web-based e-notebooks

paper on JoDI: Implementation Challenges Associated with Developing a Web-based E-notebook

the paper looks at Information Assimilation - they shorten to IA, which confuses me since I think Info Architecture whenever I see 'IA' - the process of

gathering, editing, annotating, organizing, and saving of Web information, as well as the tracking of ongoing Web work processes.

and how browsers are an insufficient tool.

information assimiliation tasks:

1. Gather Web information (i.e. text, images, lists, tables and hyperlinks)
   by copying and pasting from multiple Web pages into an e-notebook; collect
   archival data pertaining to when and where original Web information was
   published
2. Edit original Web elements as stored in an e-notebook
3. Annotate e-notebook contents (i.e. add/delete text, highlight information,
   create cross-references)
4. Organize e-notebook contents (i.e. control the spatial layout, re-structure,
   combine similar information together, etc.)
5. Save the contents of an e-notebook
6. Track (represent) and save ongoing work processes.

my typepad site is pretty much a web-based e-notebook but I'm dependent on the sites I linked to remaining on the web and/or remaining at the same url. the authors look at tools that will allow users to save information (text & images) from the web to their local computer with little effort as well as be able to annotate those pieces of information.

another much needed tool, states the authors, is one that will

help them track, remember and rejoin their ongoing work processes.

the paper goes on to list a number of e-notebook systems that have been developed and to review one of them, NetNotes. they determined that this solution is the best currently available, but still limited.