Bibliography / Referencing Software?

Hello All


I want to write notes and comments while reading each book and article
on a research topic. In each of the notes files, I will want to
highlight 4 or 5 passages relevant to a sub-topic. For example, on
reading a book about Politics in Pakistan, I may want to highlight a
paragraph of three or four sentences which relate to the sub-topic
'Bhutto's Education'. (I might label that sub-topic BHUTED if a short
keyword is preferable.) But my of notes also contains several other
passages on different sub-topics - eg Pakistani Elections, Nuclear
Weapons, etc. Each of these need to be highlighted, tagged in some
way, for future recall. And there will be further instances of
'Bhutto's Education' scattered through my notes on other books and
articles which I have studied. How can I recall all the passages of
notes tagged 'Bhutto's Education' into one new file, with the
bibliographic information given for each of the different passages. In
other words I don't want a list of all the files in which 'Bhutto's
Education' is referenced, but a new, single file which shows the
relevant passages and the file in which they first appear.

Many thanks for any suggestions you may have!

On 2007-12-30 15:07:44 -0400, said:

> Hello All
>
>
> I want to write notes and comments while reading each book and article
> on a research topic. In each of the notes files, I will want to
> highlight 4 or 5 passages relevant to a sub-topic. For example, on
> reading a book about Politics in Pakistan, I may want to highlight a
> paragraph of three or four sentences which relate to the sub-topic
> 'Bhutto's Education'. (I might label that sub-topic BHUTED if a short
> keyword is preferable.) But my of notes also contains several other
> passages on different sub-topics - eg Pakistani Elections, Nuclear
> Weapons, etc. Each of these need to be highlighted, tagged in some
> way, for future recall. And there will be further instances of
> 'Bhutto's Education' scattered through my notes on other books and
> articles which I have studied. How can I recall all the passages of
> notes tagged 'Bhutto's Education' into one new file, with the
> bibliographic information given for each of the different passages. In
> other words I don't want a list of all the files in which 'Bhutto's
> Education' is referenced, but a new, single file which shows the
> relevant passages and the file in which they first appear.
>
> Many thanks for any suggestions you may have!

You want a computer based "shoe box" for your notes.

Some folks swear by DevonThink or one of its more elaborate versions.
Others prefer one of the equivalent programs. Of course they are not
exactly equivalent so use Google to find the reviews and see which
fetures may be relevant to you. It may be that there are features
you have not yet realized as important that tipps the balance for you.

The diferences relate to what is stored and how it is reganized and
retreived.