How to use Google Keep for web research

2 years ago 220

When it comes to fast, informal online research, the Google Keep Chrome hold could beryllium the ticket. Just prevention a link—along with a statement and note—then export your Keep notes to Google Docs.

Photo of Chromebook, with Google Keep Chrome Extension having conscionable  been selected connected  the TechRepublic.com location  page, with a enactment      unfastened  and substance   entered "Useful to prevention  links with your notes and labels, past    export to a Google Doc."

Photo: Andy Wolber/TechRepublic

Informal web research, whether for nonrecreational oregon idiosyncratic purposes, often involves a tiny acceptable of repeated tasks: a web hunt followed by a reappraisal of the results, redeeming of applicable links—often with notes—and past sharing your findings and thoughts. As a exertion consultant, I repetition this process each clip a lawsuit seeks proposal arsenic to what hardware oregon bundle to buy. The series is akin for students who stitchery web resources for world reports oregon travelers who question sites to sojourn and places to enactment oregon eat: Search, review, prevention and share.

Three Google tools—Chrome, Google Keep and Google Docs—streamline the web probe process. The Google Keep Chrome extension, specifically, lets you save, annotate and categorize web links, past export a selected acceptable of saved Google Keep notes to a Google Doc. In my experience, the Keep hold eliminates the request to prime a site's URL, transcript it, paste it into a document, adhd a note, past instrumentality to browse further hunt results.

To streamline the full process, marque definite you person Chrome installed and are signed successful with your Google account. The steps beneath screen however to instal the Keep hold (a one-time process) arsenic good arsenic the regular probe sequence.

SEE: How to rapidly adhd to Google Keep from Chrome (TechRepublic)

How to instal the Google Keep Chrome extension

First, spell to the Google Keep Chrome hold page, past prime Add To Chrome (Figure A, top). When the punctual displays, prime Add Extension (Figure A, bottom). This adds the hold to Chrome. 

Figure A

Screenshots that amusement   the Google Keep Chrome Extension web leafage   (top) with Add to Chrome circled, and (bottom) the Prompt that seeks confirmation ("Add extension").

Install the Google Keep Chrome Extension, arsenic shown here. First, prime Add To Chrome (top), past prime Add Extension (bottom).

Next, I urge you pin the Google Keep extension, truthful that you whitethorn entree it without having to reappraisal the database of each installed extensions. To bash this, prime the Chrome hold icon (the puzzle-piece shaped icon successful the precocious right), past prime the pin icon to the close of the Google Keep hold (Figure B, left). The Keep icon should present show successful the country to the near of the hold icon (Figure B, right).

Figure B

Screenshot that shows the Extension paper   with the Keep hold   pin circled (left) and the Keep icon past    displayed (right).

To ever show the Keep extension, prime the hold icon (left image: arrow), past the pin adjacent to the Google Keep Chrome Extension (left image: circle). This displays the Keep hold (right image).

Web research: Search, review, annotate, statement and save

As you hunt and browse the web, anytime you privation to prevention a web link, prime the Keep extension. This automatically captures the URL for the page, creates a Keep enactment with the link, and places the cursor successful the Keep Note tract (Figure C). Add immoderate applicable substance successful the enactment (e.g., wherefore this nexus is relevant, important items astir the leafage oregon immoderate commentary connected the contents). Optionally, you whitethorn adhd a rubric to your note.

Figure C

 All-in-one and Printers.

Select the Keep hold to make a enactment with the nexus to the web page. Optionally, you whitethorn adhd text, labels, and a enactment title.

You tin usage labels to categorize Keep notes. Select the statement icon, past either benignant substance to make a caller statement oregon prime a antecedently added statement from the database that displays. You whitethorn use much than 1 statement to a Keep enactment (e.g., for printer research, I mightiness use not lone a "printers" label, but besides an "all-in-one" statement for devices with a scanner).

SEE: How to usage Google Meet (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

On each web leafage you privation to save, repetition the process: Select the Keep icon and adhd substance and labels.

Go to keep.google.com to reappraisal your saved links and notes. Select from the database of labels (displayed connected the left) to filter your Keep notes and lone show those with the selected statement (Figure D).

Figure D

Screenshot that shows Printers statement   selected astatine  keep.google.com, with 2  of 3  notes selected.

At keep.google.com connected the web, prime a statement to amusement lone notes with that label.

You tin export a acceptable of Keep notes into a azygous Google Doc. There are respective ways to filter and prime notes. Select a statement (along the left) to show each notes with that label. Press Ctrl+A to prime each displayed notes. Or, determination the cursor implicit a note, past click adjacent the ellipse with a cheque people successful it (in the upper-left conception of each note) to prime oregon deselect it.

Once you person selected the acceptable of Keep notes to export, prime the More paper (the three-vertical dot paper successful the precocious right) and take Copy To Google Docs (Figure E). Choose Open Doc (in the little left, arsenic shown successful Figure F) to show the Google Doc created from your selected Keep notes. At this point, your Google Doc contains the links, notes and titles from your selected Google Keep notes (Figure G). Now you tin edit your Google Doc and people (File | Publish) to the web oregon stock it (File | Share) with different people.

Figure E

Screenshot with the Copy to Google Docs paper   point  displayed and an arrow pointing to the option.

After you person chosen notes to export, prime the More paper (three vertical dots successful the precocious right), past Copy To Google Docs.

Figure F

Screenshot that shows the "Copied to Google Docs" connection   (lower near  of the screen) with an arrow pointing to the Open Doc link.

Select Open Doc to entree the Google Doc created from your selected Keep notes.

Figure G

Screenshot shows 4  URLs to printer-related pages, with substance   notes added by the writer  to 3  of the web pages, and 1  enactment      rubric  added.

The resulting Google Doc includes implicit URL details and links from the saved Keep notes, on with immoderate substance and titles you added.

What's your acquisition with Google Keep notes for web research?

Do you usage the Google Keep Chrome hold to prevention web links? If you've utilized different methods to save, annotate and export links, however does the operation of Keep notes exported to Google Docs compare? Do you person immoderate tips for creating and utilizing labels to signifier Keep notes? Let maine cognize your tips for conducting and organizing informal web research, either successful the comments beneath oregon connected Twitter (@awolber). 

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