Happy holidays!
Context: My field is data engineering and the pdf textbook I'm reading is of Microcomputer Architecture (the Mick Bit slice book) from my laptop.
Issues: I'll list the two issues below.
*Issue 1*: How to effectively take notes when read from *pdf sources*? I feel the best way is to insert a *BLANK* page after each *TEXT* page (by saying text page simply means any page with texts), use an e-pen to hand-write in the BLANK page while circling/labelling contents in the TEXT page. I can probably insert the blank pages using a Python script but I'm not sure which e-pen and writing board I should purchase for my laptop (Lenovo T-460S). I believe handwriting is the only fast, reliable way to take long notes.
*Issue 2*: How to effectively take notes for *technical textbooks not in my field*? I just completed the nand2tetris hardware part and had no other training in computer engineering, so the Mick Bit slice book is much more advanced. But at least the opening 20% of each chapter is very well accessible so I only intend to read those parts. I hate to admit, but I actually don't know how to take effective notes in a non-academic environment. There are two questions bugging me:
1- When should I take notes? Taking them too early, then I found myself erasing previous notes frequently. Taking them too late, I found myself forgetting previous contents frequently.
2- How much note should I take? The book is for advanced users so I have to evaluate a lot of Boolean logic by myself. Should I include all of them in notes? Should I copy down a lot of contents from the textbook into notes?
For every subject I create a subdirectory for downloaded resources and an emacs org mode file for my notes. Unlike you I much prefer typing notes to handwriting. For math you can use latex and display previews inline in your org buffer. The only disadvantage is for drawings. I don't currently have a good way to capture those.
Generally my first step with a new subject is to try to find good online resources for it. That usually ends up being a collection of websites, PDF files that I download and YouTube videos. I often include links to websites and videos in my org file.
Next I try to get an overview of the subject and what particular topics I think I'll need to get an understanding of to reach my goals. I typically create sections or subsections in the org file for those areas.
When watching or reading content questions usually come up about things I don't fully understand. I try to write those down in the org file and at some point find information that helps to answer those questions, which of course I also note.
I don't try to take lots of notes or copy everything in the resources I read. I'll just note points that seem interesting, surprising, important, difficult and/or easily forgotten.
I'm not sure any of this will help you but that's my basic methodology.
One other thing you might want to look into are spaced repetition apps like Anki. I haven't personally made much use of them yet but I think they should help with subjects where there's a lot of material that needs to be memorized.
My reader can also display other file types and webpages, so I treat them in the same way.
I wrote my reader-outliner but can't mention it here as that leads to angry comments, and I have been banned twice here for doing so. Look in Apple's app store under Education.
1. There was mental overhead from both understanding the material / organizing it into notes at the same time.
2. On the first pass everything seems noteworthy and the bigger picture is not clear. This leads to notes that are too long and unfocused.
One other thing I've found useful is to use of a combination of highlight colors / underlines to make the process of taking notes later easier or avoid notes altogether.
The most important advice is that you don't want to rewrite the textbook. Seems obvious, I know. Focus on how you understand the subject and write about it. My notes are in a sense small essays that are highly inspired by the textbook chapters.
As for some misc study tactics. My absolute #1 during my MA was setting a hardcore daily limit on how much I studied and during that time I made sure I am 100% focused on what I was studying. I quickly realized that being fully focused for 2 hours brought me vastly superior results than let's say giving my 60% for 5 hours. More time spent working does not equal better results.
One old approach to memorizing is the memory palace. I've heard there are institutes dedicated to studying this kind of thing.
I don't take many notes. After reading 284 of 362 pages I have set down 606 lines of text in gemini mode on emacs. I group ten pages of reading to one section. The resulting gemini file is viewable through a gemini browser. I have the option to further process my notes to org mode or Texinfo in emacs.
Captured drawings can convert to Inkscape SVG or PDF. I use Graphviz to connect the dots of ideas.
Learning is easier to retain and improves if you teach what you have learned from the Master. At a guess, short-term and long-term memory, cognition, group consciousness are keywords to search in the field of psychology and information research for more information. Marvin Minsky observed in one of his lectures on Ai that children of varying grades, stages, ages learn well from each other together.
To internalize and digest a new idea you can exercise while you think.
Give liquid text [1] a try (freemium). It has a similar approach to the white page "system" you mentioned, and much more.
> Issue 2
I have this rule: The clearer the end goals, the easier it is to take notes.