PIM tools

We have put together a list of research prototypes which can be found on a below link.

PIM research prototypes

Below is a list of PIM prototype tools. These tools tried to answer/solve one or more problems we as users face everyday with managing our personal information.

In the frame on the right is a list of tags. Selecting a checkbox by a particular tag highlights prototypes that correspond to selected tag. More than one tag can be selected resulting in OR highlighting.

Stand alone version of the below list

<anyweb mywidth="100%" myheight="700px">http://pim.famnit.upr.si/pim/pimtoolsembed.html</anyweb>

A list has over 70 prototypes listed and is growing. Although the present list is not short, there are other tools which probably deserve to be listed here. Please let us know, if you know a research PIM prototype (even if it is of commercial nature now). We would appreciate every suggestion and critique about the list, tags and mistakes I made putting the list together.

Mainstream PIM applications like Google desktop search, Bento, MS Outlook, etc. or any other smaller scale application are not listed.

The list mostly contains tools that can be installed on personal computers. There are a few tools for PDAs (ChittyChatty) and web (snip!t). A lot of tools have recently emerged on-line to manage personal information of various forms and opened an opportunity to share personal information with others. Some are very noticeable (flickr, facebook, myspace, youtube) and some not so much, but very exiting and ground breaking (list.it, Proyozo, atomate). These tools are not on the above list but are listed separately below.

Web research prototypes

• list.it
• Proyozo
• atomate

Other sources and lists

There are several lists of PIM applications on the web:

• Richard Boardman's list of PIM protoypes and commercial/open source/virtual systems
• Tools for Organizing Thoughts has quite a few PIM applications listed
• Wikipedia's list of Personal Information Managers
• DMOZ PIM listings
• A list of Document Management Appliations

There is also a (rather old) book on available PIM software from 1996:

• " Etzel and Thomas, 1996, Personal information management: tools and techniques for achieving professional effectiveness