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Ethical Use and the Web

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Tip #3: Use bookmarks/favorites to organize documents as you find them

Bookmarks (or Favorites as they may be called in some browsers) are a quick and convenient way to save the addresses (URLs) of pages you find and want to revisit. Bookmarking a page or site is as easy as clicking on the Bookmarks (or Favorites) menu item at the top of your browser and then selecting the "Add Bookmark" or "Add to Favorites" item. The address of the page will then be added to your list of Bookmarks.

But when you add Bookmarks this way, the address is simply added to the end of the existing list of Bookmarks. If your list becomes long, it may be difficult to recall which URLs are related to a particular topic. You can save yourself time reviewing and organizing URLs later by organizing them as you go.

Web Browsers
To create a new folder in Firefox, Chrome, etc.:

Click the Bookmark menu item at the top of your browser. When the Bookmarks dialog box appears, click Bookmark this Page then select or create a folder when prompted.

When you want to add a new bookmark:

Be sure the document you want to bookmark is showing in your browser window. Then click on the Bookmark menu item. If you select "Add Bookmark," the URL will be added to the bottom of your list of bookmarks. You can then move the new bookmark to any folder you choose by clicking and holding the (left) mouse button on the bookmark and dragging it to the folder where you want to store it.

Click the Bookmark (or Favorites) menu at the top of your browser. Then select the equivalent of Organize Favorites. The dialog box shows existing bookmarks and allows you to create new folders. Click on the equivalent of Create Folder button. A new folder icon will appear in the Favorites list. Type a name for the new folder. Additional buttons allow you to rename or delete existing folders and files, and move files to folders. You can also organize existing files and folders by dragging them within the list.

The biggest drawback to saving bookmarks on your computer is that you cannot access them if you use a different computer.

Social Bookmarking Sites

Using a social bookmarking site (Diigo, de.licio.us, lots more) is an easy way to bookmark pages. It works by adding a button to the browser toolbar. When you find a page you want to bookmark, simply click the bookmark button--the software saves the page in the cloud. You also have options to organize bookmarks in folders and annotate them. Another advantage to this approach is that your bookmarks are saved in the cloud and can be accessed by logging in to your bookmarking account from any computer.