Options for saving good articles as reference material

Software
21

When I used DEVONthink I found it a little clunky and slow to read pdfs inside it (long pdfs sometimes got stutter-y, at least in older versions of the app), so I used the app only for storage. I did my reading in other apps and my ‘Things To Read’ resides as a folder on the Mac, and I try to get through everything as quickly as possible.

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22

I also use DEVONThink even though it doesn’t meet all your requirements. Usually web archive format. Sometimes I’ll print toPDF but how successful that is depends on the site.

23

Do you write notes for it in the notes field on DevonThink?

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24

I don’t use Devonthink. For articles that read for research, I actually go through the process of making a folder for each paper that I read, and store a pdf of the article (that I’ve marked up in PDF expert), and put a separate set of notes in there with it (usually written using Pages or a few Keynote slides, OmniOutliner, etc.)

25

Maybe Pinboard can help?

  • Pinboard is a fast, no-nonsense bookmarking site for people who value privacy and speed.
  • For a few more bucks a year, Pinboard offers an archiving service which saves a copy of everything you bookmark, gives you full-text search, and automatically checks your account for dead links
26

Thanks for this tip on emailthis, @jomalo. I signed up and it’s great!

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27

I personally save to pocket and then have pocket sync to pinboard.

I would use solely pinboard if there was a pinboard app for iOS that cached the articles and had a good reading interface to boot.

28

I’ve used Pushpin for this before.

29

I’ve just changed my workflow to using tags on pdfs in Finder and using Email This to save articles.

I have set up a Sanebox folder for articles and just save as PDF in Apple Mail.

Thanks for introducing me to Email This :slightly_smiling_face:

30

Thanks! I’ll try it out :smile:

31

I used Leap for a long time to store articles. I currently use EagleFiler app. It’s not very expensive. For academic articles, or articles I might cite in papers, I use ReadCube Papers. The OP said "Avoid using proprietary software ". In my case, the constraint is to avoid storing files in an opaque proprietary database. EagleFiler and Leap store information right on the Finder. DEVONthink has the ability to index files right on the Finder.

To link anything to anything, on macOS I use Hook (productivity) . (Disclosure, I am its main designer/co’s cofounder). (I also describe many tricks for managing files in Cognitive Productivity books. Its screencasts are available for free mainly on youtube ).

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