Complex tool not for ordinary jobs

By FRANCIS TILL

Billed as a "research automation tool", PowerResearcher is a website grabber on steroids.

The software, from US-based Uniting Networks, is available in New Zealand as a hefty 10.8 MB download and, says the developer, is the first in a series of "research process automation" tools.

It's a technical application with a steep learning curve.

Users will want to fire it up only when they're doing real research, although the literature says it can help organise and facilitate routine tasks such as online banking.

Suggested uses include legal, financial, science and educational projects. It may work for homework and can defeat plagiarism, as the developer suggests, but only in the hands of very computer-savvy kids and teachers, and probably only if the school (or university) buys the package for use by its students.

When users start the tool, it opens on a tutorial page that becomes the active program while it is teaching, something I found quite clever.

The graphical user interface is bare-bones and far from intuitive, so the tutorial will be essential. Experienced users can get right down to their tasks with a few clicks of the mouse, bypassing the teaching bits.

PowerResearcher operates inside a browser of its own, something that takes getting used to.

There are five very different window panes in the tool, accessed by tabs at the bottom of the screen, each of which allows users to undertake special activities both in researching and in keeping track of what has been done and what's yet to do.

At the top of the user screen are text markers for a few familiar functions and a number of arcane command options such as "element down" that are unique to the program. In the development window panes, the screen is split into three sections, one administrative and two active.

Web content can be annotated on the spot and stored in a special "projects" file that is maintained inside the system, along with any writing that's under way.

Word-processing documents can be opened inside the split-screen browser to allow researchers to grab content without having to switch back and forth between applications.

One of the potential problems for users, in fact, is also an advantage: support for Microsoft Word is so thoroughly integrated that users of other word-processing systems, including the one that comes as part of the package, will have a much diminished experience.

Links and citations are inserted into the working document by wizards and online resources can be saved into the project in much the way Internet Explorer can save web pages to folders.

I liked this tool but it is too complex for most consumer projects. The more advanced capabilities of the application are terrific, but require too much investigation and practice for ordinary use.

PowerResearcher

$99.95 (with discount code from website) or US$79.99. Also available as a 30-day free trial.

Pros: Powerful, self-contained, sophisticated research tool that tracks everything you do and offers a complete workspace, including citation wizards. Lets users find internet material, organise it and create Word documents from within the self-contained browser.

Cons: Graphically challenged interface offering a non-intuitive learning curve with a high price tag. Many of its functions are already present in Office and Internet Explorer.

Rating: 5.5/10 .