Blog human speaking here: Honestly, I was never a fan of using Edge (or Internet Explorer back in the day), but it was my New Year’s “Techolution” to switch. I not only exclusively use Edge now, but I promote the use of Edge to others! I am converted, and let me tell you why…

Why Edge?

1. Immersive Reader is an amazing set of tools that helps with focus and concentration, reads text aloud to you, and allows you to customize your own reading experience by changing text size, background colors, and even translating the text into another language. …and it’s not only free, but already built into Edge!
   • No wonder why we highlighted Immersive Reader in a previous blog post!
     Tech Tips Blog Post: Immersive Reader
2. When copying and pasting a URL from Edge into a document such as Word, OneNote or even an email in Outlook, the link will automatically be formatted with meaningful text! What this means is that the link in your document will give a description of what is on the webpage, rather than typing out the entire URL (nobody wants to read, or listen to, http://www.SuperMegaDeluxeLongWebsiteAddress/192857463/alphabetical.com).
   Improved copy and paste of URLs in Microsoft Edge – Microsoft Support
3. The sidebar feature of Microsoft allows for easy access to tools, apps and more, and is a great feature for multi-tasking.
   Sidebar – Microsoft Support

What are Collections in Edge, and how do I use them?

Here it is, the real “meat and potatoes” (or main reason) of this blog post… Collections in Edge! Collections is a more in-depth and organized way of saving webpages that you frequent often, or want to save to revisit at a later date. For example, you are researching information for a paper you need to write, and want to save a bunch of websites to review later. It is similar to “favoriting” or “bookmarking” a webpage, but goes beyond what those features can do.

With Collections, you can not only save websites to a particular collection, but you can also add notes attached to those websites. For example, add a webpage to a collection, and then add a note indicating why you saved that webpage (“this webpage outlines why Corgi dogs are adorable”).

You can even drag images, links or sections of text directly into a Collection! Saving you from later having to scroll through an entire webpage to find the information you wanted to save. And don’t worry, when you save images or sections of text directly to your Collection, the URL is saved as well so you can revisit the entire page if needed!

…And yet, there is more! Maybe you’re working on a group research project and have saved a bunch of useful information you’d like to share with the rest of the group. You can easily share a single resource from your Collection, or share the entire Collection of resources. You can even export your Collection to Word or Excel!

Resources:

Organize your ideas with Collections in Microsoft Edge – Microsoft Support

Video: How to use Microsoft Edge Collections

Download Edge (for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android):

Webpage: Download Microsoft Edge

Unpaywall

Need help finding good resources when researching? Tired of “hitting a wall” when you find what you think is a good resource, only to find out you need to pay to access it? Unpaywall is a service through the Library and Academic Services department that can help! It is a legal and copyright compliant service that maintains a database of links to full-text articles from Open Access sources. The content is harvested from legal sources including repositories run by universities, governments, and scholarly societies, as well as open content hosted by publishers themselves. 
Webpage: Unpaywall, Library and Academic Services at RRC Polytech