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Methods For Shorthand Notetaking?
sabrewulf asks: "I've searched the 'net for 20 hours straight today and found not a single site to learn some symbolic shorthand writing. I would prefer to learn Pitman's shorthand or Gregg but unfortunately all sites point to Amazon and those books are either out of print or on back order. Anyone have any URLs/Suggestions to where one could learn shorthand over the net, especially for a student headed off to college this fall? Phonetic shorthand (lk ths!) is not(!) an option."
If you want to learn shorthand for note taking in class... I wouldn't worry about it. Normal words/sentence structure is just fine, just try to keep it neat. I'm in my second year at waterloo, and even though I'm in the math faculty I've taken other courses such as history, business, economics, law, english, etc... Other people may have different experiences, but for me the best thing is just fast, neat printing. Writing can get kinda messy as it's easier to fall into an illegibe scrawl.
The most important thing to remember is be at class, awake, and paying attention. Once you skip your first class, it becomes a lot easier to do it again. Then all of the sudden you're missing all of your classes some days because you don't feel like going, and there's only 3 of them so it's not tooooo big of a deal. Oh yeah, and go to labs and tutorials; just because they're not manditory doesn't make them unimportant.
Actuaries - making accountants look interesting since 1949
Two advantages: easier to learn, and comprehensible by others (well, partially).
A google search pulled up a bunch of online training links. I'm just waiting for someone to make a speedwriting recogniser for my Visor.
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You don't need Amazon for shorthand books. About 2 years ago, I went to a used book store and picked up two of their shorthand books for college students for about $2.50 each. I am sure you could call around them and see who has them in for what price.
http://www.google.com/profiles/malachid
I'd say check out used book stores.
Slightly related, Is it just me or is shorthand falling out of fashion? Nobody writes it anymore. A good typist can type faster than a good shorthand writer. Voice recording is cheap.
I, personally, find that the best solution is to cary a laptop around with me for notetaking. I haven't had any real cases where I couldn't type fast enough to keep up.
Gentoo Sucks
dnno. mde up own vsn in cllg. clld tpe recdr.
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"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
I use a palm pilot (one of the old Pilots, before there were 1000's and 5000's) combined with a GoType keyboard. Small, fits in my bag, runs off AAA size batteries. Sync it up to my computer, and I've got searchable notes.
'Course I can type pretty fast, so that helps. If you're a keyboard poke-er, then this might be slower.
Gregg shorthand is under copyright, and that's why you can't find it online. The Gregg copyright holders (I think he's dead, but his family ain't) gets money for every Gregg book and notepad (I'm not kidding on that....if you see something with "Gregg Rule" on it, they get money). They have no incentive to put it online for free right now.
Why do you need to learn shorthand?
If you want to use it for class notes, a verbatim record of what the professor (or more likely, grad student) says is pretty much worthless. You'll retain *far* more information is you make the effort to paraphrase the information and jot that down -- even if you record only one tenth the information and drop your notes in the trash can on the way out the door.
The reason is simple: paraphrasing what you are hearing engages the verbal part of your brain... and verbal memory. Writing that down engages the motor skills, visual and possibly spatial parts of your brain... and visual and spatial memory.
In contrast, if you simply act like a human tape recorder you aren't really engaging the verbal part of your brain - you're doing word recognition, but this is very shallow understanding that won't give you insight into how disconnected parts of the lecture relate to one another. Worse, if you use an unfamiliar writing technique (shorthand - a few months of practice vs. a decade of printing/cursive?) you're physical senses will be focused on producing good shorthand, not what you're actually writing.
Overall, I think using shorthand to take class notes is about the *worst* possible thing you can do. Even listening passively is probably better, since you aren't distracted by trying to get the exact wording or paying attention to your transcription pad.
In those cases where you *must* record the information accurately, the professor will either hand out pages or give you plenty of time to copy it down. But that's fairly rare, especially in your underclassman years.
My perspective: BS math, BS physics (both fields which require painstaking care with mathematical notation) and MS comp sci.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Tape recorder makes the most sense. Any speaker that lets you take notes would probably let you record it.
But, what if the notes are being taken from a non-audible source. What if the note-taker is writing a critique of a dance or circus. What if they need a sign language to print interface and can't afford or get line of sight with a video camera. Let's assume technology other than a pen is not available.
I don't know, I guess the poeple who can solve this best are people who had to take notes before recording technology existed. These people invented shorthand. Go to the library and look it up. It's no surprise there are no new developments in shorthand since few situations require it.
...try combining languages.
Some of my notes look like: "Hay 3 radii per fund. pd. del func." (uh, yeah)... that particular example uses english and spanish. Basically, I combine "compacting words" (like "hay" in spanish = there is/are) and words that are easy to write fast (like "cirque" in French), along with standard abbreviations (like std. for "standard").
It's wierd to try and share notes, and it might take a bit to deciper it, but it works for me.
The Wazoo (the not-old one)
Now I understand - thanks.
But why is it "Offtopic"?
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(if you're still looking for the point, it was back there, in the post. </sig>)
Take a laptop and a pseudo-keyboard that fits on your hand like a glove (forgot the url, is out there somewhere) like the wear-able pc project does. Clip the display to your visor (glasses, spectacles, whatever) and recieve immediate feedback on your notes.
That's the geek way!
{squawk} Pollie wants a cookie!
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Free ?! Does that mean I can't get a Discount ?!
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The speedreading books sometimes contain information on speed notetaking. No, it's not Gregg shorthand, but it's a way to get down the important thoughts on paper, which is usually more useful than a verbatim account (especially when studying said notes later).
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
I know Gregg shorthand (the silver anniversary version). I could teach it to you, but to really get any benefit out of it, you have to drill, i.e., memorize the symbols, then take down dictation at increasingly faster speeds. It really does no good to know shorthand if you're trying to remember the symbol as someone is talking.
wags
Have a search for books on Teeline - it's a simple shorthand system used mainly in the UK. This link shows a very quick run-through from the basic letter shapes to forming words and phrases.
The world has changed and we all have become metal men.
Dutton Speedwords is a shorthand system that is also an international language. It was developed in the 30's by Reginald Dutton.
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Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Here ya go!! Enjoy!! http://s867.thu.edu.tw/~adamb/gregg.htm This is a duplication of the book, maybe in PDF... I think its just too cool that in this high tech age I can easily find a book on an OLD technology like shorthand. I just typed Gregg's Shorthand into google.com!! Rhonda