Does anyone use a tablet to annotate readings/books?
I apologise for the length of the question here but I want to make sure I give you a clear understanding of my problem and the advice I seek.
I read a lot of academic texts – pdfs and increasingly e-books. I have a Kindle and since buying it have bought many more e-books to assist my research. I never intended to use my Kindle that way but I can get e-books quicker than I can obtain hard copy books and they are usually cheaper. This has led to another problem for me.
I like to make notes (and usually use Word) as I read and copy direct quotes into my Word notes plus including my own thoughts/questions/reminders to look at other texts. I can highlight on a Kindle but I can’t print off those notes and this is a very limited way for me to engage with the materials.
My question therefore is, is anyone using a tablet in a research/academic context and if so, which tablet do you use, do you use a particular app such as ‘Annotate’ and how effective is the app you use. I want to be able to make lots of notes (typed, even I can’t read my own writing these days), and collect key quotes and to be able to print them off to work with as I write.
Any advice would be gratefully received. I am putting this in general but would appreciate full, on topic answers about how other scholars use tablets and annotating software.
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4 Answers
I find ezPDF Reader to be THE best PDF app for either iOS or Android. I use it on my Droid X as well as on my rooted Nook Color. And the professional reviews seem to agree with me; if you want a full-featured PDF app with annotation functions for your tablet/smartphone, ezPDF Reader is all you need to know. In fact, I find it easier than anything I have on my PC!
Thank you @jerv. I know you aren’t an Apple fan. I am not committed to any brand. Is there a tablet you feel is best for this sort of application? I was thinking of a Samsung tab and the discussion in the other thread about 10” or 7” was interesting.
I will look into exPDF Reader. I have held off getting a tablet because I have a laptop and netbook and a Kindle but I think a tablet would be very useful for reading magazines and recipes in the kitchen but mostly for working on digital texts. If could save me a lot of time if I can annotate them well and then print.
Any tablet of decent quality will do, whether it be iPad, Samsung, or Acer. No tablet is better suited for PDF reading/annotation, though I personally prefer a 7” model, which precludes Apple. Of course, some people prefer larger keyboards than a 7” model offers, but I am so accustomed to the one on my 4.3” phone that I find the 7” keyboard perfectly fine.
As for printing, I rarely print any longer, at least not in hardcopy; I “print” to PDFs. If I needed my tablet in the kitchen, it’s small enough to fit in a freezer bag to protect it from splashing, spilling ingredients.
@Bellatrix I know this is likely much delayed, but I wanted to recommend making sure to look closely at the speed of your tablet, as that can sometimes affect the speed of applications. My first tablet was pretty slow and I found reading academic texts quite frustrating as a consequence.
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