Note your average notes program... (Owch.)

June 6, 2007 7:28 AM

I'm trying to find a note-taking program for OSX that allows a pseudo-Cornell-style of note taking, and some other features.

I've looked at a number of programs based on recommendations on the green and elsewhere, and nothing seems to do what I want (at least so far as I can tell).

What I want is a note-taking program that will allow me to create notebooks that feature:

1. A main note-taking area
2. Some way of incorporating printable marginalia (either by having it next to the main text, or as an annotation sort of like Word's "Comments")
3. The ability to tag and search notebooks
4. The ability to group notebooks together under folders that are visible in the main program

I realize these are fairly specific demands, but I am hoping to find something at least CLOSE to this. The ability to add (printable) marginalia is essential; tagging would be nice; and grouping is not absolutely necessary but I would like some sort of means by which I can group like notebooks together (maybe under tabs? As long as I can see it in the program.)

Maybe this is a tall order, but I figured if anyone can find it, it is AskMe.

posted by synecdoche to computers & internet (5 answers total)

Circus Ponies NoteBook. (No kidding, that really is its name.)
posted by WCityMike at 7:30 AM on June 6, 2007

Linkage and relevant screenshot.

(And I found it by Googling, too. It was a result for "Mac OS X" "notes" "Cornell".)
posted by WCityMike at 7:33 AM on June 6, 2007

Thanks, WCityMike-- I actually downloaded that one yesterday but somehow completely missed the Cornell feature. I'll have to give it a shot-- I was using it temporarily but thinking the whole time "If only..." and I guess I was just missing it.

Still, if anyone has a freeware solution, that'd be cool, too.
posted by synecdoche at 7:47 AM on June 6, 2007

Notebook does tons more, stuff that's totally useful - other notetaking methods, linked notes, copying notes to your ipod. I don't use it for note taking (in a classroom environment) and I think it's great.
posted by filmgeek at 8:35 AM on June 6, 2007

I think NoteBook is a great application, but I'd recommend Scrivener. It isn't specifically set up for Cornell style note-taking but it's so flexible that you could easily use it for that. I use it for taking notes as well as for writing. You can make in-line annotations (there is a "Ghost Mode" to fade the annotations out) and there is also a side pane for notes. You can tag documents in a couple different ways, and you can nest them in folders so I think you could easily get the notebook groupings you are looking for.

I often take notes on PDFs and web pages, so I love that it has a split-screen feature. You can have the document you're studying on one side and take notes on the other side.

The reason I prefer Scrivener to all other such apps is that I feel it gives you a better overview of your information. You can see a lot at once. The thing I didn't like about NoteBook was having to flip pages.
posted by bluebird at 9:44 AM on June 6, 2007