A revolution in the way I do things

So long sticky notes, hello Diigo!  It feels like this whole web thing has finally come together for me.  Signing up for an RSS feed reader was the first step.  Instead of taking a backseat approach to new information and ideas, I have a steady stream of them arriving daily on my doorstep - it makes it impossible not to be connected to _________ (insert interests here).  For me, the focus has been on education, partly because of the courses I am taking but mostly because I feel I could use a boost in my teaching.  So, for about a month I was flying down the information highway with lots of great ideas coming my way but, sometimes, it was a bit too much...(drum roll please) like a shining knight, Diigo appeared.  Now I can manage all of the information and find more.

I started by watching a few tutorials on the Diigo website.  I actually watched them a few times while I explored to clear up any confusion I had.


Diigo V4: Research ~ annotate, archive, organize from diigobuzz on Vimeo.

Now, using social bookmarking, I  am actually starting to feel web savvy.  I went through the four courses I am taking and took the time to actually look at the various links that people have posted and bookmarked the ones that interest me.

The process is simple, when I find that interesting article, I click on my diigolet in my favourites and the diigo toolbar pops up and then...

I can add tags, upload the page and save it to a list I have already created.  For example, this is saved in my Web 2.0 list.  Now when I access that list, I have a variety of articles on web 2.0 tools.  Needless to say this is just one of the many lists I have created so far.  Never again will I catch myself wondering "what was that website...", now if I like it, I archive it.

Additional features on the toolbar are sticky note, highlight, and share.  I have used these to highlight important parts of articles and then add notations which can be saved for my reference later (searchable by text, tags or lists) or shared...with people on Diigo or through email.

I chose Diigo over other social bookmarking sites based on Will Richardson's rave reviews; "Diigo...continues to be one of my favourite tools..allows you to begin constructing your own little piece of the Web, it's a way of organizing it for yourself and for those you are collaborating with." (Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, p. 92).