What is your annotation/highlighting strategy?

Thanks for starting this thread Joseph. I too don't have a great system although there are some good things I do on a regular basis.

As has been mentioned on a number of occasions in the past, every time I read a new book I assign it a new file and keep all  my notes in that file for the book. You have to make sure that your setting are set to the most recent resource which is done on each device you use. The great thing about this is that you can review all your notes easily but it can be a bit frustrating if you are making notes in multiple books at the same time.

Next I tend to use one color for most of my general highlights (yellow) and underline other things that I want to note. I also add my own comments making sure that it is still assigned to the right resource.

I have made extensive use of inductive study tools for Bibles when going deeper in a text but I don't tend to use this on a regular basis. In my paper Bibles in the past I have done this and to me it can get very cluttered at times.

I look forward to hearing what others may say so I can continue to learn.

I used to do resource-specific highlighting but found it too unwieldy to maintain after some time. Now I just stick to palette-specific notes and use the search functions to find resource-specific annotations.

In terms of strategy, I think that is subjective to you. Some like different colors, others use the emphasis palette more. I try to keep it simple and stick to two or three primary colors, and a double-underline.

I use a file for each assignment or sermon. For highlighting I employ a colour scheme which works like this.

Yellow = Interesting

Blue = Critical to Mention

Green = Critical to their argument ie. a premise, discovery or piece of argument.

Red = I disagree with this

The one thing I find annoying is that if I make highlights on the mac app then the notes do not contain the full text of the highlight. On the ipad they do which I much prefer.

I have notes files which are related to regular topics that I will revisit often. My own areas of interest or common sermon material etc. I often open those notes to add to them when reading for other things.

 do you mark?  Why?  and How?"

My strategy is deliberately simple and spartan:

1.  I highlight anything that strikes my fancy, impresses me deeply, or addresses some facet of my life that needs work.  I'm an equal opportunity highlighter in both Bibles and commentaries as well as non-versified monographs, etc.  I don't discriminate against any color in the available palette.... one might interpret that as not assigning any particular color to any particular theme.

2.  I do notes somewhat differently in that I use the note icon that looks like a sticky note, but colored purple with an exclamation point in it for sermon outlines from my pastor.  All of these are in a separate note file, and each preacher that I collect a sermon from gets their own note file, but all share the purple sticky note with the "!" icon which tells me at a glance that a sermon lives here.

3.  All books have their own note file, and all share the same default appearance of Logos note files.

Just adding another dimension, I try to maintain highlight schemes across my platforms.  And so, much is relative to the 'lowest common denominator' ... which is Kindle on my PaperWhite with a single easy color and 4 possibles in the iOS verson.  Then I designed the Libronix relative to 256/color in the VirtualBox and traced that into Logos5 for import if I want.

I do similar to the above posters; increment the color relative to the criticality of the statement.  I reserve one highlight for terrible logic flow (I think like MJ).

I was reading something in another thread and something came up that I am curious about.  What is your strategy for using annotations/notes/mark-ups/highlighting when reading a book in Logos or other digital platforms?  I can't utilize these tools effectively because I don't have a standard system, so I am curious to know what others do.

I guess my basic question would be, "What do you mark?  Why?  and How?"

Regarding highlighting, I only highlight something for a temporary reason such as something I want to check after I've finished what I'm then doing.  Otherwise, I have one rule:  Just don't do it.  I do take notes which I generally organize on the basis of passages—e.g., Re 1 (entire chapter with separate entries for each verse or phrase).  Sometimes I will create a note file on a subject which is then linked to a note file (something on the order of an excursus).

What is your strategy for using annotations/notes/mark-ups/highlighting when reading a book in Logos or other digital platforms?

I guess my basic question would be, "What do you mark?  Why?  and How?"

Joseph, that's a good question, and maybe more importantly, a useful question. This is an example of one of the things these forums ought to really be beneficial for, instead of asking for free books, etc. (another soap box I won't get on, now).

First, I would say that there probably isn't a 'best' way for more than a few folks at a time. Each of us will have preferences that won't make sense to most others. But even so, seeing original ideas on how to do these things always sparks the mind and helps give insight on better ways to do what we do with the software.

