How to use Google Keep for web research

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Figure G

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). 

Also see

• How to integrate Google Keep with Google Docs (TechRepublic)
• How to amended brainstorming with Google Keep and Docs successful 5 elemental steps (TechRepublic)
• How to instrumentality vantage of optical quality designation successful Google Keep (TechRepublic)
• Set Google Keep arsenic your default enactment to aforesaid app for Android (TechRepublic)
• Research: Digital translation initiatives absorption connected collaboration (TechRepublic premium)