I attended the MFG4 Manufacturing Conference in Hartford this past week. This one was put on by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). I really love technical conferences as I always go with an open mind and no agenda and just 'be' at these things. Don't get me wrong, I definitely have a plan on what I'm going to do when I'm there BUT I find there is a kind of 'free-flowing' interaction that occurs at these events that rarely happens anywhere else.
The various technical presentations and conversations I had with the people I met at the conference got me thinking about how much information we get exposed to and what to do with it all. Well, create a Library of course! But not just any library, this one is digital and can be tagged & indexed, and is searchable so you can find all the information again when you need it.
Over the years, I've created a library of useful 'stuff' that I've found has served me extremely well in providing useful (technology) tools for my clients and our development teams when a particular need arises. In fact, I will go on to say that this is one of our PRIMARY assets because it allows us to be flexible and agile when we have to be. The key here is get into the habit of 'acquiring' technology, but not actually 'buying' it until you need it. Anything of value gets checked into your library and stays there until a need arises. Eventually, your library becomes a powerful suite of tools that you will use over and over again, and because you are constantly adding to this, will get even better over time.
Top Tools for Creating your (Digital) Library (not presented in any specific ranked order here):
1. Evernote - I absolutely LOVE this tool, and I could write a whole post on this (which I will), but enough to say that this single, seemingly simple application, has changed the entire way I write, store, and archive my information. It allows you to write simple notes/entries into various notebooks, but gives you a very powerful base to form a library of information. Exactly what the doctor ordered!
2. Delicious.com - Online bookmarks storing and sharing
3. Dropbox - Online file storage, with folder sharing and accessible from ANYWHERE you are.
4. Remember the Milk (yes it really is called that...) - Online tasklist storage, list sharing and accessible from ANYWHERE you are.
... and oh yes, ALL of these tools are offered for FREE!
Happy Archiving!
-- Jason
Useful ideas on technology, innovation, and how to make sense of it all.
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