I don't have a formal system for what I DO highlight or mark. Perhaps more importantly, what I DON'T highlight might be more meaningful to this discussion. If I find material that I will probably want to access later, for a variety of reasons, I don't highlight it. Instead, I use the Clippings tool. It is a much better tool for saving bits of useful information, quotes, etc.

In my Bible(s), I have a simplified highlighting system, but it is designed to point out emphases rather than to be a way to retain information.

In my non-Bible resources, I will occasionally highlight interesting passages and tidbits, but with the searchability inherent in Logos, I find I don't need to highlight as much as I would without that feature. I can find things again by simple searches. One example where I did a bunch of highlighting was in reading Josephus. Any passage that seemed to be speaking directly about something in Revelation got highlighted for later comparison. I wanted these passages of Josephus' writings in the context of the book they are in rather than pulled out as clippings. I then added some notes to these passages about what I found when comparing them to Revelation.

Often, instead of simply highlighting something valuable, I'll pull it (or a link) out and put it in a note in one of my Bibles. Again, because of the interactive nature of Logos software, there are often better alternatives than highlighting (which is a process invented for people who had books on paper).

I know this wasn't a direct answer to your question, but hopefully gives some different thoughts to the whole process of using Logos as a study tool.

I had a business professor at ASU, Dr. Claude Olney, who developed  and marketed study systems for students. He contended that students were wrong with highlighting.  Everyone tends to highlight the points that they thought were important.  Instead, he said that you should highlight the things that caught you by surprise or that you didn't know.

I think maybe a separate palate for "surprises" might be in order.  The "important" stuff is good for a quick review, but the "surprises" are things you will want to locate later, as well.

For our type of reading things we "didn't know" many times fall into the category of things we need to hold in abeyance and check for later.  This also seems to be for a different palate which can be searched.

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So that my notes files are readable, I (1) copy the entire context of interesting material onto the clipboard, (2) highlight, as a note, the succinct blurb which will also become the title in the notes file, (3) paste the entire context into the note, and (4) add my own comments to the note.  This strategy also works well on mobile tablets.

"What do you mark?  Why?  and How?"

I've read through this thread -gleaning some tips here and there- and came up with this palette.

I am going to try using a new note for each resource, as many have recommended.  I'm liking putting labels in capsules for further annotation. 

This is a great thread. Here is my two-pence to the discussion.

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The aim behind my system is two-fold.

1. to save time by having all my notes interconnected across all resources
2. by having all my notes interconnected, and by leveraging the power of logos, I am creating a powerful, yet very personal journal-come-study bible that I always have access to whenever or wherever I need it.

Firstly, the Bible. I don't use a highlight scheme with scripture since I use the Greek and Hebrew Morphology Visual Filter - slightly modified to include words that only appear once in scripture (hapax legomenons). Instead I use a thematic colour coded note icon system that has its own document called 'Bible Reading Notes'. I also use a yellow note icon to record sermon notes on Sunday's when I'm not preaching or conferences notes based on a bible passage.

I always attach these notes to the references so that they appear in all bible versions and other resources too (eg. commentaries, lexicons, etc.). I'll often copy block quotes from related resources into the notes too. For example:

Secondly, I use this same notation system for non-bible reading also. Colour-coded themes remain the same, but this time I store notes in a document called 'General reading notes'. These notes tend to be things that have 'jumped out' at me, sparked an idea or gotten me thinking, and/or explanations/clarifications. The notes serve the purpose of recording these thoughts and reflections so that they are not lost. Where the writer references a verse I attach this to the note, and any verse that I think are relevant. For example,

Finally, I use a general purpose highlighter to mark-up the key points or summaries of the writers argument. This saves huge amounts of time in the future when referring back to a resource under a time pressure (eg. sermon/study prep). These go into a document called 'highlighting'.

Inspired by the ideas in this thread I might bring in a second colour for things I am not sure of and need to research further and things I disagree with.

This note taking system is still in its infancy, I began in January when I took the plunge and decided to do the majority of my bible reading on Logos. However, my hope is that the system will become more diverse, exhaustive, powerful as I complete successive yearly reading plans, personal bible reading, sermon preparation, and general theological reading.

Liam