A matter of some note–er, notes

In the past, when doing research for some specific project, I’ve taken notes by hand on old-fashioned notebook paper, index cards, or some combination of the two.  This system has its advantages and disadvantages.  Pen and paper are always handy; I can just fold a few sheets into whatever book I’m consulting and carry it with me and get a little work done whenever I have a free minute or two. 

I don’t write as quickly as I can type, though, so if I’m doing research in an archive and I need to record a lot of information, handwritten notes can be very problematic.  Photocopying is always an option, but it’s also expensive, so I try to do it sparingly.

Not too long ago, my mom decided to get a new computer, so she gave me her miniature Dell laptop.  It’s about two-thirds the size of a standard laptop and very lightweight, perfect for stuffing into your bag.  Here, I thought, was the answer to a dilemma.  From now on, if I planned on going to an archive or library where I needed to take lots of notes efficiently, I could bring my wee little computer along and type them into a word processing program, saving me the laborious effort of writing them out by hand.  Handwritten notes, I figured, would still work fine when gleaning from my own books or on other occasions when I didn’t have the pressure one is under when going through an archival collection.

Then I got another idea.  If I’m going to be taking and storing some of my notes on a computer anyway, maybe I should try a program designed specifically for research and note-taking, such as Scribe.  It’s free, and designed with historians in mind.  (Given my Luddite proclivities, though, I doubt I’ll use such an approach.)

Judging by these notes he jotted down on the history of the slave trade, Abraham Lincoln was a pen-and-paper kind of guy. Maybe the fact that laptops weren't around had something to do with it. From the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress

Of course, it’s possible that juggling handwritten notes from some sources and digital notes from others could turn out to be a real headache, so maybe I should be relying principally on computer-composed notes for research projects, and save the written ones for general reading.

Normally, I’d have the luxury of experimenting a little to see what works best.  It just so happens, however, that I’m starting a fairly large research project, one that will require lots of data from a wide range of both archival and published material.  I want to ensure that I can record and organize my notes for this as efficiently and sensibly as possible, since this will differ in scope and intensity from all my previous research endeavors.

I know that some of you who read this blog have quite a bit of experience in conducting large-scale historical research projects in both archival and published sources.  I thought that I might be able to benefit from your collective advice. 

What’s the best way some of you researchers/writers/blog readers have found to take notes for your research projects?  Do you find paper or index cards more workable?  Do you ever use a computer, and if so, how?  Do you mix and match different note-taking approaches depending on the source, the location, or some other factor?  I’d appreciate whatever recommendations or success/horror stories you can offer.