A Method For Reading Technical Books
03 Jan 2007 10:05 PM / Filed in: I.T.
When reading technical books, I use a variation of Richard Bejtlich's reading method. Please take the time to read his post before continuing with this one.
As far as I can tell, my method takes more time but it allows me to fully understand key material and "engrave" it on memory. I use a combination of post-it flags and plain, bright yellow highlighters and three reading passes:
As far as I can tell, my method takes more time but it allows me to fully understand key material and "engrave" it on memory. I use a combination of post-it flags and plain, bright yellow highlighters and three reading passes:
- First pass of reading. Usually not very mentally taxing. Flag key ideas with the post-it flags. I usually do this during my daily commute (currently 1h15 * 2 approx) in the public transportation.
- Second pass of reading. Give more concentration juice to the flagged items. Highlight the parts that need to be fully understood and remembered. Take notes using a pencil when applicable. I usually do this either at home/work or while commuting.
- Third pass of reading. This is done sometimes later (after reading two/three other books for example). Skim over the text and reread the flagged/highlighted items. Take note using a text editor, wiki or something like that. I currently use VoodooPad. Enter important URLs in bookmarks (in a special "Analyze this" folder) and/or in del.icio.us (using a special tag). I usually do this at home/work.