Zotero is one of those applications I've had on my computer for, oh at least a year. Occasionally, I would pull it up and save something, but then I'd forget to go back to it. I tend to use my diigo/delicious combo for saving and annotating websites, and I hadn't done much research lately (one of Zotero's strengths since it pulls bibliographic info easily).
This morning, I noticed an audio file in my Reader, so I clicked the play button. Suddenly, I realized I wanted to take notes. This was a conversation from the ELI 2009 Annual Meeting, and several folks were discussing how to get their faculty involved in using emerging technologies.
My brain started spinning: open a Google Doc? Word? a post it? Ah, Zotero! And before the second speaker had started, I had a note open, and I was typing away as I listened.
You can see I have several documents (listed on the left) that are in a folder I've created for things I use when I need to present to faculty. On the right, a note I was using to write points I was hearing on the audio file. The note is then a subset of the original audio file in the larger folder.
Neat. Organized. Quick.
Zotero to the rescue. I have a feeling this will be very useful.
Sigh, why did it take me so long?