A.nnotate blog

Just back from Edinburgh Repository Fringe - a gathering of people interested in making research data and publications more useful and easy to access. There were great keynote talks from Dorothea Salo ['the institutional repository is dead'] and David De Roure ['how repositories can avoid failing like the grid'], and lots of ‘performances’ in the spirit of an unconference / BarCamp event.

A common theme seemed to be that setting up a university-wide database and expecting researchers to populate it by filling out forms just doesn’t work; but providing easy to use web services for collaboration and improving visibility / citation counts of research is the way to go.

We’ve been thinking along these lines too - our A.nnotate.com service can be used to enhance existing document repositories with private / shared annotation features (using the A.nnotate APIs). As well as A.nnotate, we also run the PublicationsList.org service which makes it easy for researchers to maintain their list of publications on the web - and can be used as a front end service to institutional archives to make repository deposit as automated as possible.

Some of the interesting ideas from the meeting (see the repofringe08 wiki for the full programme):

• Ways for sharing/presenting research data - including Stuart Macdonald’s DISC-UK DataShare project with interactive widgets, Simon Coles experiments with trackbacks / pings / ratings / comments for research data in chemistry, David De Roure’s MyExperiment facebook-like social networking site for bioinformatics data which looks like it has great potential beyond its current emphasis on sharing glorified makefiles graphical workflows
• The dangers of ‘Bit Rot’ [talk by Richard Wright, BBC archives] - should you archive the uncompressed version of files (e.g. TIFF rather than JPG?) given that all digital formats (tape / disk) degrade over time, and a few bits lost from a compressed file can render it useless, but uncompressed formats degrade much more gracefully. My immediate instinct would be to compress and store multiple copies for redundancy / error checking … but for the longer term (10s / 100s of years) the uncompressed version is preferable.

Spotted in Edinburgh on the way to the meeting:-

We’ve just announced a bargain flat-fee server deal for educational use: $1995 per server to use how you want. There are no limits on the number of users or volume of documents allowed. That just depends on the hardware you put it on. In return, we’d like your feedback to help improve the system.

A significant fraction of our inquiries come from colleges and universities that see applications for A.nnotate among their staff and students. Naturally, teachers can use it to provide feedback on student assignments instead of writing on printed copies. But there have been a range of other creative suggestions too. Staff could prepare a folder of annotated websites with comments or questions in particular places, or students could be asked to annotate a particular text.

Some of these fit easily with the present configuration, but others could do with some extensions. For example, to get twenty students separately annotating the same document, you need to make twenty separate copies at present. Most of all though, the current model is based on users who have accounts and can upload documents, and guest annotators who provide feedback on those documents. In a classroom environment though you could sometimes want just one user and 20 annotators, but at other times maybe everyone should be a user. Do you need a single user license or a 20-user one?

We do not want to limit the ways teachers can use A.nnotate, and everyone knows that complicated per-seat pricing models are a real turn-off. Hence the flat-fee deal. You buy the server license outright and do what you like with it. You can probably get a thousand students on one server as long as they don’t all try to upload assignments in the same half hour before a deadline. All we ask is that you let us know from time to time how you’re using it so that we can share the ideas with others, and to let us know if you have any suggestions for new developments.

Happy a.nnotating!

The A.nnotate server is now available for installation on your own local machines (e.g. on an intranet, or on your own dedicated web server) - see Standalone A.nnotate servers for details.

When running on your own servers you’ll see the same easy-to-use browser based interface familiar from the hosted service on A.nnotate.com but browsing and uploading should be quicker. You can also keep documents securely behind your firewall and you can upload as many documents as your hard disk space will allow.

Server licenses start at $2000 and are based on the number of users from your organisation authorised to upload documents to the server. You can have any number of annotating users at no extra charge.

For developers: there is also an API for embedding an A.nnotate panel within your own web application or content management system.

Work is well underway for two major developments in the coming months.

First, the standalone server will be out in July. This is for anyone who wants to run A.nnotate on their own server on their intranet, integrate it with existing systems, or be absolutely sure where your confidential documents are physically located. Beta testing for the install process will begin in a couple of weeks and there will be an announcement here when it’s available. Why not subscribe to the RSS feed if you haven’t done so already?

Second, there will be a major upgrade in September with a collection of features people have been asking for. In particular, you’ll get:

• Image annotation with points and regions selectable on images in both HTML and PDF. This will also work for scanned PDFs so even if the text isn’t readable, you will still be able to add annotations to the right place.
• Folders to organize your documents. You’ll be able to create folders within folders, move groups of documents around, and keep your document store clean and tidy. Note that you will also be able to add tags / keywords as at present.
• Shared folders so that rather than sharing just one document you’ll be able to share a folder with a particular group of people. They will automatically be able to see and annotate anything you put in there. Useful for accumulating collective resources where each item doesn’t necessarily justify a separate message.
• Notifications so you can get an email sent when a new document has been added to a shared folder or someone has added a note somewhere. These will be optional of course, and easy to switch on and off. We’ll also be adding RSS feeds for comments on documents.

There’s still time to add features to this list, so if you’ve got a burning need, let us know ASAP!

A.nnotate offers a quick and easy way to collaborate on PDF, Word and HTML documents: simply upload a read-only version to A.nnotate.com and let reviewers add their comments to highlighted text in the browser. It is not an online word processor (like Google docs / Zoho writer / Buzzword) however - A.nnotate is focussed on shared annotation of a read-only copy.  This blog entry discusses some of the ways you can use A.nnotate with your current desktop or online word processor.

