I've been trying to figure out what is the best way to consolidate information during my time in NUS. It would be such a waste if I forget what I learn in university, say a few years down the road, and having a good way to consolidate information would also minimize time spent on re-understanding material during the semester.
To achieve that, I have tried using Google Docs, mindmaps using diagrams.net, Anki and Latex cheatsheets as mediums of consolidating information. Some of these methods are better than others in some way or another.
| Medium | Notetaking Time | Diagramming | Searchable | Longterm lookup | Cheatsheet | Room for Elaboration | Ease of revision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | Fast (can screenshot & paste) | Easy | Somewhat | Poor | Usable | Plenty | Easy |
| Overleaf (LaTeX PDF) | Slow (restrictive) | Slow (have to save as file) | Somewhat | Somewhat, in physical paper, but no elab | Clean | No room | Easy |
| Diagrams.net | Slow (need to compress or it'll get too big) | Easy | No | Not really | Usable | No room | Very Easy (YMMV) |
| Anki | Fast (can screenshot & paste) | Easy | Yes | No (Not indexed) | Not convertible | Plenty | Revision becomes a chore |
| Website | Slow (transcribe to md) | Slow (have to save as file) | Yes | Yes | Bad at compact formatting | Plenty | Easy |
Personally, I think something like mkdocs or in this case, Docusaurus, is kind of similar to taking notes with Google Docs, but the key difference is that it is much more neatly organized and accessible.
- I kind of regret taking notes in Anki, although to be frank it was pretty good at helping me remember concepts.
- The problem with Anki is that its selling point is also its weakness; I'm too lazy to spend an hour everyday memorizing stuff.
- Diagrams.net is actually pretty good since humans tend to remember images better than documents. The problem is that it is slow in terms of a quick look-up in the future because you no longer remember where everything is positioned.
When my friend Evan introduced me to Docusaurus, I thought I might as well try it out for a few reasons:
- It's easy to setup and use
- It supports math equations
- I like the layout
- It's got a search feature
- It can help someone who is also struggling to understand a concept I once struggled to understand
Obviously this means that a substantial amount of content is not in these notes, but if they are important in some way... they will most likely make their way in here eventually