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Best program to manage information collections?

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MrCrispy:
That was probably not a very good title for what I have in mind. I'm trying to get organized and want to collect various bits and pieces into one nice collection that is easily manageable - this info comes from web pages, blogs, notes etc. e.g.  collections of software ideas, fitness routines and tips, recipes, personal finance etc. An imp feature would be a classification system (tags/folders etc) and context - e.g. if its a web page it would get the latest copy, update rss feeds etc.

I find I'm just not able to keep track of all the different places and things tend to get lost. Right now I mostly use the Firefox extension scrapbook because its so easy to use. I also have OneNote but am not very good at it. I've read the huge note taking thread and am also considering UltraRecall but it seems complicated.

Is there something which can do what I want? Maybe not even a single program but a good workflow.

tomos:
hmm,
quick comments -
I'm using Evernote, Surfulater and now, SQL-Notes

Evernote more for ideas, uncategorisable stuff, scanned/photographed text cause you can search the text, notes on projects in progress (work), writing (scraps of things - I want to start using wikidpad for writing and ideas though but havent had the time to really get into it)

Surfulater is super when you're organising things, you can "clone" stuff but not tag (yet) e.g. perfect for "fitness routines and tips, recipes"

SQL-Notes (beta) if you've got a lot of overlapping areas of interest I reckon it wont be beaten. Armando thinks it's not difficult, I'll just say it's getting easier as beta progresses - it's very usable now btw.
Could possibly replace the other two here but when stuff is clearcut I actually like having it on different programmes -
e.g. in Surfulater I have:- info on software from web, photoshop tutorials, info about setting up new pc, etc. and even thoughSQL-Notes could already easily do this...well, I have a liscence for Surfulater and it's actively developed so nice to be involved there, also I have a nice colour scheme on it :-* :P)

johnk:
I can't really offer a solution -- but I am looking forward to the responses. I use Ultra Recall and OneNote. I have bits of information in Surfulater, Evernote...

As I said in another thread, I have reached the conclusion that I am over-engineered for my needs (I am sure many people on this forum are in the same situation -- I imagine I'm not the only one who ends up using software because it's cutting edge stuff rather than based on a real need).

So I am trying to simplify. Find one quick, light, flexible, robust program to cater for all my information management needs. Easier said than done.

I thought that maybe I could live in a note-taking program (so long as it has a robust structure and global search). I am trying that out with AM-Notebook -- a nice program, there's lots I like about it, but I think if I'm going to limit myself to one program, a simple note-taker won't be the one.

My latest mad theory is that a powerful clipboard enhancer (with basic note-taking capability) such as ClipCache Pro or Clipmate might be the answer. I have used Clipcache for some time and it's become my default program for storing web snippets.  The latest versions of both Clipmate and Clipcache use a decent database to store data, so they should be robust enough for long-term storage.

I'm only starting to test this idea. Certainly Clipcache captures clipboard data reliably, and it's very easy and quick to create and edit new text notes. The text editors in both Clipcache Pro and Clipmate are both very basic, but this is all about simplification...However, no tags or categories in Clipcache. Maybe a simplification too far. Clipmate has virtual folders, which is a step in the right direction.  The search goes on...

yotta:
look up My Help in the dopnationcoder GOE competition

wraith808:
I'm using Ultra Recall, and I love it.  Not complicated at all from my usage, though it has more features than I'm using.  I'm also contemplating the purchase of Surfulator when it is on BDJ later this week.  One I can definitely recommend *against* is SnippetCenter.  The only thing it was useful for was making me stop impulse purchases on BDJ...

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