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Web site: http://www.snipitron.com/

Date of first review/ name of reviewer: 5/15/08 [Erin Dorris Cassidy]

Additional reviewer(s):

Produced by:  SNiPiTRON

Cost: Free for Basic service, with multiple tiers of Pro and Enterprise service at varying prices

Description: “SNiPiTRON is a global networking and collaboration platform that allows you to capture, organize, and share information with others.”

Platform: web-based

License:

Maturity: beta

Features:

• Disseminate to/collaborate with colleagues, clients, friends via public or private projects
• Gather project/research materials—websites, files, streaming media, documentation, analysis, notes—all in one place
• Upload files for easy organization and web-based availability
• Access your projects from any computer using any browser
• Add tags to your project to facilitate discovery by other users
• Add comments to a project to communicate with the author(s) and other readers
• Chat live inside the site with other users to facilitate communication and collaboration
• Build private or public networks to launch group work or connect with new people
• Import contacts from Microsoft Outlook®, Microsoft Excel®, Gmail™ or Yahoo!® email accounts, and other formats
• URL, RSS, and embedding capabilities allow easy syndication of content
• Drag-and-drop buttons into your browser for quick-click storage of web content (IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera)
• Download the complete SNiPiTRON for more power (Windows only): get browser toolbars (IE/Firefox), publish files from your desktop, and quickly upload screen captures

Advantages:

• While it is “social bookmarking,” SNiPiTRON provides a broader array of tools than many other simple social bookmarking tools, especially for the professional researcher.
• Simplifies project collaboration; group members can share files, links, and comments in one place rather than going back and forth through emails and sending large attachments.
• You can discover public projects or user networks related to your professional or personal interests, to help expand your knowledge and connections.
• Since projects can be embedded into other websites, your group can display and access their work on a page they already regularly visit, instead of having to visit another site.
• Look for “little extras”: for instance, uploaded audio files are automatically converted to a Flash format that can be played through an embedded player.

Disadvantages:

• SNiPiTRON does not (yet) have a full-feature download version for Mac, but Mac users can still create and manage projects through the web interface and add the drag-and-drop buttons to their browsers. An integrated Mac/Safari solution is in work; there is currently no plan to develop an integrated version for Opera.
• Tagging is done at the project level, not on each website or file added. This makes it easier to discover projects, but harder to find items within a project.
• First launched in March 2007, with more advanced features released in March 2008, SNiPiTRON is still pretty much a new name on the market. Thus opportunities for things like networking may not yet be fully realized.

Tips:

Tutorials:

• http://www.snipitron.com/userguides

More information:

• Tour/interview video at PodTech: Ryan Rouland, one of SNiPiTRON's founders, shows off the service