How to Take Literature Notes Using an Antinet Zettelkasten

[@scottscheper]

One thing I didn’t make as clear in the video is that I use 3x5” notecards for Literature notes, and 4x6” cards for permanent notes (i.e. notes that I’ve elaborated on and tied into the subject matter of what I’m writing).

[@davidschmidt5507]

So funny cause I do the exact opposite. I need more space when making lit notes. But want to be concise as possible with permanent notes.

[@lavvrenceD]

A future stand-alone video on your new bibliography note practice would be great. I believe you motivate it an describe it well here, but a run-through of how it's used in practice from starting a new work to referencing it again later via te note would be great. Thanks again.

[@scottscheper]

Sounds good thanks. Will try and get something like that going.

[@J_heterodox]

Your videos are some of clearest around for this and have made go all in into analog notes.

[@livinginthelogos]

Scott thank you for the videos and book, been enjoying the material
Do you know the manufacturer of those black drawers you have next to the desk?

[@OldVillagePaint]

Very helpful!

[@scottscheper]

Glad it was helpful!

[@shenjianhong]

Thank you for this detailed introduction, it is very helpful. I think it requires me to revisit it a couple of times to fully understand the process. I believe it might be helpful to break down the groups of steps.

[@amirbina5495]

Love love love love you very much. I was jumping out from one video into another on youtube to get a bit of sense of what zettelkasten and literature note is. I was really confused, confused with that shitty obsidian and its codes, and got a hard headache that you can't imagine until I hopefully found you. Thanks😘
Besides, can you explain how to sort and number notes with the same idea and concept that we have taken from different references?

[@monoman7116]

I'm a very recent discoverer of Scott'.s Antinet.
He talked about the Royal Society of London. This is still in operation and there are now some YT videos on the 'Objectivity' website.
Jerry

[@lucidlo1981]

Love the setup of your place, it’s almost like a lean’s manufacturing cell, a flow!

[@lavvrenceD]

Thanks for sharing. Splitting indexes into seperate languages never occurred to me before. Brilliant. More similar videos please!

[@scottscheper]

Yep of course. Thanks for watching!

[@kdietz65]

Since you did mention space limitations here, I had an idea for a modular/expandable system. You start off with a shelving unit of fixed size compartments. For example, I have a 4x4 Ikea shelving unit that has 16 cubical spaces each space being approx 13" x 13". Then as you grow the system, you add modules (similar to the boxes you use) for index card storage. You'd have to get the sizing right to make it work, but anyway, the idea is you can use the empty compartments for other things, and as you grow the system you move things around and add new index card modules to the shelving. I guess the Vaultz are theoretically modular and stackable, so same concept, but the reviews on it are mixed and people complain about the stability and quality of it. With my system, if you change your mind you can still repurpose the core shelving unit for other things. Sadly, there aren't a lot of good pre-made options for doing this.

[@scottscheper]

Fascinating. We have a few people who have done interesting things in this regard.

[@dirkvoltaar]

Super interesting. Thank you Scott.

[@isaiahfiftyfiveseven]

why have muliple indexes for different languages, latin, english etc? I could understand a hebrew or greek index cause they use different letters but to me it makes sense to lump all ideas that use the same alphabet or alephbet together

[@karomeganow]

Thanks for putting this together!
Question: The final literature note on rumination. How would you connect it back to your Zettlekasten book project so that it does not get lost?
Would deeply appreciate more videos on how you work your Antinet. I look forward to your book as well!

[@scottscheper]

In my Zettelkasten section I have a card that essentially acts like a growing table of contents. In that section there’s an entry for Rumination. Luhmann did this as well. You can see it in the new video I just uploaded. These types of cards are called “Collectives”

[@andyg7210]

New subscriber from UK here! Excellent and informative demonstration; thank you. I was wondering whether you ever mark up margins with dots etc., then leave a book for a couple of weeks before recording your notes or whether it's more efficient to note as you read? I find that drawing images like the one you have under rumination aids faster cognitive recall for me. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your book.

[@scottscheper]

I don’t like to leave dots in the margin for too long but I have done that before and still do that when I’m busy. Yeah the drawing really forces you to understand. If you can’t draw a diagram, you don’t understand it yet. That’s how I feel. Creating diagrams are harder than you think, which makes the lasting effect worthwhile when you do effectively draw.

[@Catarina-Moniz]

Very useful. Was having trouble with the bibliography.

[@reshani5038]

Thanks from sri lanka 🇱🇰

[@ajisai3635]

To what extent is it wise to forgo the organization system and just organize by source? I am not working on any particular writing project but rather need to have a flexible second brain system. I like the idea of atomic notes. But when I think about classifying a certain atomic note into an academic discipline, it feels constricting. The thematic cards that list different atomic notes are like an index. Would grouping them by source cause problems later down the line?

[@reggiestickleback7794]

Came here after trying to understand at what Sertillanges very briefly wrote about in his remarkable book “Intellectual Life”. New to this index card stuff, and I know its origins go a lot deeper than what Sertillanges hinted about. Anyways very interesting and developed system!

