Note-Taking at Uni

Context

Having completed first-year, I am documenting my note-taking methodology as an extension to the resources section which has been requested by some friends. I have experimented with all-paper, digital styluses of multiple brands as well as LaTeX and similar on various platforms.

Warning!

I suggest you try out some of these things (I ended up trying all of them, and still pick-and-choose for convenience) to suit your own style. However, if you do switch around alot, remember to think about not losing information -- perhaps use a cloud storage system where all your digital content resides.

• if you do paper notes

  • rip out the pages and file them

  • you can feed them directly into a scanner at Uni to turn it into a pdf.

    • which you should also store and take backups!

If you like...

Paper

I purchase 300-Page A4 Refill Pads x5 for term-time which can be ripped off.

Benefits:

• minimal dependencies on tech!

• fast

• can rip useful pages out and group them in a folder or other organisational methods.

• can rip useless pages out

Handwriting, not carrying paper, run a decent OS:

(2) is a 2-in-1 laptop (HP Spectre x360 16in, 2020) which came with a Windows active pen (MPP 2.0).

Benefits:

• Type and write with styluses

• Switch between writing code/using standard windows programs and taking notes

• Use only 1 device.

• Big screen area

• Can use lots of ports

Drawbacks:

• Not many cheap+useable models available.

• Windows Active pen is not as good as the Apple Pencil (see (3)).

Handwriting, want small-form, simplistic OS:

(3) is a 2020 M1 iPad Pro with 2nd generation Apple pencil, with:

• A Paperlike screen protector to add friction to make it feel like paper.

• A Logitech Combo Touch keyboard case -- which has a detachable keyboard and trackpad too!

  • it turns your iPad into a Microsoft Surface Pro topology.

Benefits:

• Easy-to-use

• resembles paper, whilst also using digital caching/organisation benefits

Drawbacks:

• iPadOS is terrible

• • if you are doing a technical course, you will need to use this in addition to a laptop.

Type-set, beautiful equations, ready-to-publish:

(4) is overleaf, a LaTeX editor. If you are fast enough, you may be able to take notes directly in this format.

Benefits:

• very readable

• easy to share

• efficient search

• good practice for writing reports, papers etc.

Drawbacks:

• a steep learning curve

  • though modern-day interfaces are making it easier.

• requires fast-typing speed

• not WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get, you are writing almost code that compiles)

• images and diagrams are difficult to deal with.