FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, I carried a Moleskine Journalist notebook everywhere to scribble down important ideas and to save clippings related to emerging technology. Today I'm using a Traveler's Notebook with thinner paper, accompanied by a Rode mic that I use to record lectures with creative media students. I'm reviewing best practice recommendations about contemporaneous note-taking by borrowing ideas I heard expressed by James Comey after he was fired by Donald Trump.
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, I carried a Moleskine Journalist notebook everywhere to scribble down important ideas and to save clippings related to emerging technology. Today I'm using a Traveler's Notebook with thinner paper, accompanied by a Rode mic that I use to record lectures with creative media students. I'm reviewing best practice recommendations about contemporaneous note-taking by borrowing ideas I heard expressed by James Comey after he was fired by Donald Trump.
If you want to lean into contemporaneous note-taking, consider these tips.
Use a notebook or a document with numbered pages and date each entry. This will help establish the timeline of events and make it clear that the notes were taken at a specific time.
Write legibly and use clear language. If your notes are difficult to read or understand, they may not be admissible.
Use objective language. Avoid using subjective language or making judgments about the people or events you are documenting.
Record facts, not opinions. Stick to the facts of what happened and avoid speculating or drawing conclusions.
Use quotations when possible. If someone says something important, I sketch over-sized quotation marks or I draw a thick black line vertically along exact words.
Avoid leaving blank spaces or tearing out pages. If you make a mistake, cross it out and write the correction next to it.
Do not alter your notes after the fact. Your notes should be a true and accurate reflection of what happened at the time you took them.
Keep your notes secure. I number the splines of my notebooks, record outlines of them in Obsidian, and store the copy books on bookshelves.
I often wonder if any of the notes I've taken since the 1990s will ever be needed in court. I hope I can retrace the steps I've taken in developing several items of interest while producing a series of monographs that my grandkids can peruse.
[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media for business on the Clonmel Digital Campus.]