The most powerful yet least known tool in the Microsoft Office Suite is definitely OneNote. The concept is simple - it's a virtual electronic notebook. I've used OneNote 2003 and OneNote 2007 and it's become a tool that I can't live without. Part of the reason why it's not as popular as it should be is because it's difficult to explain the appeal and usefulness of the application to someone who's never used it. I'll attempt to shed some light on OneNote 2007 in this article.
What is it and what does it do?
Basically, OneNote provides pages where you can write down notes and information. Well that's not so special right? You can do that in Microsoft Word. However, it's the flexibility and interface in which you can organize this information that sets it apart. First of all the paradigm is that of a notebook. The pages are automatically divided into notebooks, sections, pages, and sub pages, just like a physical notebook. So, as soon as you start the application, you are on a page of a section in a notebook. This natural hierarchy lends itself to easy organization and more importantly reorganization of important information. People tend not to immediately plan out an entire structure of how they want to organize all the information and documents that encompass all aspects of their lives. That would be a full time job in and of itself. Instead, we tend to think and work on a micro level and along the way, a structure and hierarchy naturally forms by itself. Continue reading »
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