With A.nnotate, all reviewers (and the authors) can read and reply to each others’ comments, and you avoid the chaos which can result if several people edit a document at the same time. This gives the author additional control: in many cases you want other peoples opinions on a document draft but do not want them to change your wording.

Avoiding email attachment ‘ping-pong’ with Word track-changes

Some people currently use desktop word processors (e.g Microsoft Word, OpenOffice) with ‘Track Changes‘ switched on and send email attachments back and forth. Merging the different versions can get complex, particularly if you need to get a document checked by several people, and you can end up with a mess of crossed-out text and complex underlinings and colours.

A.nnotate lets you annotate PDF, Word, and web pages in the same system!

If you need to get feedback on a PDF document, there are fewer options: commercial desktop software like Adobe Acrobat allows PDFs to be sent out for individual review, but you still have to merge the comments from different reviewers, and each person is annotating a local copy rather than discussing a single shared copy online. The same applies for other personal PDF viewers (e.g. Preview in Mac OSX and Foxit Reader).

A.nnotate and Google Docs / Zoho / Buzzword etc…

Online word processors (e.g. Google docs, Zoho, Buzzword) and wikis offer a different approach to collaboration by allowing all reviewers to edit the same document online using a simple rich text editor. Some of the layout / fonts etc will be lost in translation when you upload a complex Word document, and unlike A.nnotate they do not allow you to upload and collaborate on the high quality PDF version.

Online word processors can work well if you want several people to be able to edit a draft at once, but desktop word processors offer more control over formatting. One easy way to get documents into A.nnotate from an online (or desktop) word processor is to use the ‘email document as attachment’ feature and send it to cc [at] nnotate.com: the document will be automatically added to your space in A.nnotate where you can then add notes and send out invites.

In summary -

• A.nnotate offers a new and convenient approach to online document collaboration
• It’s very easy to use - simply highlight text to write a note, or click on a note to add replies and tags
• It works with PDF, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel and OpenOffice formats, with documents displayed in the browser with fonts, diagrams and layout like the printed version
• There is nothing to install, and it doesn’t require any plugins (not even Flash or Adobe Reader) - all it needs is your web browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Safari)
• You can also add notes to a private copy of any web page by entering the URL or adding the snapshot bookmarklet to your browser
  
• All highlighted terms are added to your personal searchable index - with page previews

  

• You still edit your documents using your standard desktop or online word processor
• You can upload documents using the web form, or email them to cc[at]nnotate.com
• a FREE version is available online; subscriptions and pay-as-you-go options are
  available for pro users and groups.
• A.nnotate is also available for in-house installation on your intranet servers / integration with your existing systems, e.g. for proofing / workflow.

To try it, simply upload a document or snapshot a web address at A.nnotate.com

The A.nnotate.com site has now been updated; new features for PDF annotation include:

• International character sets now supported (UTF-8) for multi-language documents and notes
• Annotate scanned, image based PDFs as well as text based PDFs.
• Support for PDF documents which contain pages of multiple sizes and orientations
• Faster import from Microsoft Word and OpenOffice formats
• The web snapshot tool from your documents page now lets you annotate any PDF or Word document on the web by pasting a URL link (this also works for links to web pages)

There is now also a simple way to export your notes on a page as plain text; the Tools > Plain notes menu option in the top right of your documents page shows your notes in a new window, where you can copy / paste into other applications.

More info at A.nnotate.com.

Information for existing users of A.nnotate …

You might need to clear your browser cache and/or press the browser reload button in order to fetch the latest version of the A.nnotate code; please let us know if you run in to any problems with upgrading to the latest version.

Documents have long been the information dead-ends of the web, needing separate plugins and viewers to download and read them. Now A.nnotate.com enhances PDF, Word documents and any web page to allow highlighting text, interactive comments and discussion right in the web browser.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 4th April 2008: Textensor Limited, an Edinburgh University startup company today launched A.nnotate.com, a new service that everyone can use to discuss, review and index their documents online.

A.nnotate lets users attach notes to precise places in the text of PDF, Word documents and web pages online. It is easy to use and operates in a web browser: the user simply highlights text and writes a note. All notes, documents and tags are added to their personal searchable index making it simple to get back to the right place. Uploaded documents are initially private, but can be shared by emailing a link. This lets several users comment on the same online copy of the document and add replies to each others notes. It acts like a shared online version of Word or PDF comments but avoids the usual problems of emailing documents back and forth and having to merge comments from different people.

Applications include peer review of research papers, indexing documents and web pages, web research and collaboration on writing new documents. It is also being used for content curation and populating scientific databases. Curators tag words or phrases in articles which are then used to create database and index entries. The advantage is that claims in the database are then backed up by references to the precise source and context in the literature.

According to Dr Robert Cannon, co-founder of Textensor Limited, “This is for anyone who has ever made a note in the margin of a printed copy but then couldn’t find it later, or had problems reading other people’s handwriting. It is about coping with the overwhelming volume of documents that we have to handle in a more efficient and reliable way. You can put web pages, PDF and Word in the same system and be sure that you can return to an exact place on the page later, and also share your comments securely with colleagues online.”

The system is available as an online web service and also for in-house licensing. It operates entirely within a web browser and does not require any plugins. Further details and a free trial are available from a.nnotate.com.