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