Using OneNote to make Holograms!

I know this one is pretty out there, but I thought seeing as how many of you enjoyed the Fantasy Football post, you may also appreciate this interesting use case for OneNote as described in the Dragons Eye blog.

Click on the images below to view them at a non-eye test size.

Let me  know what you think. Can you top this?

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OneNote has been written about ad-infinitum as a tool for note taking in meetings and classes, as a general information repository and as a collaboration tool but I’d like to introduce you to another use that I’m putting OneNote to.

Making holograms.

Or more specifically, documenting both the process I go through when creating a hologram and the results from that process in the form of notes and pictures.

As most of you will probably know, OneNote is a great repository for all sorts of information. It has allowed me to combine a number of sources into one place so that when needed, I can easily refer back to previous results when I’m making a new hologram.

Holography is a complex process

For those that aren’t familiar with holography I’ll give a short description. Those that are familiar can skip to the next section.

In the strictest sense the holography I engage in is the recording of interference patterns in a gelatin emulsion. A more appealing description is that holography is the act of making interesting 3D images using a laser and light sensitive film.

To do this I use a laser, special table and a number of lenses and mirrors to guide the laser light where I need it. If you think of a set up for a photo shoot you’ll have the general idea. Now add in some stringent stability requirements that mean there can be absolutely no movement (just standing next to the table will result in your heartbeat ruining an exposure) and you’ll have some idea of the challenges involved.

Below is a view of the table I use. (Remember, you can click on the images to see them bigger)

On the table is the holder where the film goes (the U shaped frame) and an assortment of mirror mounts and light blocking cards. Plus all the other little things that go into making a hologram.

After setting up the scene and lighting I expose some film to the laser light and end up with an image like the one below.

This process can take anything from hours to days depending on the complexity of the scene I’m shooting and final hologram I’m working toward.

Keeping track of variables

Some of the things that go into making a hologram are:

1. Room temperature and humidity.
2. Light readings.
3. What film and chemicals were used.
4. The subject of the hologram.
5. How the film was prepared and when.
6. And so on.

A sample of the datasheet that I used for tracking these variables is given below

As you can see, there’s a lot of information that can be tracked as part of the process.

Ideally this would be kept in an inkable form tool but for my purposes OneNote does a fine job.

I can easily write anywhere on the form, erase at will and add information as I see fit.

While I could also do this with a paper form, and was for several years, what OneNote also allows me to do that paper can’t is easily add additional information such as photos of the final film and holograms.

Done the old way I’d have to print the photos out and keep all of it in a traditional folder with clips and staples to make sure they all stay together.

This is a big help down the road when I want to know how the hologram looked (brightness, noise levels, etc) or how foggy the film was at the time the hologram was made.

Frequently I need to compare this information with how the hologram appears as it ages and by storing this information in OneNote I can very easily add to it as time goes by. I also have a very convenient “file” to refer to when starting new experiments. Since I take my tablet just about everywhere I always have that file with me if I need to refer to it.

Audio recording

I also make use of OneNote’s ability to index audio recordings by recording many of my sessions in the lab. I tend to talk to the recorder as though I’m going to make what I call a “labcast” and store that with the rest of the data on the hologram I’m working on. This gives me a good searchable commentary on what I was doing as I was preparing to make or processing the hologram.

Gripes

The one thing I’d like that OneNote doesn’t have is the ability to set a particular page as read-only.

Because I tend to copy an existing page when starting a new hologram, the parameters are frequently the same as the last hologram I made, it’s easy to get off and start editing the wrong page.  Being able to set a page read-only would ensure that the data I’ve recorded is never accidentally modified or erased.

Closing

A tablet PC and OneNote are excellent tools for keeping track of lab data. Microsoft has made a sleeper of a killer application and while I will readily admit, perhaps too readily, that I’m not a Microsoft fan I recommend OneNote to anyone that has any need for data storage.

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Four ways to improve your notetaking with OneNote

The leaves are starting to turn here in Seattle, which means it’s time for students to gear up for the new school year.  Clearly taking notes is a HUGE  part of being a student – so, I thought it may be time for a little note-taking 101 – OneNote-style.

