The particular technology stack I use for notes on reading is {Instapaper, PDF Expert on iPad} → Readwise → Roam Research → Summarize it.
To answer your specific questions:
If I plan on summarizing, I tend to only highlight important bits. I write down any connections I make with other concepts. Readwise reminds me of 15 highlights I’ve taken in the past per day, which I’ve been doing for about half a year. I’m not sure if it’s helpful, but the time cost is low, so I continue.
Sometimes if I want to know what I thought about specific posts. If it’s just high-level concepts, I’ll generally just skim the relevant material. If I find myself looking something up more than twice, I’ll put it into anki.
No, but I only really study technical things. I find it difficult to summarize/remember history, plausibly because I don’t change the way I take notes.
Roam Research seems pretty good. RemNote is similar and incorporates more spaced repetition. SuperMemo allows one to create flashcards as they read (readwise does something similar, but the functionality is worse, I think [I’ve never used SuperMemo, but plan to try it]).
Attention, future reference, and comprehension are all goals. The primary goal seems to be forcing connections with other ideas and forcing myself to have an opinion about what I’m reading at all.
forcing myself to have an opinion about what I’m reading at all.
This connects for me. One type of note I frequently take is “question notes,” where for each paragraph of the text I start by writing a question for which that paragraph could serve as an answer. Sometimes, I do this before I’ve even read the paragraph in detail. Having that question in mind in advance really helps me feel like I comprehend the main points. That way, information isn’t just a stream of data, but has a purpose.
Is Roam Research/RemNote just a piece of editing software? Or does it in some way force a unified format or structure to your notes?
The particular technology stack I use for notes on reading is {Instapaper, PDF Expert on iPad} → Readwise → Roam Research → Summarize it.
To answer your specific questions:
If I plan on summarizing, I tend to only highlight important bits. I write down any connections I make with other concepts. Readwise reminds me of 15 highlights I’ve taken in the past per day, which I’ve been doing for about half a year. I’m not sure if it’s helpful, but the time cost is low, so I continue.
Sometimes if I want to know what I thought about specific posts. If it’s just high-level concepts, I’ll generally just skim the relevant material. If I find myself looking something up more than twice, I’ll put it into anki.
No, but I only really study technical things. I find it difficult to summarize/remember history, plausibly because I don’t change the way I take notes.
Roam Research seems pretty good. RemNote is similar and incorporates more spaced repetition. SuperMemo allows one to create flashcards as they read (readwise does something similar, but the functionality is worse, I think [I’ve never used SuperMemo, but plan to try it]).
Attention, future reference, and comprehension are all goals. The primary goal seems to be forcing connections with other ideas and forcing myself to have an opinion about what I’m reading at all.
This connects for me. One type of note I frequently take is “question notes,” where for each paragraph of the text I start by writing a question for which that paragraph could serve as an answer. Sometimes, I do this before I’ve even read the paragraph in detail. Having that question in mind in advance really helps me feel like I comprehend the main points. That way, information isn’t just a stream of data, but has a purpose.
Is Roam Research/RemNote just a piece of editing software? Or does it in some way force a unified format or structure to your notes?
It’s based on bullet points, which I find helpful. It also lets me reference other notes I’ve taken.
I like the idea of question notes. Thanks for the tip!
I think it makes it easy for one note to link to another.