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Post by saintfelicity on Feb 10, 2015 10:30:41 GMT -6
Since we all have photographic memories this isn't necessary, right? /mouthfart The best way to save your research and notes is definitely going to depend on your learning style. For those of us who've found things that worked for us, please share here, and if you can, share a little bit about how you learn so others can compare and see what's most likely to be effective for them. Personally, I'm an extremely kinesthetic learner (you can read about kinesthetic learning at this Wikipedia link), so there's a few things I do to simultaneously make material easier for me to understand and store it. Also, I work professionally as an information architect and have a lot of compulsive behaviors with my anxiety, so I love categories. And organizing. Let me organize everything for you. I'm working from one binder right now, which mostly focuses on mythology and has tabs for each story I've printed out and pockets to put longer translations in books (like the Táin). I'm also using it to store notes on history and practice / beliefs / folklore, but I'll be separating them out in to their own shortly. When I read myths I tend to read a few pages at a time and kind of "diagram" what I'm reading on my binder filler paper - quick notes about the order of events, family / relationship trees if any are mentioned, that sort of thing. Usually I'll go back over and read again since I absorb better that way, and the act of taking notes is something physical to help those connections happen. These notes have been really useful for going back over and drawing connections between different stories. When I'm reading something more informational like a history book or an article, I go back and forth a bit so that I don't try to write literally everything down, because I will do that if I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. I'll read a chapter or section at a time, sticking post-its or ripped paper if something in particular stands out to me. I'll highlight if it's a printout. Then I go back and take notes. Another thing that's very helpful is to note where in the book you found it. Leaving the post-its in there can be useful, but if you're like me and have a tendency to over post-it, that might not be that useful later. It's usually easier to skim your notes and see what page something was at. If you're reading mythology that has verse numbers, use those! I also like to have things in print as much as humanly possible; creating physical connections makes it much easier for my reading comprehension. So, if I'm reading a book, I can make connections with how thick it is on either side and it will help me to remember information by where I was in the book. How do you like to keep your research? Do you have any particular learning tips that work really well for your style? |
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cass
Junior Member
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Pronouns: they/their
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
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Post by cass on Feb 12, 2015 2:30:06 GMT -6
this is actually incredibly helpful for me. i've been realizing the last few days that i was never really taught how to study and read like this, cuz people didn't really know what to do with kids with learning disabilities in the 90s beyond medicating us :\ so i can't wait to see what people have to add to this thread and start practicing it!
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Post by brimstonne on Feb 12, 2015 12:19:30 GMT -6
this is actually incredibly helpful for me. i've been realizing the last few days that i was never really taught how to study and read like this, cuz people didn't really know what to do with kids with learning disabilities in the 90s beyond medicating us :\ so i can't wait to see what people have to add to this thread and start practicing it! I dont think they know how to teach anyone to learn tbh my brother and I were both in a special program for our dsylexia when we were really little, and even when I got put into normal classes, and then into advanced ones, I was never taught how to learn, or how to study. Im with Ashley to the point that I need it in print, and I need to own it so that I can highlight and write little questions on the sides (I try not to do that to actual books, but...ehh) And I tend to postit and want to take notes on EVERYTHING. Its like Im not sure how much info is too much because its all really interesting and I just...*sigh* I like to use different colored highlighters to organize. Yellow for general info, pink for family ties, green for place names (eventually Im gonna get a giant map of Ireland with all the old place names under the modern ones, and just put thumbtacks everywhere Ive highlighted ) blue for stuff about battles, orange for info on the gods, etc. It helps to keep me focused, and atleast if I highlight everything Ill still be able to know what I highlighted at first glance. |
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harpinghawke
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Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Feb 12, 2015 16:26:56 GMT -6
Technically, I have two binders--one for devotionals and one for actual research. I keep one full of devotionals so I can see how my practice is growing, and the other one is separated according to whether it's Gaulish stuff or Roadwork stuff. I also have a notebook full of random jottings. I've been meaning to highlight certain things, type up others.
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Post by saintfelicity on Feb 13, 2015 7:47:34 GMT -6
SAME re: the notes on everything. I'm always like "Ashley cut it out you can't memorize this." It's discussions like this that hammer home to me that the "educational" system is more about preparing kids to do something monotonous for an interminable amount of hours per day than it is about actually learning. It's getting everyone to some weird concept of a level of competence rather than helping each kid use their unique set of abilities and learning styles to their maximum potential.
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Post by Allec on Feb 13, 2015 20:00:00 GMT -6
I actually went to a school that did demanded we studied but also never really taught us how to study beyond "Take Notes." ...That being said, and I can't believe I'm recommending this, but "Cornell Notes" might be useful? This is the page my teachers had printed out to give to us. (I can tell because "subject" is spelled wrong.) Though through googling to find this, I saw how people use notebook paper so if you're like me ( and have shivers looking at that sheet), you might want to just make your own, or take the principals behind the method and apply it however it suits you best. This is the " How to Use Them Guide." Basically, the lined part is where you write down things from the text, the column on the left is for "Big Ideas" and "Big Questions", and the box at the bottom is a summary of your notes (1-3 sentences only!) The lined part can have different type of formatting. For instance, I always underlined words I was defining. But the crux is: an area for details, an area for BIG topics and BIG questions (usually the type that won't be answered easily), an area for summary. |
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aondeug
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Religion: Thai Theravada, Irish polytheism
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Post by aondeug on Feb 14, 2015 1:02:01 GMT -6
I've become very fond of keeping general notebooks which are just a hellstorm of notes and fragments from everything really. A few I do keep that are specific to topic, but for the most part the notes on, say, some story about Manannán are right next to the notes about the opening scene of Little Miss Sunshine. Everything gets noted in these. All notes from my classes are in them, stuff for religious research are in them, bits of writing I do, random notes, names of books, journal entries, etc. Everything in the same books.
