How to enter notes
Posted by pma
on 11/4/2005
pma
11/4/2005 3:58 am
How do you guys handle the data entry of notes - reference notes, or notes from meetings, seminars, conferences, etc. ?
When in a meeting do you enter your notes directly into some electronic device (for myself I'm considering purchasing the new Alphasmart NEO for this purpose), or do you take your notes on paper and transfer them to the computer when available?
Do you enter all your notes in your favorite info mgmt app (e.g. Zoot or InfoHandler)? Or do you store your notes in more fragmented manners ?
And my main consideration: Do you split your notes into separate items, or do you simply enter all the notes from e.g. a meeting into one item? The advantage of the first approach is of course that you can categorise much more precisely (indeed, a sensible categorisation may be quite impossible if including all the notes from a meeting in one item, as many different issues could be discussed - the same goes for notes from e.g. a book.). On the other hand, it increases the work it is to enter the data into the application, if you split it into separate notes. This is especially true, if the app needs a title for each note, such as InfoHandler.
For myself, I aim at splitting notes up into separate entities, so that they can be managed independently. But I started wondering when trying out InfoHandler again, because of its need for titles for each item. When notes are maybe just a few lines each, I find it weird, distracting and time consuming to think up a title for the single paragraph that a note typically are. It would make more sence to use energy for thinking up such a title, if you kept all the notes from e.g. a meeting together in one item - but then, again, this limits the possibilities you have for categorising them, and I would very much doubt that people in this forum would find this the optimal approach. But please correct me if I'm wrong.
Peter.
When in a meeting do you enter your notes directly into some electronic device (for myself I'm considering purchasing the new Alphasmart NEO for this purpose), or do you take your notes on paper and transfer them to the computer when available?
Do you enter all your notes in your favorite info mgmt app (e.g. Zoot or InfoHandler)? Or do you store your notes in more fragmented manners ?
And my main consideration: Do you split your notes into separate items, or do you simply enter all the notes from e.g. a meeting into one item? The advantage of the first approach is of course that you can categorise much more precisely (indeed, a sensible categorisation may be quite impossible if including all the notes from a meeting in one item, as many different issues could be discussed - the same goes for notes from e.g. a book.). On the other hand, it increases the work it is to enter the data into the application, if you split it into separate notes. This is especially true, if the app needs a title for each note, such as InfoHandler.
For myself, I aim at splitting notes up into separate entities, so that they can be managed independently. But I started wondering when trying out InfoHandler again, because of its need for titles for each item. When notes are maybe just a few lines each, I find it weird, distracting and time consuming to think up a title for the single paragraph that a note typically are. It would make more sence to use energy for thinking up such a title, if you kept all the notes from e.g. a meeting together in one item - but then, again, this limits the possibilities you have for categorising them, and I would very much doubt that people in this forum would find this the optimal approach. But please correct me if I'm wrong.
Peter.
stephenz
11/4/2005 8:55 am
And my main consideration: Do you split your notes into separate items, or do you simply enter all the notes from e.g. a meeting into one item? The advantage of the first approach is of course that you can categorise much more precisely (indeed, a sensible categorisation may be quite impossible if including all the notes from a meeting in one item, as many different issues could be discussed - the same goes for notes from e.g. a book.).
Two applications come to mind that might be of interest. Both allow you to keep the integrity of a list of notes from a meeting or a class, while giving you the ability to classify individual pieces of those notes. The first is OneNote. It has the ability to add to any individual paragraph a "flag," which is essentially a category. It comes with pre-defined flags for "to do" and "important" among others, but also gives you the ability to build your own catalog of flags.
The other option is The Journal (www.davidrm.com). The Journal is not strictly a database, but a collection of documents that you can organize in a set of tree hierarchies. It provides the ability to select any text and assign a "topic" to it. This allows you to review all topical information across all your notes/documents. You can only assign one topic to any selected text.
Anyway, just a couple of other ways that some programs deal with this issue. They are not perfect solutions, but it is nice to see some creative thinking out there.
Steve Z.
daly_de_gagne
11/4/2005 9:06 am
Peter, I think most of the programs, with the exception of Zoot, and the topic feature on The Journal, would require you to give a name for a new topic.
The name for the topic might be very simple, and reflect the theme of the categorization. For example, let's say you are talking about department meetings in your faculty.
In InfoHandler you could have either a group or a category for Department Meetings. You know pretty well what the main themes are that are discussed in these meetings. So you set up your categories accordingly.
So let's say now you have some text that would fit under the Thesis Advisor category. You F2 to open up a new item. The name you give could simply be Thesis Adviser 4 Nov 05 -- that takes no thinking or time, is simple to do.
Daly
The name for the topic might be very simple, and reflect the theme of the categorization. For example, let's say you are talking about department meetings in your faculty.
In InfoHandler you could have either a group or a category for Department Meetings. You know pretty well what the main themes are that are discussed in these meetings. So you set up your categories accordingly.
So let's say now you have some text that would fit under the Thesis Advisor category. You F2 to open up a new item. The name you give could simply be Thesis Adviser 4 Nov 05 -- that takes no thinking or time, is simple to do.
Daly
sub
11/5/2005 3:06 pm
When notes are maybe just a few lines each, I find it weird, distracting and time consuming to think up a title for the single paragraph that a note typically are.
I think that's one of the arguments behind Brainstorm's concept of not having headings distinct from entries. I think that for short notes Brainstorm is ideal, but one might also opt for plain text files and use an application like CatView to search it.
For mobile use, the best note taking application I ever used was Psion's Jotter; within a single file it would keep separate notes and display their fist lines as a list. Brilliant; I woder whether there's anything similar in contemporary PDAs.
alx