Susie,
    When I was a child, magazines and comic books used to contain
advertisements on the back pages.  One which I saw frequently read "f u cn
rd ths u cn gt a gd jb", and promised a bright future as a secretary to
anyone who could master the modified shorthand system the advertisers were
selling.  I don't know if anyone ever found employment as a result but, my
memory of the advertisement saved me hours of time and considerable
frustration as I went through college and later graduate school.  I found
that with a little practice, I could write and decipher notes written almost
entirely of consonants, numbers, and slash marks.  I used vowels only when
absolutely necessary to distinguish between words (for example, the word
motion was written mtn,the word emotion, emtn.) I used numbers whenever
possible (2 in place of to, too, or two interchangeably.) A/mark indicated
the end of a sentence, a double//indicated the end of a paragraph.  Major
shifts in topics were indicated by leaving a blank line in my notebooks,
between the notes on topic 1 and the notes on topic 2.
    That's how I did it, but you can of course adopt any symbols or
punctuation which you choose.  The major points are 1.  Your notebooks are
yours and don't have to be legible or understandable to anybody else as long
as they make sense to you and 2.  whatever system you design for yourself,
keep it consistent from one notebook to another so that a/mark or squiggly
line means the same thing no matter which set of notes you're studying
    If you do have access to a personal computer and reasonably clear speech
patterns, I heartily recommend the acquisition of a good speech recognition
program as I have found mine (DragonDictate NaturallySpeaking) to be an
invaluable substitute for the slow typing produced by my spastic fingers.
      Sorry for running on so long, hope some of this helps!
                        Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: Susie Levitt <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 12:16 AM
Subject: Notetaking


> Hi, all!
>   Some of you may remember me.  My name is Susie and I was on this list a
> while back when I was in high school. Once I went away to Beloit College
in
> Wisconsin, I had to leave the list because the volume of mail was too
great
> for me to handle.
>    I'm back again because I'm on summer vacation (this means I have time
to
> answer email) and I need help  (yeah, yeah, I know. They always come back
> when they need ya).
>     Since I have gone to college, my ability to take notes has
deteriorated.
> I can grip a pen/pencil just fine, and I can write reasonably legibly...
for
> about fifteen minutes.  Once fatigue sets in, my handwriting becomes less
and
> less legible until it resembles some sort of strange EKG.  If I have to
write
> quickly (at the speed of normal conversation), my handwriting is even less
> readable.  I can write slowly, but then I miss notes.
>     There are notetakers at Beloit, but they have been unreliable and they
> don't write down the things that I need.  I cannot use a laptop because my
> typing speed is even slower than my writing speed and I can't carry the
> thing, even with my trusty Bruno because it is awkward. (A Bruno is a
> kick-ass scooter by a company in WI... goes through construction zones,
snow,
> over railroad tracks... you name it)  I don't want to tape lectures
because
> Beloit professors tend to digress a lot, and I don't want to waste my time
> listening to the non-important stuff.  I also find computer files or
> notebooks are easier to use when studying for finals because you can find
> what it is you want quickly and easily. Plus, I learn better by reading
than
> by listening.
>    In short, I need a notetaking device that is easy to learn how to use,
> portable, and will enable me to make my notes legible.
>     Any ideas would be welcome!
>      Thanks!
>       Susie
>