How do you document what you have learnt

I have been documenting things I learn at work and things I learn when revising for my exams in Microsoft One Note which is pretty good.

Just interested in how other people document things they have learnt?

Thanks

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Comments

vCole

I probably should. I occasionally take notes (then lose said notebook!

)

Documenting in OneNote is a fantastic idea! Thanks!

dynamik

OneNote is fantastic.

Unfortunately, I'm terrible with note-taking regardless of whether the notes are physical or digital. I usually do good for a chapter or two, but I always end up giving up. I honestly don't even bother anymore. I always retain enough of the information that I can just google anything I need to get more in-depth with.

NightShade03

I use a notebook as well....unlike most I'm really particular about keeping notes because I studying alot of things at once I need to be able to reference back to something quickly without the use of google or re-reading the text. I also document alot of things via blog (in my sig), which helps me when I need to do something quickly or want to share it with others.

I really like OneNote as well, however my one complaint is that I use multiple operating systems at any given point during the day and it only runs on windows

ibit-matt

The way I have my one note setup is in the following way.

I have three notebooks in onenote.

Notebook 1 - Work Helpdesk
Notebook 2 - Certifications
Notebook 3 - Exercise

My work notebook has different tabs for different things for example

Customer Specific notes
Application Specific notes
Hardware notes
etc

Lets take the Application Specific Tab it will then have pages like

Sharepoint
Group Shield
SBS2008
SBS2003
Exchange 2003
etc

See screen attached

Is this how people are doing it in onenote as well?

IT Man

I have created my own "wiki" using google site. That way, if I need to add or look something up, I can do it from virtually anywhere...with internet access of course.

dynamik

IT Man wrote: »

I have created my own "wiki" using google site. That way, if I need to add or look something up, I can do it from virtually anywhere...with internet access of course.

Oooo, good choice. I did that before I started (and stopped) using OneNote. It's a breeze to setup MediaWiki.

BigTex71

'learnt'? Is that a word over there in the crazy UK?

I like the way you keep your notes in OneNote. I think I am going to start doing that.

RobertKaucher

I have a WSS Knowledge Base site under my IT Team site. Works well and is full searchable. I can also access it from the Internet.

brad-

It may sound archaic, but i like to do/redo a task and screenshot it, put it into word and write out an explanation, and print it out.

Forsaken_GA

I setup MediaWiki on my home web server. Now, no matter where I am, as long as I have network access, I have access to my notes, and they're easily searchable.

Over the past couple of years, it's grown into a pretty decent collection of scripts I wrote, along with gotchas and how-to's that I don't want to have to google for if I need them in a hurry again. I do take notes when I'm studying as well, but when I want to actually study those notes, I tend to print off a hard copy. I've learned over the years that, when it comes to studying off a computer screen, it doesn't work for me. I seem to catch a temporary case of ADD. I am much better going off in a corner somewhere with my paper and my book.

Paul Boz

I just try to get my hands on the equipment or technology I have certifications in on a regular basis to keep myself sharp. Otherwise I keep pen and paper notebooks from my cert attempts. If its work related I just use a pen and paper notebook as well.

Silentsoul

I might try setting up a wiki site with media wiki. I would like to set one up that replicates to my home server so i have access from all over in case i cant get into a server at work. I have been trying to keep notebook but stuff gets put here, there, all over.
I started using DokuWiki today and I don't care for it much but maybe i just need to give it another shot.

dynamik

Why don't you just setup a hosting account somewhere, so you always have access to it there?

Silentsoul

dynamik wrote: »

Why don't you just setup a hosting account somewhere, so you always have access to it there?

Yea i thought about that. Just not sure i want some of the stuff in the cloud.

Synthros

dynamik wrote: »

Oooo, good choice. I did that before I started (and stopped) using OneNote. It's a breeze to setup MediaWiki.

What made you stop using OneNote?

dynamik

The same thing that made me stop using MediaWiki: Laziness

Silentsoul

dynamik wrote: »

The same thing that made me stop using MediaWiki: Laziness

lol i was diligently making my wiki today and i sat back and thought man, this is NO fun at all. So i stopped.

htvngoc2010

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I have a WSS Knowledge Base site under my IT Team site. Works well and is full searchable. I can also access it from the Internet.

Great ideas here - thanks for sharing peeps.

wweboy

Can anyone recommend a good alternative to one note? I'm sure my company won't buy me a copy and I don't want ot pay out of pocket for something i use at work.

When doing documentaion I just have a bunch of individual word documents having something like One Note would be awesome. I found a free alternative called evernote but they wanted to be up in the cloud and I don't roll that way because of security issues with the interworkings of our network and such.

I guess I'm stuck with what i have. I don't want to do a wiki because they are kind of complicated in my opinion and I just want something easy and simple that works with word and what not.

Thanks for the great tips none the less!

mikedisd2

Never thought about doocumenting. Wish I had.

Might do that from now on.

Dr IT

One Note is an excellant idea .

WWE boy : Comparison of notetaking software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i did manage to find a few other software like One NOte - see if any of this helps

UnixGeek

I have MediaWiki running on a VM here at the office. Some of the stuff on there doesn't need to be publicly accessible, so I VPN in if it needs to be referenced on the road.

The Wiki's more for work related notes than studying. If I just need to collect my thoughts on something short term, a word processor does the trick with less hassle.

neathneathneath

dynamik wrote: »

Oooo, good choice. I did that before I started (and stopped) using OneNote. It's a breeze to setup MediaWiki.

I've had a look at Welcome to Wikispaces - Free Wikis for Everyone

what sort of information do you actually document?

I presume you create a page for each topic ??

Sounds like a good idea to keep all info in some central place accessible via the web.

snadam

just started using onenote today, and I must say its great. at this point, I am contemplating writing down my notes, then transferring over to onenote, or just bypass manually writing down my notes.

stlsmoore

I'm not sure if this is good or bad but I've never really been able to document or take notes. I always figured the book has all the notes I need and I could always use that for review with way better hand writing than my own pen manship!

RobertKaucher

stlsmoore wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is good or bad but I've never really been able to document or take notes. I always figured the book has all the notes I need and I could always use that for review with way better hand writing than my own pen manship!

Well, documentation is, in my opinion, a professional responsability. But note taking when studying or learning I think helps me a lot. The first reason is that it helps me stay focused. The second reason is that I have something to review more easily than a book.

I use the Cornell method: http://lsc.sas.cornell.edu/Sidebars/Study_Skills_Resources/cornellsystem.pdf

The only issue I have is that I some times write to much detail into the notes.

During my stidues I take notes in the right column. After my study session I write a summary in the bottom. Before the next study session I write a question in the left that is answered by the notes taken in the right. I then take time to cover the notees and try to answer the questions when reviewing.