Here are four ways you can improve your note-taking with OneNote:

Jotting phone numbers on scrap paper, writing addresses on sticky notes… These strategies may help in the moment, but what about when you need that information later? Or how about trying to decipher the notes that you scribbled in your binder during class? Imagine being able to grab all of your daily thoughts and sketches, keep them within reach at all times, and share them with others. You are well on your way to a clearer head when you open Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 on your Tablet PC and follow these four strategies: capture, organize, share, and enhance. With OneNote, you can capture almost anything: record an entire lecture for later review; create a diagram for your landscaper or teacher. And you can organize your thoughts and plans. Nothing gets lost—everything that you write is automatically and continuously saved.

Using OneNote to draw a landscape diagram

OneNote is not just about organizing. Share any of your notes during your busy day, with coworkers, friends, family. Enhance the presentation of your thoughts and ideas: put them into action with pictures, sound, and video. Format them with professional style. And because of the auto save feature you should never lose a scribble! This article tells you how.

Capturing ideas

When OneNote is running, you can resize the OneNote window and place it anywhere you want on the screen. Just open a new page in OneNote and you’re ready to go. Your note pages can include text, pictures, graphics, sound, video, screen shots, documents, links, and web content.

• Type text with the keyboard. Click anywhere on the note page and begin to type notes using the keyboard.
• Enter text by using a tablet pen. Some people are scribblers, and prefer the freedom of jotting down notes. Need to write down a phone number? Just open OneNote and write it down freehand by using a pen. You can then change fonts, and format your text in whatever way you like.
• Create diagrams. OneNote is perfect for doodlers, too. Illustrate your notes by using your pen to draw diagrams directly on the page. You can easily resize the diagrams, move them around on the page, and paste them in other notes or documents.
• Add pictures. It’s easy to add pictures to your notes. You can copy pictures from the web, from other documents, or from your hard disk, and paste them anywhere on your note page. Here’s how to insert a picture:

1. Place your cursor where you want the picture to appear on the page. If you are using a Tablet PC, make sure the selection cursor for your tablet pen is active by clicking the Type Text or Select Objects icon on the toolbar.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Pictures, and then click From Files.
3. Click the picture you want to insert, and then click Insert.

You can easily move the picture on the page or resize the picture by dragging it from any corner.

Using OneNote to organize research for a report

• Include audio. With OneNote, you can record or import audio to store, edit, and include in your notes. You can record audio by using the built-in microphone on newer computers or by attaching an external microphone or other audio input device. Here’s how to record audio:
  • On the Insert menu, click Audio Recording.

• Add video. Want to insert video into your notes? Just attach a video camera or a webcam to your computer to include moving footage and the sounds of any subject in your notes. You can play back a video that you made for class or record one to edit later. Here’s how to record video:
  • On the Insert menu, click Video Recording.

• Import Excel lists. OneNote helps you keep track of numbers, too: you can import formatted lists from your Microsoft Office Excel files. Just copy columns, rows, and cells from any Excel spreadsheet and then paste them in your note page.

Organizing your thoughts

OneNote not only helps you organize your thoughts, it helps you rearrange them. Critical information, random ideas, diagrams, videos—you can place any information wherever you think it can help you express yourself better. Whether you’re a power user or a newcomer, OneNote makes use of multiple media to help you organize, plan, and simplify your daily life.

Here are some examples of how OneNote can help you organize your thoughts.

• Drag text and pictures anywhere on the screen.
• Move text and pictures to other notes and documents.
• Capture your thoughts in bulleted lists.
• Create folders for projects, classes, and personal files.
• Jot down a numbered to-do list.
• Sort and flag lecture notes to prepare for an exam.
• Keep all of your meeting notes for a project in a single location.
• Search through all of your notes, even the handwritten ones, to find that phone number you jotted down between appointments.
• Create marginal notes about a document, to save and move later.
• Plan your meals and grocery shopping.
• Track your travel and expenses for your next vacation.
• Draw and finalize the seating chart for your wedding.
• Move a picture to another note, and then send it in an e-mail message to your grandmother.

Enhancing your notes

After you capture your notes, give them a professional polish with the text and picture formatting features of OneNote. OneNote also includes Spelling and AutoCorrect commands to help you create neat, accurate notes.

OneNote files are easy to share… and share again. Send your notes to other people, or open up notes for group feedback and input.

