized; I no longer have to waste time. This organizationally mindful function saves me so much time flipping between my notes and sources.
In addition, the search function in the top right hand corner of the Evernote app is another time-saving feature of Evernote. If I remember even the vaguest tidbit of information, but forget the particular note or article I saved, a simple keyword search often leads me right to the source. Yet, the search capacity is somewhat limited without premium access, as I mentioned above. Finally, Evernote has the capacity to search within handwritten documents uploaded as notes, yet this function is reserved for premium access, an annoying, albeit workable obstacle.
Link to a How-To Video for the Evernote Web Clipper
A Useful Tool, With Some Drawbacks
Though I would recommend the Evernote platform as an academic resource tool to my peers who similarly need to organize large quantities of information for seminar papers, Evernote does not specifically market itself for academic use. Evernote is also oriented towards businesses, and for information and research that can be shared among colleagues in a professional environment. That being said, this function can also be profitably used in an academic context: I can send my professor my notes or notebooks very easily, or share my work so others can add and edit.
The broad utility of Evernote though, limits its focus for specifically academic use. For example, Evernote may collect sources for your organizational convenience, but it cannot generate bibliographies such as research tools like Zotero. That being said, I am put at ease by the simple formatting of the Evernote application, and would gladly use it in conjugation with other academically-oriented research tools if I found the limitations of Evernote too inconvenient.
To conclude, while I was initially hesitant to incorporate Evernote into my research process because my method was heavily reliant on the annotations and highlighting of sources and hand-written notes, I have become increasingly reliant on the App for my research. Simply put, Evernote has since reinvented how I conduct research, allowing me maintain my attachment to notes and notebooks, without the technological limitations of their physical form. I continue to use Evernote in my current research projects, and would gladly suggest this app to my classmates similarly embarking on rigorous independent research for seminar papers, but also for collaborative projects with an extensive research element. To any student that is sick on manically flipping through stacks of articles and notebooks, of trying to make sense of the 694 post-its on your desk, Evernote is for you.
Pros
- Intuitive for old school note takers
- Excellent for organizing notes alongside sources
- Extremely useful ‘clipper’ for pulling content from the internet
Cons
- Lacks the sophistication of other research tools (i.e. Zotero)
- Aspects of the search function are limited to premium access
- Cannot generate bibliography