Monday, April 9, 2012

I Like My Books Dog-Eared with Handwritten Comments in the Margins.

I completely agree with the data presented in Nicholas Carr's Juggler's Brain. Personally, through trial and error, I have learnt that I learn best when I have to physically work to absorb information. Reading documents on the internet, electronically do nothing for me. I fail to absorb and understand what is really going on in the text. I am distracted and unable to connect sentences and it is so so very easy to click and go elsewhere where it is much fun. Perhaps I am the only one who experiences this, though Carr's writing says otherwise. I have discovered that my brain retains more when I write down, not type up, what I am learning and when I physically turn the pages. Honestly, even though it was more work, I miss the days when papers where handwritten and books were handed down with dog-eared pages and the writing in the margins. Those writings in the margin offer little shared/passed on bits of information that possess more wealth of knowledge than the comments at the end of articles on the internet. Perhaps it is also the chore of having to log in or create a profile, but for me it is easier to scribble a few notes in the margin of a book than to go through the entire tedious process of posting a comment online. Can I get an amen??!! If you agree to this, let me know.

2 comments:

  1. Amen! I completely agree with you! I struggle with printing out these articles for class because they are available online. I should just read them on my computer. But I can't. I will not retain any information. So, I print them out and feel terrible about using so much paper.

    I love margin notes and buy used books whenever possible. Some people don't like dog ears but I welcome them as sign posts of info not to be missed. I also handwrite many first drafts and then type in edited versions.
    Just call me old school.

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  2. awesome!!! I hand write my drafts too, they come out better that way.

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