• Share in real time. With OneNote you can collaborate with others, gathering their input for instant feedback. Here’s how to initiate a live session:
  • On the Share menu, point to Live Sharing Session, and then click Start Sharing Current Section.

You can choose to begin a new session or join one that is already in progress.

• Send your notes in an e-mail message. Using Microsoft Office Outlook, you can send a page of your notes to others in an e-mail message.

You can also send your notes and recordings instantly to a Pocket PC or smartphone.

• Export your notes. Convert your notes to a Microsoft Office Word document by using the Save As command, or publish your notes as a Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) so you can share your notes without them being easily changed. Here’s how to do it:

• On the File menu, click Publish as PDF or XPS.

No more crumpled sticky notes, messy notebooks, or lost doodles. Use OneNote for everything you can think of.

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OneNote in the Real World

Here is the latest installment of how you, the OneNote fans are using OneNote to make your life better and, of course, save the world:

If you use OneNote in an interesting way, please share it with us below or create a new blog post.

OneNote for writers:

From The Sunlitdesk: I am an untidy writer. I have index cards in my handbag, scraps of paper all over the place and notebooks with just three lines in them. I admit I like hard copies. But it becomes cumbersome after a while and I’m forever losing track of projects. I still like my index cards and I keep a leather compendium for all those loose pieces of paper one collects over the course of a project, but now I keep a Microsoft Office OneNote notebook too. My current novel requires a great deal of research of seemingly unrelated things. OneNote is a convenient and quick way of storing all that research, as well as notes on the development of the novel. It hasn’t made me a tidy writer, but accessing information while I’m writing has become so much easier and now I can manage writing projects without tons of paper. I highly recommend this program for writers.

From the iheartonenote facebook page:

Teaching:

I use OneNote 2007 @ work. I teach and all of the teachers on team, plus our Principal & Guidance Counselors have it installed. We keep all of our team meeting notes, behavioral plans, notes & e-mails to parents in OneNote. This way each member of the team has access to them at all times. During our meetings, we are actively using OneNote. When we assign tasks, etc. We do so in OneNote and it syncs with Outlook. During the week, we can check to see if the tasks have been completed and read any notes about them. It has provided the most organized, easily accessible way to share information among so many people. I don’t know how we could accomplish so much without it!

I’m a middle school teacher at a school with a laptop program. Our teachers use OneNote to create shared notebooks on the school server. Some of our classes are semi-paperless because of OneNote. Imagine being in 7th grade and doing your math on a tablet with a OneNote notebook for math assignments!

Bible Study

The New King James Version for OneNote 2007 is now available. Each book in the Bible is a separate OneNote section, with each chapter in the book belonging to a page within that section. Using the built-in functionality of OneNote 2007, you can insert your own ink notes, view the Bible text and notes in full screen mode, search your ink and text notes, sync your Bible notes between multiple computers, record the audio of sermons and play it back in time with your notes (with permission of course !), and insert additional pages and sections. The text has been specially formatted to allow plenty of space for marking up and taking ink notes: wide margins, double spacing, and more.

If you found this useful, please use the links below to share with your friends.

MISC

I keep mentioning how I use Microsoft OneNote to people, and they keep asking about it. I use this program for personal, business and school. I have recipes from blogs, and the blogs noted. Any sewing ideas or blog ideas have their own little spot in my notebooks. I can print all of the deals from MultiTaskingMama and go back through them when I have time to, or date what I have already done to see when I will get that deal.

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Another great source of OneNote “How-to’s”

This blog post is from one of our members, Georgeogoodman:

EHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/) appears to have quite a few how-to entries for our favorite tool.

How to Record Audio in OneNote 2007

How to Record Audio in OneNote 2007. OneNote 2007 offers several ways to record information in addition to the keyboard, including “ink” on Tablet PCs and …

http://www.ehow.com/how_2054487_record-audio-onenote.html

How to Use Microsoft Office OneNote As An Organizational Tool …

I just discovered the power of Microsoft Office OneNote as an organizational tool. … For me, the best use for the Microsoft Office OneNote.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4875827_microsoft-office-onenote-organizational-tool.html