It's very chaotic admittedly and it does make things hard to find. I do find something pleasing about riffling through things though and sometimes things just click better when you read through something else that is seemingly entirely unrelated. Little Miss Sunshine has nothing to do with Manannán but there's some off chance that observations I made about the acting in that opening scene might help me puzzle something out with a story about him. It gets me thinking basically or keeps me remembering small bits of ideas I had.
I also try to read through chunks of text at least once before I start taking notes. And I like to read through things more than once if I can. And take more notes.
I also like to talk about these things extensively with friends. This won't provide me any sort of written record but it does get me reciting the information again which helps me retain it. It, like the common book thing, also provides a chance for things to click. This time through conversation instead of "wow geometry is neat. look at how there are shapes in shapes OMFG IDEA JUST HAD ABOUT BUDDHISM ARSEGDFNGHDTFGN".
Oh and writing down names of things and authors. That is vital. It's a habit I've gotten into to help avoid plagiarizing things by accident.
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cass
Junior Member
Posts: 77
Pronouns: they/their
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
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Post by cass on Feb 16, 2015 2:18:08 GMT -6
ahhhh so many helpful things! you're all so wonderful.
this actually fits in really well with the discussion i had last week with my therapist. i'm really really bad about getting myself to write things down. i could really want to write it down, or know how much i should because i'm bound to forget otherwise... and it's just impossible for me to get from the desire to the actual doing. executive function issues? perhaps. i'm really hoping it's a skill i can develop, even if it's painful to put into practice.
all of this is made worse by the fact that i'm awful at reading, but maybe i just need to find a different way to read? but i'm thinking i might try out some of these note taking ideas while i listen to podcasts. it'll be really nice to do with Story Archaeology, since they have lots of accompanying info on their website. *dances off to try new thing*
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jack
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Posts: 42 
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Religion: fictional reconstruction
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Post by jack on Mar 19, 2015 4:35:43 GMT -6
I am very technology minded, so I store all of my references in Evernote. It's perfect for me because I can take notes in it, I can save clips from webpages using the browser plug-in, I can forward emails to myself, I can take pictures of books and upload them... basically I can put everything in Evernote and use it as my external brain. I've been using it this way for almost five years and between notebooks, tags, and a fabulous search, I very rarely am unable to find something I put in there.
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harpinghawke
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Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 20, 2015 15:00:49 GMT -6
I am very technology minded, so I store all of my references in Evernote. It's perfect for me because I can take notes in it, I can save clips from webpages using the browser plug-in, I can forward emails to myself, I can take pictures of books and upload them... basically I can put everything in Evernote and use it as my external brain. I've been using it this way for almost five years and between notebooks, tags, and a fabulous search, I very rarely am unable to find something I put in there. I love the concept of Evernote, but last I checked, I had to pay for it. (I might be thinking of somthing else, though) Is that still the case? |
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jack
Newbie
Posts: 42
Pronouns: he/him/his
Religion: fictional reconstruction
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Post by jack on Mar 20, 2015 15:31:19 GMT -6
I am very technology minded, so I store all of my references in Evernote. It's perfect for me because I can take notes in it, I can save clips from webpages using the browser plug-in, I can forward emails to myself, I can take pictures of books and upload them... basically I can put everything in Evernote and use it as my external brain. I've been using it this way for almost five years and between notebooks, tags, and a fabulous search, I very rarely am unable to find something I put in there. I love the concept of Evernote, but last I checked, I had to pay for it. (I might be thinking of somthing else, though) Is that still the case? There is a subscription option, but it's a freemium service, and I used it for years without butting up against the limits of a free account. For me, the only real benefit to paying is the OCR that makes uploaded files and images searchable. |
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harpinghawke
Newbie
Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 20, 2015 21:42:26 GMT -6
There is a subscription option, but it's a freemium service, and I used it for years without butting up against the limits of a free account. For me, the only real benefit to paying is the OCR that makes uploaded files and images searchable. Cool beans! I'll have to check it out, then. |
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Post by Jess on Mar 20, 2015 22:45:41 GMT -6
When it comes to actual sources, I tend to drop 'em in my Overly Vast Bookmark Collection, which is rather *cough* anally sorted into categories. If it's an actual physical text, I usually don't get rid of the ones I'll come back to (and I don't own many), so my physical collection is easy to sort through.
I feel like I should point out that Google Drive is super useful, too! I haven't so much as touched my storage limit even though I have all sorts of things in there (like, whole manuscripts, completed artworks, and so on). And if you download the software, Drive can be directly integrated into your computer's filing system alongside Documents and User and Desktop, so you can write a .txt in Notepad and drop it in there as easily as you might save it on your Desktop, and now it's available online and across platforms! (Also, I'm partial to the Drive word processor.) So if you're doing research on one computer and have to move to another, you can pick up right where you left off.
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jack
Newbie
Posts: 42
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Religion: fictional reconstruction
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Post by jack on Mar 20, 2015 23:27:37 GMT -6
Google Drive is especially useful combined with plug-ins, I think. I have a Chrome plug-in that lets me view PDFs and save them into my own Drive with one click.
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Post by saintfelicity on Mar 21, 2015 5:13:46 GMT -6
I am positively obsessed with Evernote, obsessed. I store PDFs and lore in there so I can keep track of what I have and want to get, and what I've printed. I'm vaguely considering getting my handwritten notes in there but we'll see, since they're quite excessive.
That said, my whole life is in Evernote haha. I have a pretty robust stack and tag system for work, and then I also keep a few notebooks for general "life" stuff.
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