How To Write Notes

Here, I'm going to explain how I organize my Obsidian vault, how I take notes, and what I do with them. # Notes I consider "notes" to be any type of writing in which the ultimate goal is to aid in remembering information and / or storing it for later. Notes, I should explicitly say, aren't the be-all and end-all when it comes to effective learning. But, they're an important part of it. They help me to slow down the reading process and actually take in what the text is saying. They're also great to reference, especially in my [[How To Write Notes#Formulations|formulations]]. ## Organization > [!example] Example of how I organize my notes > I create one one note per article, one per lecture, one per chapter of a book, one per social media post, one per video, etc. ## Formatting If you see a piece of information you want to hold on to, formulate it into a question-answer format. Why did I pick this format in the first place? [[Notes/Home|I explain my reasoning here]]. It is scientific? No. But is it how I like to write my notes? Yes! Italicize the part of the answer which is the minimum amount of information needed to answer the question. If the answer is a list, don't italicize the list items because that just looks weird. ## Callouts Since I have a somewhat strict format which I adhere to for my notes, I use callouts whenever I want or need to break from that formatting for a moment. | Callout | Usage | | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `example` | **Purpose:** To give an example of the concept being demonstrated. **Examples:** 1. You're learning a new Spanish word and want to include examples of how it is used in conversation. **Title:** 1. "Example of (concept)" | | `info` | **Purpose:** To link other notes or sources which explain a concept more. | | `note` | **Purpose:** To provide more context. These can be links or references to another note, an explanation in your own words based on your own understanding, or an explanation from someone or somewhere else. I also like to use these callouts to embed notes. I make the note collapsible by writing `[!note]-` and then embed the note inside the callout by writing `![[...]]`, where the dots are replaced with the title of the note. **Examples:** 1. Your professor makes a statement during the lecture which isn't on the slides but is useful to include. 2. You find that you've written a note about a particular topic as you're taking another note and you want to include it. **Title:** 1. "Note" 2. "Note from (name of person) in (name of source if applicable)." 3. "Note from (name of AI)." 4. "Note on (topic)" | | `question` | **Purpose:** To include any questions you have after reading a part of the source. | | `quote` | **Purpose:** To include words verbatim from the source. These are different from `note` callouts in that the words are copied exactly as they appear. **Examples:** 1. You find a beautiful quote or phrase that captures the idea better than anything you can come up with. [[Notes/Topics/Language/How to Teach Foreign Languages Effectively by Theodore Huebener/Introduction#^c85bb2\|Here is an example]]. 2. You're reading a news article which has a direct quote from someone and you want to include that quote in your note. **Title:** 1. "Quote by (name) from (source of quote) where (describe context of the quote like topic, location, situation, etc.)" | | `summary` | **Purpose:** To provide a summary of a any section in the source or the current note. | | `todo` | **Purpose:** To say that you're skipping taking notes on something in the source but may want to come back to or reference later. **Examples:** 1. You're reading the manual for an ARM processor and come across a reference table. Instead of copying the reference table, you just mention the source has one and include a link back to it. | # Formulations I consider "formulations" to be any type of writing or work which relies on my notes to accomplish something. This could mean finishing a homework assignment, writing an essay about a topic, making an argument, or just using it to practice. The point is that there is an intention behind the work beyond merely remembering it. > [!example] Example of great formulations > I consider my best formulations to be the ones for my math coursework. I've not only created my own reference sheet for all of the formulas, but each formula is linked to the problems which demonstrate their usage. Each question also serves as a guide for similar problems on future assignments, quizzes, and exams. # Math Formatting Obsidian supports math formatting with $\textrm{L}\kern-.36em{\raise.3ex\hbox{A}}\kern-.15em \textrm{T}\kern-.1667em\lower.7ex\hbox{E}\kern-.125em\textrm{X}$ commands. I use these extensively for mathematics and computer science. ## Equations $\begin{equation} E=mc^2 \end{equation}$ ## Diagrams And Graphs ### Arrays $\begin{array}{c|c} a&b\\ \hline c&d \end{array}$ $\begin{array}{c|cc} a&b&c&d&e\\ \hline f&g&h&i&j \end{array}$ ### Commutative Diagrams $\begin{CD} A@>f>>B\\ @VgVV@VVhV\\ C@>>k>D \end{CD}$ ## Fractions $^1/_2$ ## Matrices $A=\begin{matrix} 1&2\\ 3&4 \end{matrix}$ $A=\begin{bmatrix} 1&2\\ 3&4 \end{bmatrix}$ $A=\begin{pmatrix} 1&2\\ 3&4 \end{pmatrix}$ $A=\begin{vmatrix} 1&2\\ 3&4 \end{vmatrix}$ $ f(x)=\left( \begin{smallmatrix} 1&2\\ 3&4 \end{smallmatrix}\right) $ ## Multi-Line Expressions ### Aligned $\begin{align*} a+b&=c\\ x+y&=z \end{align*}$ $\begin{aligned} a&=b+c\\ d&=e-f \end{aligned}$ $\begin{alignat}1 x&=2&\quad y&=3\\ a&=4&\quad b&=5 \end{alignat}$ ### Gathered $\begin{gather} x^2+y^2=1\\ a^2+b^2=c^2 \end{gather}$ ### Multline $\begin{multline} a+b+c+d+\cdots\\ \cdots+e+f+g+h+\cdots\\ \cdots+i+j+k+l+\cdots\\ =x+y+z\\ \end{multline}$ ### Split $\begin{split} E&=mc^2\\ &=m\cdot(3\times10^8)^2 \end{split}$ $ \begin{equation}\begin{split} a&=b+c\\ &=d+e+f \end{split}\end{equation} $ ### Subarray $\sum_{\begin{subarray}{c} i=1 \\ i \neq j \end{subarray}}^n a_i$ ### Substack $\sum_{\substack{i=1\\ i\neq j}}^na_i$ ## Piecewise Functions $f(x)=\begin{cases} x^2, & \text{if }x\geq 0 \\ -x, & \text{if }x<0 \end{cases}$ $f(x)=\begin{cases*} x^2,&if $x\geq0$ \\ -x,&Otherwise \end{cases*}$ # Mermaid Mermaid is a JavaScript library built into Obsidian for displaying graphs. ## Graph ```mermaid graph A("**Concept** Another line") --First Relationship--> B(Another Concept) B --Second Relationship--> A B <--Third Relationship--> A B --> C(How To Write Notes) class C internal-link; ``` ## Mindmap ```mermaid mindmap (Topic) [Subtopic 1] [Subtopic 2] ["Supports **markdown!**"] ``` # Printing Most themes don't look great when converted to a PDF for printing. The one theme I've found which actually looks really good on paper is called PRISM.