Document Annotation Tools

Are there good enough tools for annotating documents and sharing those annotations that are easy enough to use that students might actually read things online for classes?

I don’t know, but here are some possibilities:

• http://a.nnotate.com (web-based free and paid service) “A.nnotate lets you easily add notes and comments to PDFs (and other types of document including MS Word, Powerpoint and Excel). It runs in most common browsers and there is no software to install so it is the ideal tool for helping individuals and groups manage and collaborate on their documents. Users do not need to install any plug-ins like Acrobat or Adobe reader as A.nnotate simply runs in the browser. Once you have uploaded a document you can invite any number of annotators to view it and add their comments – there is no extra charge for annotating users.”

• http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/ highlight web pages and share with short url

• “As of Acrobat 7, it is possible to save a PDF file so that Acrobat’s Comments features are also available in the Reader. This needs to be done on a file-by-file basis, in Acrobat (definitely Professional, possibly also Standard). So if a client sends you a PDF requesting comments added in Acrobat, you can ask him to send you the file again, with comments enabled for Reader. The Acrobat command for this is in the Comments menu.” source

• http://www.diigo.com/ highlight web pages and share or keep them private, other features too.

• http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/PDF-XChange_Tools/pdfx_viewer (Windows only?)

• The Acrobat Pro site licensing is pretty inexpensive if that will meet faculty/staff needs.

• High-end users (with a Tablet for example) may prefer PDF Annotator, which costs $69 but may have academic discounts. http://www.ograhl.com/en/pdfannotator

• Any others? Any experience with any of these?