Legal Research

Manage Your Online Reading With Web and Mobile Applications

By Biddle Law Library

Find an interesting New York Times article but need to study for your Civil Procedure exam? Save articles to read later with Instapaper or Read it Later, two web tools with mobile applications that allow you to save articles to read later from your computer, smartphone, iPad, or even e-reading device.

Using Instapaper or Read it Later is similar to bookmarking (i.e. saving) a link but both provide more functionality. Use either service to save online articles to read from anywhere by visiting just one website or by using a compatible mobile application.

Using either Instapaper or Read it Later is relatively straightforward:

• Begin by creating an account with either service
• After creating your account, you can install a button in your web browser that will allow you to save an item quickly. Installation is simple and takes less than a minute.
• Next time you see an article you would like to read later, just push the button on your browser to save it to your account. Both applications save the text of the article on your screen, so if your article has multiple pages you should first click on the print view to retrieve the full text, then click on Instapaper's or Read it Later's save button so that the application saves the entire article.

To read your saved articles, just log in to your account to access all articles. However, there are other ways to access your account information, including the option to read your saved articles without web access. For example, you can install mobile applications for Instapaper or Read It Later on your iPhone or iPad, Android smartphones, or your Blackberry. By using these applications, your articles will sync to your mobile device so that you can read your saved articles even when your phone or iPad does not have internet access. As a result, both applications can help you stay up-to-date from anywhere and are perhaps perfect for the commute to and from the law school!

Both Instapaper or Read it Later will work on your favorite nonlaw news sites or blogs, but you can also try using these applications to stay up-to-date on legal news and the legal profession by saving articles from sites such as Law.com,  SCOTUSblog or one of the blogs listed at Law Professor Blogs. Happy reading!

Full post as published by Biddleblog on November 04, 2010 (boomark / email).