How to Use OneNote 2007 as a Research Tool

How to Use OneNote 2007 as a Research Tool. Research often requires compiling various types of information into a central location, …

http://www.ehow.com/how_2064175_use-onenote-2007-as-research.html

How to Take Notes in OneNote 2007

How to Take Notes in OneNote 2007. “OneNote 2007″ is a robust note taking tool. You can take notes with the keyboard and via “ink” on Tablet PCs and, …

http://www.ehow.com/how_2059900_take-notes-onenote-2007.html

How to Use Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 on your Smartphone

How to Use Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 on your Smartphone. Now you can use your Smartphone to capture the ease and versatility of Microsoft Office OneNote …

http://www.ehow.com/how_4554759_use-microsoft-office-onenote-smartphone.html

How to Share a OneNote Notebook on Multiple Computers

How to Share a OneNote Notebook on Multiple Computers. Microsoft OneNote is a very useful program that allows you to keep notes in the freeform way that you …

http://www.ehow.com/how_4500758_share-onenote-notebook-multiple-computers.html

How to Create a Microsoft Office OneNote Notebook

The Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 notebook is a convenient, easy-to-use application with all the benefits of a notebook and the added convenience of being …

http://www.ehow.com/how_2262456_microsoft-office-onenote-notebook.html

How to Share a Private OneNote Notebook

How to Share a Private OneNote Notebook. OneNote is a wonderful tool for keeping notes on your computer about anything you wish, from your grocery list to …

http://www.ehow.com/how_4500714_share-private-onenote-notebook.html

How to Use Microsoft One Note to Organize Classes

How to Use Microsoft One Note to Organize Classes. Many schools have everything in an electronic form. The class syllabus, notes, lectures and other …

http://www.ehow.com/how_4545838_use-microsoft-one-note-organize.html

How to Use MicroSoft Office OneNote to Speed Writing of eHow …

MicroSoft Office OneNote is not only a premium organizational software, but, … I’ve found a way to use MicroSoft Office OneNote to…

http://www.ehow.com/how_4875963_speed-writing-of-ehow-articles.html

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Top 8 reasons for using OneNote

 

I have to admit it, but I  love Top 10 Lists. Today, I found a Top 8  list – which is only a little  less appealing than 10! So, here is Donovan Lange’s Top 8 list of Reasons to use OneNote.

Let’s see if we can make it a Top 20 list (much better than 10 even) – so share your reasons in the comments section.

1. OneNote allows me to put all of my little bits of information into a single place, organize them how I like, and always be able to find them instantly.

• There’s a ton of information that doesn’t naturally have a good home otherwise.  Like the URLs I find when researching a topic, or the notes that I take during meetings.  Sure, I could use text files and notepad or post-it notes; but I’d have to create my own method for filing them into folders, navigate to the correct file to open them when I want to read them again, make sure I remember to hit Save (and give it a filename) before my laptop battery runs out and I lose my content, etc.  It really doesn’t scale when you have a lot of data.

2. It’s page surface allows me to outline, brainstorm, and collect rich forms of data better than any other tool out there.

• Specifically, the ability to click anywhere on the page and just drag-drop any line of text to anywhere else on the page means that I can use this for random brainstorming and when writing out document outlines/drafts.  Things that don’t have linear or well-known structures.
• Plus, there’s a million features built into the application that allows me to embed non-textual forms of information.  So I can use screen clippings (via the Windows + S key) to take a picture of something currently on my screen, or embed a full document via the included OneNote Printer or the Insert Menu, and then annotate on top of that information.  And I can find it again, since we’ll OCR the text within the pictures.
• Even without a tablet PC, the drawing shapes and click anywhere to type means that I can create simple diagrams without having to load up Visio.  With a tablet, I can draw directly on a page, and use a pen when I’m in a meeting where typing may be viewed as distracting.
• It works with audio as well.  We record the audio for all of our spec reviews using the built-in laptop microphone.  Any notes typed during the meeting will be synchronized into the audio timeline for later review.  And OneNote will search the speech in the audio file as well.

