Free Online Tools

Looking for ways to save time, get organized, or increase your productivity? Here are a few (free!) online tools:

• Google Docs (docs.google.com) – If you’ve been assigned a group project/paper, need to write a lab report with your partner, or any other collaborative writing project, Google Docs can help. It allows you to share documents with others, give others permission to edit documents, and receive notices about changes made to documents. Documents created in Google Docs can be exported as Microsoft Word documents.
• Dropbox (dropbox.com) – Allows you to store photos, documents, and videos in the “cloud.” You can access them from anywhere and share them easily.
• Evernote (evernote.com) – Use this to collect ideas, capture photos/audio/webpages, take notes, and organize your to-do list(s). Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone, and mobile device.
• SilverNote (silver-note.com) – Note-taking software for your PC or laptop. Your “notes” can be text, images, tables, sketches, etc. and notes can be linked to other notes to help you stay organized and find information quickly.
• Zotero (zotero.org) – Reference management software that allows you to collect, organize, and cite your research resources. You can download easily records from library catalogs, databases, and other online sources into a personal reference library that you can then organize and use to produce bibliographies and other references automatically.