How I Read: Map Notes

When I first started trying to read non-fiction books and articles seriously, I was often quite lost. I found that I could not just sit there and read a book and retain the argument with its various details.

Over time, I found that the way that helped me most thoroughly concentrate on a reading, and that produced something with "added value" that allowed me to very quickly review a reading in the future, was to create what I call "map notes". I don't know what the formal methods are for "mind mapping", but this method appears to be close to that (but I honestly haven't ever read books or anything about mind mapping).

There are two ways to make these maps: by "piece" (of writing), or for a field.

You can take what I refer to as "piece notes" (notes for one particular article or chapter of a book) in a notebook or on a tablet. The method is pretty simple. At the top of the notes, you write the title of the article/chapter, the author's name, where it was published (if a journal article), and how many Google Scholar citations it has (to give some idea of its current level of influence). Also, as you go, you number the pages.

Then the goal is to map the MAIN ARGUMENT. You can add some of the details that branch off of the main argument. But the goal is not to obsess about marginal details. The point is to map the main ideas.

I find the mapping technique to be nice because it allows for creativity and also allows you to put a LOT of information on one page. (Click below to read the full post).

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