manage annotations

ebooker · 06-27-2010, 03:08 AM

hi gang,

I'm wondering what ya'll do to manage your annotations/notes/comments that you take while reading an ebook?

Wouldnt it be lovely if we could put tags on our notes and comments? And when done reading a book, have a file where we can look thru/search/find our annotations and comments based on their assigned tags?

Why would this be useful? its what every student ever does when they read an assigned reading.

They mark up their comments in the margins while reading. Then they have to collect those annotations somehow, group them by argument or thesis, which they have to write up in the book review or other school assignment.

Being able to put tags on one's own annotations (notes and comments and highlights), then, seems to me one of the single most useful features an ebook reader (or ebook software) could possibly have.

And I dont know a single one that has it...

vxf · 07-06-2010, 08:57 PM

I am not sure what exactly you have in mind - everyone has their own method, I think. I like handwritten notes on my documents - and I don't really tag them or export them. Yet, I think the SONY PRS900, which I am currently using, could do what you ask - albeit not as seamlessly as we might want it to.

For example, you can highlight sections or scribble on the document, then add a note to that with the virtual keyboard (a tag, I guess), then export the whole thing to an RTF. That would get you searchable tags. Then, if you want to organize the whole thing, link the RTFs to OneNote and you have a searchable database of annotations.

As I mentioned, personally I am happy with annotating pages. When I am working on a topic I read papers, annotate them, but then I use the annotated file to write my own lit review. Nothing beats your own summary of a topic. And I don't find extracted snippets all that useful - if I am summarizing a paper, I need the whole paper in front of me. But, as I said, everyone has their own methods.

06-27-2010, 03:08 AM	#1
ebooker Banned Posts: 140 Karma: 16076 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: NYC Device: sony prs-650!	manage annotations hi gang, I'm wondering what ya'll do to manage your annotations/notes/comments that you take while reading an ebook? Wouldnt it be lovely if we could put tags on our notes and comments? And when done reading a book, have a file where we can look thru/search/find our annotations and comments based on their assigned tags? Why would this be useful? its what every student ever does when they read an assigned reading. They mark up their comments in the margins while reading. Then they have to collect those annotations somehow, group them by argument or thesis, which they have to write up in the book review or other school assignment. Being able to put tags on one's own annotations (notes and comments and highlights), then, seems to me one of the single most useful features an ebook reader (or ebook software) could possibly have. And I dont know a single one that has it...

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07-06-2010, 08:57 PM	#2
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	I am not sure what exactly you have in mind - everyone has their own method, I think. I like handwritten notes on my documents - and I don't really tag them or export them. Yet, I think the SONY PRS900, which I am currently using, could do what you ask - albeit not as seamlessly as we might want it to. For example, you can highlight sections or scribble on the document, then add a note to that with the virtual keyboard (a tag, I guess), then export the whole thing to an RTF. That would get you searchable tags. Then, if you want to organize the whole thing, link the RTFs to OneNote and you have a searchable database of annotations. As I mentioned, personally I am happy with annotating pages. When I am working on a topic I read papers, annotate them, but then I use the annotated file to write my own lit review. Nothing beats your own summary of a topic. And I don't find extracted snippets all that useful - if I am summarizing a paper, I need the whole paper in front of me. But, as I said, everyone has their own methods.

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