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A while ago on this blog we looked at Google Notebook a free tool that allows you to collect and organise clips of information you find while searching the web (click here to read more). Well Microsoft has recently released a similar tool that might be even better called Thumbtack.

With Thumbtack you can browse the web and save clips of information such as text, images, and links without having to leave the page you’re on. When you find something you want to save, some text and a picture for example, you just highlight what you want to save and click your Collect with Thumbtack bookmarklet. A pop up box will open showing you your selection and allowing you to choose which collection of clips you want to save it too, and to tag it with keywords if you would like.

With Thumbtack you can:

  1. Have multiple collections so you can store information on different topics in different places. You can even drag and drop clips from one collection into another.
  2. Get access to your collections from any computer with the internet.
  3. Easily find the page where the information came from. Every note you add while searching the web includes a link back to the page it came from.
  4. Share your collections with others. You can invite others by email to view and edit a collection or make a collection public so anyone on the net can see it.
  5. Add comments to clips or collections and email individual clips to others.
  6. Search for a particular clip using the search box.
  7. View your clips in different ways including a list view, grid view, and canvas view.

So what cool features does it have that Google Notebook doesn’t?

Well to start with there is the ability to view your clips of information it different ways. The canvas view, seen below, allows you to see a summery of each clip in a box which you can move around the screen and place where you like. You can place clips that are related next to each other or on top of one another. This could be a particularly useful way of sorting information for very visual people.

Another cool thing about Thumbtack is the gadgets. When you apply a gadget to a collection it appears in the right side bar of the Thumbtack screen and can enhance the way you view your collection. For example the Address gadget will automatically extract any addresses that appear in your clips of information and display them on a map. This feature would be great if you were looking at different properties to rent or buy. There are currently only four gadgets but its likely more will be added over time.

Thumbtack is free to use and works in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. To use this service you need a Windows Live ID, if you have a hotmail account you will already have one but you can also get one from here.

To learn more about Thumbtack click here.