3. It’s really good at capturing information quickly.

• Sometimes I need to get information written down as quickly as possible.  I don’t want to worry about making space in my word document, I can just click anywhere on the page and type.
• Ditto for inserting tables.  Just hit tab!
• I can launch a side-note window (which is a lot like a post-it note) from the system tray and grab down that phone number that someone just spouted off while I’m on the phone.
• I can paste web content from a web page and it automatically includes the URL the content came from.  Huge time-saver.
• I can apply metadata (flags) to my information or create Outlook Task items “in situ” along with the rest of the context that gives that task meaning.
• I’m no longer restricted to keeping a single task list in Outlook.  When I’m in a meeting, or estimating a feature in OneNote I can tag a line as an Outlook Task, and it’ll create an Outlook Task for me, which is automatically kept in sync as I mark it completed, etc.  As a result, all of my ToDo items can live in the place where they’re most appropriate (like in the middle of my meeting notes, or in my shared notebook with you on a page of house projects) and yet have them rolled up appropriately in either OneNote or Outlook.

4. Outlook Integration, Outlook Integration, Outlook Integration.

• In addition to task sync’ing, I find that there’s a ton of information that gets sent to me in email, which should live in OneNote instead.  (As email is more of a dynamic source of changing data, vs. an authored knowledge base.)  I can send an email to OneNote directly from Outlook 2007 via a single toolbar button click.  For someone who tries to keep their inbox nearly empty, being able to store messages like “how to access the internal newsgroups” (for instance) in a Notebook feels much cleaner than keeping them in my inbox
• In addition, I can also take notes about meetings (and have it find my previous meeting notes for a recurring meeting) or keep information about people from my Contact List / GAL in OneNote directly from the Outlook meeting and contact windows.  The link between the two stays present regardless of how that gets filed in my Notebooks.

5. My stuff is available everywhere.

• I can’t emphasize how much this rocks.  My OneNote notebook is available at work, at home, on my phone (using OneNote mobile) and on my laptop.  All I did was point OneNote at a file share or Sharepoint Site, and OneNote takes care of the rest.  Plus, it synchronizes embedded documents as well, so I don’t have to use Sharepoint to upload a document or email it to myself.  I just drag-drop it right onto the OneNote page, and voila it’s everywhere I need it!  No sync’ing, no file locking, nothing.  It just works.
• Moreover, it works when I’m offline.  Even those embedded documents… when I pick up my laptop and go to a conference room in another building, I can still keep typing, regardless of whether or not I’ve got wireless.  Go on vacation to the beach, and make changes to my notebook.  Whenever it comes online, it all merges back in without any user interaction.

6. It allows me to collaborate with others.

• Word track-changes?  Sharepoint edit locks?  Yuck.  OneNote is a breeze by comparison.  Think of it like a Wiki on crack.  Everyone just opens up the same Notebook (or Section or page) and just types away.  It’s magic.
• For those without OneNote, I can create PDFs of my pages, or send a page as an email with a single click.  The person on the other end of that email doesn’t even need OneNote to view my stuff.

7. I can store sensitive information and password protect it.

• I generally use this for my personal notebook, but I find it invaluable to store my Credit Card numbers, Bank Account Information, Website Passwords, Frequent Flyer accounts, etc. all in a section that I then password protect.  Because the bits stored on disk are encrypted, I can access that file from a server and not worry about the security of the server, across the network, etc.

8. I can automate repetitive things.

• I keep a work journal, and find that it’s really convenient to create a stationary (templates) page which is applied automatically to all new pages created in my Journal section.  It’s such a simple idea, but saves me a ton of time.
• Not to mention all the cool add-ins that power-users have created that extends the functionality of OneNote.

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How a (fictional) consultant uses OneNote

To get a better idea of how OneNote functions in a fictional real world situation, let’s take a look at how Joe, a fictional consultant uses OneNote to kick butt every day:

Joe’s day is typically filled with online research, meetings with client teams, and discussions with other members of the project team.

Before using OneNote, Joe would take notes on paper during a meeting and have the extra step of typing them up later to distribute to the other participants. Inevitably, some details from the meeting or tasks assigned to individuals got lost or forgotten during this process.

While researching, Joe took notes on his notepad, but ended up with bookmarks in his browser, printed Web pages placed into a manila folder, and sticky notes attached to various paper documents to highlight the important parts. Finding the desired information at a moment’s notice was difficult at best.

When it came time to preparing a presentation, Joe had to collect all of the information scattered across all these sources, chase down sources and details, and type information that was only in handwritten form.

Now that Joe uses OneNote, let’s look over his shoulder as he goes through a day.

