NoteCards

[arathe]

I've been playing around with the NoteCards/NoteStream feature. I really like the option of copying a note together with its reference... I'm working in DevonThink Professional, and the ability to paste a note with its reference and so create a new DevonThink record is great.

Now I'm wondering -- is there a way to copy or export more than one NoteCard at a time? I can't seem to select more than one of them simultaneously. (I know I can copy at least a contiguous range of notes from the Notes view -- but that doesn't bring the reference along.)

Any suggestions? (Thanks in advance!)

[Jon]

Hi,

No, you can only select, and therefore operate, on one notecard at a time. The only way to do what you want at this time is to perform successive drag and drops with each notecard you want to copy from Bookends to DT.

Jon
Sonny Software

[arathe]

Jon,

Thanks for the rapid reply. Yeah--I thought successive drag-and-drops might be the only way right now. (Any chance that will change in the future? )

thanks!
Alan

[Jon]

It's possible. Multiple selections will certainly complicate lots of other aspects (such as deletion of discontiguous selections), but if there is demand for it I can look into it.

Jon
Sonny Software

[arathe]

Thanks, Jon. (No surprise that this is indeed a feature that I, for one would like <smile>)... I would imagine that most people engaged in note-taking off a PDF would be thinking in terms of numerous notes, rather than one-offs, and that the ability to somehow transfer en masse would be a good thing for many users. But that's just my 2 cents worth.

thanks again!

[Tony Higgins]

I agree. I like to think of each note as a separate, self-contained note card, not as a part of one, larger document--not unlike taking notes with a stack of index cards, and writing each note, or quote, or key insight, etc., on its own index card. Obviously, the entire stack can be thought of as a complete document related to a given text or resource. However, if each note card is actually an individual card, then individual cards that are similar in content, but are related to separate resources, could be placed together and used to easily compile research for writing projects.

For example: let's say I'm working on my lit. review (chapter 2) for my dissertation, and one of my variables deals with a given term--let's say "leadership styles." For my chapter 2, I might want to survey how the precedent literature has used that term. In using Bookends and the Note Card feature, the ideal scenario would be:
1) To have already review the literature, using the Note Card feature.
2) In doing so, created a separate note card for each key author/source that defined "leadership style(s)."
3) Tagged each note card with a tag like "key term."
4) In pulling together my research, be able to search across the BE database for each note card that contained a "key term" that included "leadership" or "leadership style."
5) Be able to select from the search results individual or multiple note cards (with associated reference info) that can be pasted into a document.

The idea above is analogous to having a stack of note cards attached to every book/source in my library. Then, being able to search the various stacks of note cards for specific information, and being able to compile only those note cards I need for a given project into a temporary stack (kind of like a temporary group). The note cards in the new temporary stack could then be ordered into a logical format (either by author, by chronological date the term was used, by how the term was used, or cards could be deleted), and the final list could be exported to a document (not unlike how a reference list is placed at the end of a document) or could be cut-and-pasted into a document.

This would be very useful.

[Jon]

Hi,

It seems to me that most of what you outlined (no pun intended) is how notecards were intended to be used, and are used now. One difference is that you can't search for a particular notecard, but search the notes field (in which the notecards reside). What the original poster was asking for was the ability to select multiple notecards at once.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Jon]

Hi,

The ability to select and manipulate multiple notecards at once will be included in the next update.

Jon
Sonny Software

[arathe]

Wow. You guys are nothing if not responsive. Thanks!

[rickl]

I'd like to echo arathe's expression of thanks for this feature. I find the following workflow most useful:

Select all notecards for a reference
Command-K
Command-Tab to DevonThink
Command-N for a new note with the content of all the notecards with full source information
(Optional: Within the note in DevonThink, select any particularly important notecard and drag into any relevant group)

[MBNelson]

I really like rickl's workflow.

One way to improve that for me would be to change the copy feature to include a way to "copy note + citation as hypertext link". That way, when going through DTPro (or Scrivener, or...) I can find my way back to the original reference relatively quickly.

But I'm with the others here. You guys are fantastically responsive.

[Jon]

I really like rickl's workflow.

One way to improve that for me would be to change the copy feature to include a way to "copy note + citation as hypertext link". That way, when going through DTPro (or Scrivener, or...) I can find my way back to the original reference relatively quickly.

Hm, interesting idea. I'll think about how that might be implemented.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Tony Higgins]

Jon,
Just wondering if you have any plans in the works to continue to improve upon the Note Cards feature.

Thanks.
Tony

[Jon]

The feature request above was added in the last update, if that's what you're asking about...

Jon
Sonny Software

[Tony Higgins]

No, I'm not asking about the latest feature request. I'm asking, in more general terms, are there any features in the works that you are planning to add to Bookends that might improve upon the Note Cards functionality?

Note Cards is a great feature! I think the more that can be done to make Bookends a "one stop shop" for simple, but effective, note taking for references, pdfs, etc, then the better.