Practical notes
Reading notes that stay useful
A useful reading note captures a question, a claim and your interpretation. It does not have to retell every page. Before starting, write one sentence about what you hope to understand. That sentence becomes a filter for deciding which passages deserve attention.
Distinguish quotation from interpretation
Mark exact quotations clearly and keep a page number or stable source link. Write your explanation separately, in ordinary language. This makes it possible to revisit an argument without accidentally treating a remembered summary as the author's original words.
End with a small synthesis
After a chapter or article, record three things: the central claim, the evidence offered, and a question that remains open. If the material changes a decision, explain which decision and why. If it is only interesting, say so; not every reading session has to produce a task.
Keep references portable
Plain text or Markdown is enough for most short notes. Include title, author, date and source near the top. A small number of specific tags helps retrieval; dozens of vague tags usually do not. Revisit a note when a related question appears, and let the collection grow around real interests rather than a target note count.