[@reggiestickleback7794]

By the way it looks like your into the early modern period stuff. But since I mentioned that French priest anyways-are you familiar if this sort of thing goes back to the Middle Ages? Like that medieval tradition of scholia, glosses, commentaries, margin-writing, etc… when one reads concise prolific systematizers like St. Thomas Aquinas, one can’t help but think they organized notes and slips and stuff in a comparable manner.

[@scottscheper]

I just picked up the Intellectual Life and intend to read it soon! It’s part of my research for my forthcoming book on the antinet.

[@scottscheper]

Yep, there’s some great literature out there on the history of excerpting (notetaking) ars excerpta (sp?). Greag books: “Forgetting Machines”, “Too Much To Know” by Anne Blair, and some others.

[@reggiestickleback7794]

@@scottscheper
Thanks for the recs!

[@rupertvanbargtv5302]

First, just a simplistic dump question, but I am a bit overwhelmed with all your videos: You don't separate your own thoughts from your literature notes?
Also, after all the useful stuff about organizing, I would really like to see a bit more about how you write with these notes, how you extract them and put them into text. I mean, there are often ideas which refer to different aspects, and it's a bit of a problem to decide where to put them in your text structure.
For example, if you analyze a fictional text and the information, the author uses sayings, locutions can be analyzed under the aspect of the narrator but also under general stylistic which maybe you plan to explain ten chapters later.
Do you use some kind of signs to mark these aspects in the text which refers to something earlier or later said?
I am sorry for my english

[@kathleenspracklen6849]

Quick question: Do you ever have it happen when you are taking literature notes that a burst of connections pops into your head? If so, do you interrupt your note taking to capture those connections? And what do you do if they come fast and furiously … how do you capture them all?

[@scottscheper]

Great question, you mean between capturing the ideas? I usually will write down the Keyterm and underline it. The keyterm of the idea or what the card reminds me of. For instance on the Staging Card (Bibliography Card) I’ll put an entry like: “Writing by hand (power of)” and “Analog Benefits” and “Neuro-imprinting” all of these I’ll underline to help cue the idea of what the page reminded me of. Then I’ll put the page number in parentheses. And a brief note of the idea. Like “Luhmann often said he lost track of time when he wrote by hand”. Then I’ll develop it into a full note when it comes time to process.
I try and discipline myself to sit in my chair and read for 1 hour sessions. Then after that I’ll process the notes and turn them into Main Notes.

[@utheolstephaniewilliams9143]

Love the research and the methodology!

[@rachellane2836]

This video has been so helpful! Thank you! More practical videos like this please! Can't wait for your book if it's as helpful as your video! When is it coming out?

[@scottscheper]

Hoping for November. But will continue releasing content on my website: scottscheper.com signup for the newsletter 👌

[@markgreen4763]

I also write the card ID in the book.

[@salamatunnafiah9033]

Thank you for sharing this

[@henningsenp]

More, please!!

[@utheolstephaniewilliams9143]

Where did you get the file boxes? Those are really cool.

[@scottscheper]

Amazon but I don’t see them on there anymore. Maybe I’ll get some custom made ones and make them available (would make them as cheap as possible and as high quality as possible)

[@RobThomasBouchard]

@@scottscheper that would be amazing. I’d love to get some but I cant afford 200$/shoebox shipped to Canada. For now, cardboard boxes it is, but I’ll keep my eyes open for your version :)

[@kathleenspracklen6849]

@@scottscheper If making custom boxes proved realistic, what kind of a time frame do you think it would take before they would be orderable from you? A drawer-based system is far more usable than a stack of boxes with lids.

[@scottscheper]

@@kathleenspracklen6849 realistically probably a year. I’m focused on finishing the book on the Antinet right now.

[@kathleenspracklen6849]

@@scottscheper Of course. If I had to choose between having your book or your boxes, I would definitely choose your book.

[@quadrivium333]

Impressive! Has it increased your publication output? I assume you’re doing this to write papers, books or a blog right?

[@RamRoxillo]

Very useful video, thanks Scott. Interesting approach to writing "literature notes." I do wonder if Luhmann's approach might be better suited if you're okay with multiple passes to process new notes. His short notes are just a lot quicker to write.
While I see the use of slowing down while reading, writing out an entire note on a 3x5 card might kill your reading pace. What is your experience?

[@scottscheper]

I've found taking brief observation notes on bibcards to be much more efficient. It takes some practice but then you can ingest books quickly.

[@RamRoxillo]

​@@scottscheper Thanks for the fast answer! One follow-up question (sorry if you discussed it in the video and I missed it): do you turn these bibcards with short notes into proper notes on 4x6 cards?

[@thiagojs17]

Thanks a lot for this video!!!

[@scottscheper]

Of course. Glad you liked it.

[@lorilea3188]

long live the antinet

[@Urbancorax2]

Unposted fountain pan breaks my heart. It dries out, no?

[@mikhaeldito]

Does color of your note represent something?

[@scottscheper]

Nope. Just arbitrary