Tip of the Week: Take Notes on Books Using Gmail

Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion suggests a way to capture and archive your notes on books you read in Gmail for later search and retrieval:

I buy a lot of books and audiobooks. Almost all of them are about business or sports. I draw lessons from every single one and I want a way to capture it all. Once again, Gmail is a lifesaver here. This technique builds on the one prior.

Using the Google Toolbar trick outlined in Gmail PNC Part I, I find the book on Amazon.com and send my self a snippet of the title, author and summary to steverubel+secretword@gmail.com. I automatically label these “booknotes” using Gmail’s filters. Then as I go, I simply keep replying to myself with the notes I want to keep on the book. These all get archived as a conversation for later search/retrieval.

This sounds similar to Steven Berlin Johnson’s use of DevonThink to create a highly concentrated research library from snippets of books that can be mined for quotes or ideas. For more discussion on taking notes on the books you read, check out D*I*Y Planner’s forum topic on the subject.

Send your tips and tricks on how to use the web for productivity, success, and satisfaction to tips AT webworkerdaily-dot-com.

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