Using Google with MindManager

We’ve all used Google to find something.  With MindManager 8 you can not only find something with Google, you can manage it after you find it.

Let’s say I’m a college student or the parent of a college student interested in Financial Aid. And let’s say I live in North Carolina.  I might type the following in Google: “College Financial Aid in North Carolina”.  Google will return the following search results in my browser:

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Now, that’s not bad.  You do get relevant search results after all.  And isn’t that the goal?  Well, yes and no.  Not only do you want relevant search results, you also want to manage those results.  I mean what good is information if you can’t quickly manage it and quickly integrate it into your work?  

With a browser you’re just “viewing” the information.  At most you can click on the link and go to the website.  You can also save the website to your bookmarks – along with your other bookmarks.

Doing Research the NEW way: Google with MindManager

Another way to do this search is with MindManager’s built-in Google search feature.

Here is the step-by-step for doing the same search in MindManager:

Step 1: Open MindManager and create a MindManager Map.  Type “College Information” in center of map.

Step 2: Create a sub-topic called “College Financial Aid in North Carolina” (simply click on “College Information” topic and hit “Ctrl” + “Enter” keys to create sub-topic):

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Step 3: Open the Google Search feature in MindManager. Click Map Parts tab. Choose Web Services>Search. Choose Google.  (You also have the option of choosing Microsoft Live Search or Yahoo Search).

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Step 4: Select “College Financial Aid in North Carolina” sub-topic and click Google button. MindManager automatically uses the sub-topic title for the Google search.  You can also determine the number of  search results (the default is 10).

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Step 5: Click OK to view your search results in MindManager.

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The real advantage with this approach is you not only have search results, but you can managethose results within your map.  You can add notes to each result.  You can delete results that don’t fit your needs.    You can re-arrange the search results in ways that make sense to you.  You can also click on results and quickly view in MindManager’s embedded browser:

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Now, that’s managing search results.

If you’re interested in managing information and not simply viewing it, click the “Get Started”button below and start using MindManager today.

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