Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | Trial

Achieve total recall with online tools: 'personal knowledge management' is a fancy way of saying you can store, sort, and find the information you need at a moment's notice. If you haven't reached that level of organization, don't despair. The right tools can help you get there.

Article Excerpt
Many lawyers have heard the term "knowledge management,' and some law firms have even tried to make this nebulous construct a reality--with varying degrees of success. The good news is, you don't have to achieve perfect knowledge management. You can achieve "personal" knowledge management, that is, a system that works for you. And this is actually easier to implement in a small or solo firm.

Personal knowledge management includes tracking what you've learned or dug up on the Internet and storing it in an organized way. It means keeping easy access to interesting Web sites, search strings that produced good results, and sources that were helpful; having an arsenal of research and organizational tools; and keeping current on changes in different jurisdictions and practice areas. There are many ways to practice personal knowledge management, and some tools make the job easier.

One of the biggest challenges for any attorney is organizing and retrieving the vast array of research materials available. Print and online resources, e-mail, CD-ROM, podcasts, and videos are all part of your research. How do you keep up with all this information? And perhaps more important: How do you find it when you need it again? Is there a way to create your own library to manage all these resources?

For many types of information, the answer is yes. A variety of new tools can help you do just that. And they're affordable, ranging from free to moderately priced.

Just bear a few things in mind: Remember that free products are always in danger of becoming fee-based or disappearing and that some companies that offer these products share user data with third parties. Read their privacy policies to see where the data is stored, who has access to it, and if it is shared. Always be aware of confidentiality and mindful of copyright laws.

Current awareness

You don't have to rely on newspapers to keep up with fast-changing events, and you don't have to keep visiting online news sites to get updates. Try RSS feeds to keep current with the world.

RSS stands for "rich site summary" or "really simple syndication." Imagine that instead of trying to keep up with all the Web sites, blogs, and headlines you need to read, you could get the latest information sent directly to you, essentially creating your own personal newspaper based on your interests and needs. You can eliminate subscriptions to many e-mail newsletters, which keeps e-mail exclusively for correspondence and cuts down on in-box clutter.

To use RSS feeds, you will need an RSS feed reader, also known as a "news aggregator," which allows you to subscribe to and read the RSS feeds. After subscribing to a feed, you can use the reader to scan headlines, read articles, and manage the information it delivers. [For a tutorial on setting up an RSS feed, see RSS for Dummies on page 44.]

There are three ways to get an RSS feed reader. It can be a program you download to your computer or a Web-based application that is available anywhere you have access to the Internet, or it may be built into an existing software application you already use. Some services offer mobile RSS delivery, which lets you receive updates on your personal digital assistant or cell phone.

Software-based readers. These include Feed Demon, a Windows-based RSS feed reader; NetNewsWire for Mac users; FeedReader, which works with Windows 95; and RssReader, which works with Windows.

Web-based readers. There are several of these to choose from, including Google Reader, an online feeder with organizing features, including folders and tagging; Bloglines, which is similar

to Google Reader; and iGoogle, a personalized start page that allows you to track RSS feeds and add other modules and gadgets like clocks and calendars. Other services include MyYahoo, which is similar to iGoogle, and Newsgator, which offers a free version to individuals or small businesses--for a small upgrade fee, users can subscribe to the mobile service that sends...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!