Do you want to find a way to keep track of the information you are collecting, either through your reading, your own research, attending conferences or supervisor meetings.
Your system should allow you
- to store information
- add your own thoughts and ideas
- connect ideas
Your system should also be
- reliable
- easy to maintain
- searchable or at least retrievable
There are a range of options both digital and analogue available to build your note taking system, or you can combine the two as well.
Analogue options
- Notebook
- Folder or Binder
- Notes box (Zettelkasten)
Analogue system
👍Prefer handwriting
👍See more at a time
👍Easy to file
👍Retrievable
👎Not easily searchable
👎Not as portable
👎Potential loss or damage
👎Not easily backed up (unless combined with digital)
Digital system
👍More portable
👍Searchable
👍Option to connect notes
👍Easily backed up
👎Relies on access
👎Use the right software to keep access
👎(Potential) learning curve
Instead of simply highlighting passages, the Smart Notes system encourages you to manually create notes of the ideas you get as you read. You want to create notes that are relevant to contexts important to you, not just related to what you are reading. What can help you create smart notes and make them useful.
1. Use a reference manager
There are a range of reference managers available, I personally like and use Zotero (open source, cost depending on library size). Your institution might have a subscription for one, which normally means that support and training are available too.
Resources
2. Take notes as you read
- What different notes are you taking?
- Develop a colour code system
- Start using labels or tags
- Combine highlighting text with notes > capture your ideas as you read
- Try the Cornell method (to summarise papers)
3. Store your notes
You can use analogue or digital systems to store your notes. Think about how you would access and retrieve your notes.
Maybe you start with handwritten notes and then convert these to a digital format, you create digital notes straight away. You might change how you take and store your notes over time.
There are different ways to store your notes for further processing
- OneNote
- Word documents
- PowerPoint
- Excel
- Obsidian
These are all available via Microsoft 365 or as open sources app (Obsidian).
4. Connect your notes
Zettelkasten method
This method uses tags rather than categories to connect or link notes. Think about what tags would be helpful for your research. These tend to be more specific than categories. Linking your notes will help you develop ideas, see new connections and the build new knowledge from that.
Your own method
You might already have a system in place or amend the Zettelkasten method as you develop your overall notetaking practice. Just be mindful when changing a system to ensure you don’t loose valuable connections or information.
In Obsidian the tags can be displayed as part of an overview map, which is really helpful. For other software they make good search terms to find related information.
Your notes will form the basis of your writing. Reading notes feed into the literature review, discussion notes and a research journal help you design and write about your analysis. See your notes as very early drafts that once compiled will inform your first bigger written pieces, including milestone reports needed for your progression. This is why good note taking, storage and connections are so important.
5. Using your notes for writing
Now that you have a system for your notes, how to you turn them into writing?
Tips & Tricks
Invest some time at the start into a system that works for you
- Might have to try a few things
- Try and stick to your system (don’t make it a procrastination task to re-organise)
A good system and workflow will translate into other areas of note taking
- As a research / PhD journal
- Thinking about your results
- Supervisor meetings
- Conference notes
- …
Stephanie G Zihms, PhD 