Thursday, 7:00 am

At Joe’s desk.

Joe arrives at work to find several new messages in his e-mail inbox, and several voice mails. One of the messages is from a team member asking Joe to review a PowerPoint presentation. Joe glances at his inbox and his calendar, and realizes that he doesn’t have time to do it now. He opens a side note, jots down his initial thoughts, and adds a note flag to highlight it as an item for follow-up later.

After listening to a lengthy voice mail from the team’s senior manager, Joe opens up another side note.  He writes down the key points on two steps in the business process that the senior manager wants Joe to research further.

Joe answers the remaining items in his inbox, and then opens OneNote. On a new page, he creates an agenda for a meeting with the client’s customer service department.

9:00 am

During an on-site client meeting.

As the meeting with Carole Poland, Litware’s customer service manager and Mike Hines, an e-mail support specialist progresses, they cover several agenda topics. Joe is able to effortlessly organize his notes into new pages within various sections of his notebook.

Mike has some extended insights on key points concerning customer-critical services. Rather than write it all down during the meeting, Joe records an audio note to capture what Mike is saying.  Moreover, Mike’s comments are synchronized to Joe’s typed information, making it easy to listen to specific sections of the audio recording later.

For each of the questions that deals with shopping cart transactions, Joe adds a custom note flag that marks it as being assigned to the development group, and flags other follow-up items for the Customer Satisfaction group. He then creates a task in Outlook to assign it to Wanida Benshoof, the development manager, and sends it to her via e-mail. This enables Wanida, who is back at the office, to get started on some of the details of the project before Joe even returns.

1:00 pm

Sharing notes with the team.

Back at his office, Joe quickly rearranges his meeting notes into more logical groups by dragging and dropping them, and then e-mails them to the meeting participants.  He then selects all of the pages of the Potential Improvements section, and saves them to the shared workspace on the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Portal Server.  This creates a shared team notebook, where his teammates can continue to add details to the notes as the project progresses.

2:30 pm

Doing research with OneNote.

Joe has action items of his own as a result of the meeting. It is his responsibility to find the results of any published studies about user responses to automated voice systems.

He surfs the Internet, searching for relevant information. As he works he keeps a side note open, and drags relevant information from the browser or other applications into the side note. OneNote automatically adds the URL of the Web pages from which he gathered the information.

As he collects research, Joe goes back over the meeting notes. He realizes that a few of the written notes are so abbreviated he doesn’t remember why they are relevant, so he listens to the audio note. Because the recording was synchronized to his typed notes, he quickly jumps to the exact part of the discussion he needs to clarify.

While Joe is working, his senior manager drops by and asks about the credit card approval process he had described to Joe over voicemail. Joe types the words “credit card” into the Find box in OneNote and is able to give the manager a quick summary of his findings without having to fumble through his notebook. Joe’s speedy response impresses the senior manager with his preparedness.

5:00 pm

Wrapping things up.

After following up on more e-mails, Joe finds that all of his action items associated with earlier meetings of the day are already complete with the help of OneNote.  He can now focus on his PowerPoint presentation for Friday’s status meeting with senior management.

Joe’s notes are already organized, making it easy to construct his slides. Joe extracts key points, drags them into his presentation and copies the charts into PowerPoint. In no time the presentation is ready for the morning meeting.

Before going home, Joe goes over his to do list for the next week, adds a few items to his calendar, and sits back to reflect on the project. He is prepared, ready, and has the time to think about next steps with his client’s project and to follow-up with new project leads.

Conclusion

OneNote provides Joe with all the advantages of traditional note-taking and storage while offering a much more effective and flexible way to manage, prioritize, and share notes. Because OneNote makes it easy to share and collaborate among teams or organizations, everyone has access to the information, supporting more informed decisions and effective knowledge management. OneNote helps busy professionals become more productive, creating more time to develop valuable solutions for their clients.

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OneNote 2010 Technical Preview: Hands-on Review

OK, so for those of you who don’t live in the US of A, today is labor day and we are at the end of a 3-day holiday weekend. Although, here in Seattle, most of us spent the holiday hiding from the Monsoon-like rain that has fallen pretty constantly. This was a big bummer for those of us who usually attend the annual Bumbershoot Music Festival which is largely held outdoors underneath the Space Needle at Seattle Center. I have to confess that I only made it to one of the days – Saturday. But, I did manage to catch both Katy Perry and Cheryl Crow..so, all was not lost.

