After my previous post, a number of you responded on how you do it or how you think it should or shouldn’t be done. One person was even brave enough to suggest that you neither buy books, nor mark them! (And I fear that said individual is actually a current student of mine :-( Only a first name is listed so I can’t be sure, fortunately).
My method is a little different than that given by anyone who commented. I’m not one to write much in books (some, but not much, and zero in my Bibles), but I do usually put light pencil marks in the margins to draw my attention to a noteworthy statement. Then I go back and type out the quotes and/or my reaction to it. That not only reinforces it in my poor memory, but it also puts it on my hard disk which, as I constantly remind anyone who will listen, is instantly search-able, copy-able, and paste-into-my-blog-able. The only problem with my hard disk is that I can’t take it to heaven. I think. That makes me sad. Can’t take the dog? No problem. Can’t take my library? No big deal. Can’t take my hard disk? Sad times.
Ok, back to the subject at hand. By having my notes typed out, I can (and do) incorporate them into my lecture notes, make special handouts, or share them with friends. And in honor of this post and of one of the best books I have ever read on the History of Ancient Israel, I am making available a page of quotes I took from Provan, Long, and Longman, Biblical History of Israel. One page worth, going through page 55 in the book. As you’ll see, having it this way is rather handy.
Which quote do you like best?
I recently read Marsden’s bio of Jonathan Edwards. It struck me how Edwards wrote notes on every scrap of paper he could find. It was a habit he continued his entire life. (They’re STILL transcribing his notes!) It occurred to me that if I kept my notes/book outlines on the hard drive I could easily access them when writing papers or preparing classes. For years I have kept notes in separate notebooks AND in the margins of the books. Retreiving my ideas can be a problem. So I recently began outlining the best books and keeping quotes by subject right on the computer, as you suggest. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me earlier! Thanks for sharing some of your notes with us.
[Mom of one of your former students]
I like the quote from page 50.