Free Online Tool Helps Users Record and Share Research

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/03/08

A free clickstream recording Web service for researchers has launched, developed by two college graduates who had become frustrated by the inefficiency and redundancy of gathering research. iBreadCrumbs, created by California State University, Fullerton graduates Reuben Fine and Rey Marques, is an online tool that allows teachers, researchers, and students to save and share their research with others.

Users download the free iBreadCrumbs toolbar, which runs only on Firefox, search the Internet, and click on the Web pages visited to share with others. Users can also add notes and references to pages visited and save the Web history for others to see the sites and review the content they viewed. Those viewing the breadcrumbs can use any browser.

"As students, the most frustrating aspect of gathering information for research projects was the fact that few were sharing the information they have gathered," said Fine. "iBreadCrumbs.com solves this problem by creating a virtual research lab where everyone in the social network can bookmark and share the research they have conducted."

In a statement, the company said hundreds of students and professors at the Fullerton campus are using iBreadCrumbs.com to complete research assignments, write research papers, and study for classes and examinations. The school's Foundation for the Study of Emerging Markets, for instance, uses iBreadCrumbs.com for all of its student-led research projects.