This is the second in a series of posts about software applications that can make the life of an information worker a bit easier. The last post discusses some graphics and authoring/publishing tools. Here are a few more "helper" tools to add to that list.

Video

• Camtasia Studio

  Camtasia is a screen video capture and editing program. Camtasia is a handy little tool to create demo videos, tutorials, and teaching aids. Audio can be recorded simultaneously or later as a voiceover to add narration to a video.
  

  Like most video edting programs, this one is a hog. You'll need a GHz of processing power (3 GHz for PowerPoint) and 500 MB - 2 GB of memory. You'll also need a whopping 60 MB of disk for the application alone, plus much more for your raw and rendered files. You also need a separate microphone for audio recording.
  

  One last thought: Video recording is not for everyone. It is time intensive (often with 3:1 or larger ratio of production time to play time). If you are a perfectionist, that ratio will be even higher as you bog down in editing.

  Vendor: TechSmith
  Cost: About $300 ($180 academic version) as of this writing
  Trial: 30-day trial is available
  Platforms: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, or 7, Apple

Research & Review

• Adobe Acrobat Reader X

  Finally! Although I have my Adobe Professional for the "heavy lifting," Adobe finally has come out with a Reader that allows text highlighting and comments. Not only have I used it daily since I downloaded it, I also suggest it to my students for their readings and research.

  Vendor: Adobe
  Cost: Free
  Platforms: Multiple



• EndNote

  This bibliographic management tool is one of those things that you don't know you need it until you use it. It's a godsend to researchers and writers who cite sources frequently (and frequently cite the same sources). I wonder how I ever lived without it. The limited-functionality EndNote Web version is free for academia. The more advanced features come in the desktop version, which supports features such as library sharing, PDF source linking, and publication list management. There is a Cite-While-You-Write plug-in for Word (in both versions). If you're stuck in Purgatory writing technical, long, or complex documents in Word (as many of us are), at least you can have a glimpse of Heaven in creating your in-text citations and reference list. You also can import any citations created directly in Word into EndNote.

  Vendor: Thompson Reuters
  Cost: About $300 ($116 for a student version) as of this writing
  Trial: A free trial version is available; EndNote Web is free for academia
  Platforms: SAAS, web-based (the full version runs on your PC)



• SurveyMonkey

  SurveyMonkey is a tool to quickly create, deploy, collect, and assess surveys. Like EndNote, SurveyMonkey has a free, limited version and a full version. The full version has some sophisticated features that make it a worthwhile purchase if you do surveys more than once in a blue moon. Although the Google survey tool is fine for many simple surveys, SurveyMonkey has far superior analysis tools and can create more complex surveys.

  Vendor: SurveyMonkey
  Cost: About $200-800 annually as of this writing
  Trial: A basic version for 10 questions and 100 responses is free
  Platforms: SAAS, web-based

I'll keep posting my favorite tools here. If you want to contribute one, let me know. As always: Your mileage may vary.

Disclaimer: Microsoft Word is a tool I "love to hate." Even though I may make disparaging remarks about it from time to time, it is the best word processor around, bar none.