So, today, i have actually been catching up on some work and found this review of the OneNote tech preview.  We haven’t spoken about the new version in a while – the beta is coming in November, so here’s a little something from Will Kelly to get you in the mood

After installing the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview (msft), OneNote 2010 was the first application I fired up. While OneNote grew in popularity from Office 2003 to Office 2007, the impending release of OneNote 2010 is going to offer longtime users even more to like and, quite possibly, create some new fans.

This post is going to deep dive into some of the new enhancements you will enjoy when OneNote 2010 is publicly available.

Improved Ribbon. OneNote 2010 really benefits from the ribbon improvements in Office 2010. While the introduction of the Office ribbon drew some slings and arrows from long time Office users, the Office 2010 ribbon is greatly improved and smoothes over some of those rough edges.

Tagging. While previous OneNote versions always garnered praise for usability and organization options, OneNote 2010 adds tagging to the “Home” ribbon. You have the option to tag your important notes with predefined tags or ones you create yourself. This new option really complements the already strong organizational capabilities of OneNote notebooks.

Sharing Tools. OneNote gained its popularity as a note-taking and research tool. OneNote 2010 includes sharing tools to make it an even more effective for research, including the capability to email OneNote pages, support for multiple authors sharing notebooks, and page versioning. With OneNote 2010 due to be available in more editions of Microsoft Office, both geographically dispersed and traditional project teams should be able to take advantage of OneNote collaboration.

Improved Drawing Tools. While I am a big OneNote user, I still rely on an old school yellow legal pad and pen for taking notes in meetings. The reason is that my work as a technical writer means I do a lot of drawing of process flow diagrams and such. The OneNote 2010 drawing tools offer the drawing options I need so I can finally leave my yellow legal pad and pen behind.

Audio Tools. While you can’t escape client meetings, you now have the option to record meetings directly into OneNote (provided your laptop has a microphone) and then search through the audio files later.

Office Integration. When I first read the news about OneNote joining the Microsoft Office suite proper, my hope was for better OneNote/Office application integration: the upcoming Office 2010 is working to deliver on it. While I try to keep my expectations simple, I am already enjoying the Linked Notes feature, which enables you to keep notes on saved documents. There is also the capability to send OneNote pages directly to Microsoft Word. I was also excited to see the capability to attach documents to OneNote pages because I can see me using it to attach drafts, research and other project artifacts to keep my projects better organized.

Final Thoughts
While the Web Component of OneNote 2010 isn’t available for review yet, I see it as an addition could directly challenge Evernote and should drive innovation in the note-taking market. Additionally, just as Microsoft is bringing Outlook to OS X, expectations are going to rise that access to Microsoft needs to make OneNote available on the Mac.

OneNote 2010 is a standout in the Office 2010 Technical Preview and I look forward to seeing the final version.

HAVE YOU TRIED THE TECH PREVIEW FOR ONENOTE YET? IF SO, WHAT DID YOU THINK?

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Back-to-School: Four ways to improve your notetaking with OneNote

The leaves are starting to turn here in Seattle, which means it’s time for students to gear up for the new school year.  Clearly taking notes is a HUGE  part of being a student – so, I thought it may be time for a little note-taking 101 – OneNote-style.

Here are four ways you can improve your note-taking with OneNote:

Jotting phone numbers on scrap paper, writing addresses on sticky notes… These strategies may help in the moment, but what about when you need that information later? Or how about trying to decipher the notes that you scribbled in your binder during class? Imagine being able to grab all of your daily thoughts and sketches, keep them within reach at all times, and share them with others. You are well on your way to a clearer head when you open Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 on your Tablet PC and follow these four strategies: capture, organize, share, and enhance. With OneNote, you can capture almost anything: record an entire lecture for later review; create a diagram for your landscaper or teacher. And you can organize your thoughts and plans. Nothing gets lost—everything that you write is automatically and continuously saved.

Using OneNote to draw a landscape diagram

OneNote is not just about organizing. Share any of your notes during your busy day, with coworkers, friends, family. Enhance the presentation of your thoughts and ideas: put them into action with pictures, sound, and video. Format them with professional style. And because of the auto save feature you should never lose a scribble! This article tells you how.

