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Railroad Resource Management with MS OneNote 2007
In the past some members have asked how they could best archive MRH magazine issues. I had been looking for a way to organize all of my model railroad resources that I have collected over the years too.
I thought that the solution should ideally allow me to link to files on my local system or on the world wide web. It should allow me to use images if I chose to do so and I should be able to easily search my collection of railroad resources.
Until recently I had not found a simple solution that would meet this basic criteria. Enter MS OneNote. I got OneNote with MS Office 2007 for Home and Student, (I think that's what it is called) but it is available separately and in other bundles as well.
With OneNote, I can drag screen captures of the table of contents for each issue of MRH on to a OneNote page. The image can be linked to the pdf file on my system or I can insert a separate link to the file.
The resulting images in OneNote are also search-able! If I search for DCC OneNote finds each instance of "DCC" in the contents images from the magazines and then provides me with a list of search results that I can click through to find the page that contains the information I am searching for. Click the link on that page and the MRH issue opens for me to read.
Remember that these are files I have downloaded, they are not on the Internet. Here is a screen capture to give you an idea what I am talking about.
That in itself is pretty cool, in my opinion but it doesn't stop there.
I can also file, organize and search through my MRH Theater collection on my system!
I can even add the links to websites that were provided as additional resources for the MRH Theater features so I can link directly to that information from the same location!
Besides my MRH resources I can file, organize, and search all of the MRR files I have downloaded, links to MRR web sites I have saved and any MRR information I have scanned!
I'm really just scratching the surface with OneNote so far but I have to say I am impressed. I found the interface very intuitive and it is really quite easy to add resources.
If you find information online that you want to file in OneNote it is as simple as selecting the text and images and pasting it into OneNote. Everything is copied, with formatting and a link to the page is added at the bottom of the OneNote page.
If you are filing an image etc. from your local system it is as simple as dragging and dropping.
So far I have not found much to not like about OneNote. I'm pretty happy with the level of organization it offers and the ability to search my MRR resources is almost priceless! In my case, OneNote alone made the Office 2007 package worth the price!
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Hey, Blue, that's pretty cool stuff!
Now to find an open source equivalent to OneNote ... (wink)
Joe Fugate
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine
EXACTLY!
Regards,
blue
Not staff but here everyday all the same.
Model Railroading in HO Scale
Could Larry Ellison be made aware of this forum? I think Open Office needs the addition of a "OneNote"-like product.
Don
SP in HO scale: 1950's."
Indeed! Open Office was the first place I went when I was trying to find a freeware application to substitute for OneNote.
I ended up buying the office suite for my son who uses Word etc. in school and I wanted him to have it available at home as well. Same goes for my Mrs. who uses the office suite in her workplace. The fact that OneNote came with it wasn't even an issue when I picked it up.
Since discovering OneNote, I have been searching for a decent open source substitute but to no avail. The apps that I have found that do have similar features/functions are free to download but are limited over the long term if one does not ante up.
In my case, I have already paid for OneNote and have invested the time to get my existing collection of resources organized so I will likely stick with it. If anyone knows of a similar application that is free without nags etc. please do share it with the rest here.
Regards,
blue
Not staff but here everyday all the same.
Model Railroading in HO Scale
Which verison of MS Office did Onenote come with? I have MS office 10 but don't see one note
NARROW gauge MINDED
AND PROUD OF IT
Dan,
If you read my first post to this blog topic you will note that I got OneNote with Office 2007 Home and Student. I also provided a link to the OneNote page at Microsoft. I am not sure what version Office 10 is. Microsoft has been numbering the office suite by year, to the best of my knowledge since 1997.
There is also a page that compares the various Office suites, I do see now that OneNote also comes with the Ultimate suite.
OneNote is also available as a stand alone program.
Apparently there was also a OneNote 2004 but I had not heard of the program prior to getting the 2007 Home and Student Office Suite.
Regards,
blue
Not staff but here everyday all the same.
Model Railroading in HO Scale
There are 2 or 3 alternatives in Linux for One Note, but nothing in Windows....Knowit and BasKet come to mind for Linux.
Not a big deal for me as I have OneNote already but too bad there isn't something similar to it for Windows that everybody could download and use...
Regards,
blue
Not staff but here everyday all the same.
Model Railroading in HO Scale
I have communicated with Kalamback recently about having MR on CD's or DVD's for all back Issues or by the year with a master index. Many publications are starting to do this. You can buy a whole years worth of back issures on CD or DVD. I pointed out in the conversaion that the binders to put pass issures of MR in cost way more than a CD or DVD would ever cost. Their answere was that discussion had taken place but their were no plan to move forward at this time. I do not know if their is a market for this and I think this is what they fell. I am always going back and looking at pass articles they give me great ideas.
Love the One Note, I have old MS office and do not have it but will look into getting it. I am already creating libary of MRH on disk and backup drive with index.
Art Houston
Grande Pacific RR
ahouston3@charter.net
I agree having back issues available on DVD at a reasonable cost would be awesome! However Kalmbach is, to put it bluntly, solely motivated by money. The investment in time to digitize everything would not be worth it unless they could charge a hefty sum for the DVD's. Add to that, the fact that they can still go along selling old issues from the warehouse at $5.50 a pop and there are the prime reasons why they have no plans to move forward with it at this time, IMO. Just my opinion though...I've probably offended somebody already. ;o)
Regards,
blue
Not staff but here everyday all the same.
Model Railroading in HO Scale