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- T r e n d s & K n o w l e d g e -

What if you could create a powerful, easy-to-use knowledge base on your computer that would allow you to easily record information, retrieve it and reassemble it into innovative new combinations? This remarkable tool does exist: it's called PageKeeper from Caere Corporation, and it's the closest thing to a "killer app" that I've seen since the advent of idea-generation software.

PageKeeper for Windows reads all of the text-based information you receive or create -- word-processing documents, spreadsheets, e-mail, files downloaded from online services and scanned docu- ments and images -- and indexes all of their words into its powerful database. PageKeeper contains Caere's powerful OmniPage scanning and OCR engine, which allows you to scan documents and images directly into PageKeeper with options for converting documents imme- diately into text, maintaining text and image files side-by-side, or images only.

This text indexing process can be time-consuming (a 50-page document I recently indexed took 6 minutes) but the results are well worth the wait, because the program's text search engine is lightning fast. You can search for information in your PageKeeper database using key words, including Boolean (and/or) searches. The program's search function displays weighted search results using an easy-to-understand, color-coded horizontal bar chart, which also contains the document's description. Simply double-click on the bar containing the document you want, and PageKeeper displays it in a viewer window.

Items in a PageKeeper index may be printed, faxed and manipulated in other ways -- for example, you can attach an unlimited number of electronic notes to key passages in a document which, when minimized, appear as "push pin" icons. Click on one of them and the note opens up. Notes can also be included in PageKeeper searches.

Unlike other programs of this genre, which allow you to only view your files, PageKeeper also lets you edit them -- including copying text to the Windows Clipboard and pasting it into other applications. This remarkable software program comes bundled with a useful applet called PK Direct, which inserts a "PageKeeper Search" command into the application control menu (in Windows) or in an application's first menu (usually the File menu). PK Direct allows you to conduct a search of your PageKeeper database from your word processor and other applications, copy relevant items from the program's viewer window, and paste them into your other application. This is a powerful tool for locating and consolidating disparate pieces of information for use in an article, book or business report.

PageKeeper has only one limitation: it can't index and search the files on your network, only your computer's local hard drive. Still, it's one of those software "gems" that will give you fingertip access to your key current files, as well as long-forgotten files that contain just the information you need.

Gerald Haman, president of Creative Solutions International in Chicago talks about the "New 3Rs." To be successful today, according to Haman, executives must have an effective system for Recording, Retrieving and Reassembling ideas. PageKeeper delivers on all three counts.

Chuck Frey is the Director of Strategic Information Services for CIMA and can be reached at 414-298-4126 or cima@cimanet.com