Capturing ideas

When OneNote is running, you can resize the OneNote window and place it anywhere you want on the screen. Just open a new page in OneNote and you’re ready to go. Your note pages can include text, pictures, graphics, sound, video, screen shots, documents, links, and web content.

• Type text with the keyboard. Click anywhere on the note page and begin to type notes using the keyboard.
• Enter text by using a tablet pen. Some people are scribblers, and prefer the freedom of jotting down notes. Need to write down a phone number? Just open OneNote and write it down freehand by using a pen. You can then change fonts, and format your text in whatever way you like.
• Create diagrams. OneNote is perfect for doodlers, too. Illustrate your notes by using your pen to draw diagrams directly on the page. You can easily resize the diagrams, move them around on the page, and paste them in other notes or documents.
• Add pictures. It’s easy to add pictures to your notes. You can copy pictures from the web, from other documents, or from your hard disk, and paste them anywhere on your note page. Here’s how to insert a picture:

1. Place your cursor where you want the picture to appear on the page. If you are using a Tablet PC, make sure the selection cursor for your tablet pen is active by clicking the Type Text or Select Objects icon on the toolbar.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Pictures, and then click From Files.
3. Click the picture you want to insert, and then click Insert.

You can easily move the picture on the page or resize the picture by dragging it from any corner.

Using OneNote to organize research for a report

• Include audio. With OneNote, you can record or import audio to store, edit, and include in your notes. You can record audio by using the built-in microphone on newer computers or by attaching an external microphone or other audio input device. Here’s how to record audio:
  • On the Insert menu, click Audio Recording.

• Add video. Want to insert video into your notes? Just attach a video camera or a webcam to your computer to include moving footage and the sounds of any subject in your notes. You can play back a video that you made for class or record one to edit later. Here’s how to record video:
  • On the Insert menu, click Video Recording.

• Import Excel lists. OneNote helps you keep track of numbers, too: you can import formatted lists from your Microsoft Office Excel files. Just copy columns, rows, and cells from any Excel spreadsheet and then paste them in your note page.

Organizing your thoughts

OneNote not only helps you organize your thoughts, it helps you rearrange them. Critical information, random ideas, diagrams, videos—you can place any information wherever you think it can help you express yourself better. Whether you’re a power user or a newcomer, OneNote makes use of multiple media to help you organize, plan, and simplify your daily life.

Here are some examples of how OneNote can help you organize your thoughts.

• Drag text and pictures anywhere on the screen.
• Move text and pictures to other notes and documents.
• Capture your thoughts in bulleted lists.
• Create folders for projects, classes, and personal files.
• Jot down a numbered to-do list.
• Sort and flag lecture notes to prepare for an exam.
• Keep all of your meeting notes for a project in a single location.
• Search through all of your notes, even the handwritten ones, to find that phone number you jotted down between appointments.
• Create marginal notes about a document, to save and move later.
• Plan your meals and grocery shopping.
• Track your travel and expenses for your next vacation.
• Draw and finalize the seating chart for your wedding.
• Move a picture to another note, and then send it in an e-mail message to your grandmother.

Enhancing your notes

After you capture your notes, give them a professional polish with the text and picture formatting features of OneNote. OneNote also includes Spelling and AutoCorrect commands to help you create neat, accurate notes.

OneNote files are easy to share… and share again. Send your notes to other people, or open up notes for group feedback and input.

• Share in real time. With OneNote you can collaborate with others, gathering their input for instant feedback. Here’s how to initiate a live session:
  • On the Share menu, point to Live Sharing Session, and then click Start Sharing Current Section.

You can choose to begin a new session or join one that is already in progress.

• Send your notes in an e-mail message. Using Microsoft Office Outlook, you can send a page of your notes to others in an e-mail message.

You can also send your notes and recordings instantly to a Pocket PC or smartphone.

• Export your notes. Convert your notes to a Microsoft Office Word document by using the Save As command, or publish your notes as a Portable Document Format (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) so you can share your notes without them being easily changed. Here’s how to do it:

• On the File menu, click Publish as PDF or XPS.

No more crumpled sticky notes, messy notebooks, or lost doodles. Use OneNote for everything you can think of.

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