Re: Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

[John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 2:55 PM, Florian Beck <abstraktion@t-online.de> wrote:
> [My main goal is to take research notes and write texts. I have little
> interest in the todo/agenda part of org-mode, which I understand is its
> main focus, so bear this in mind.]

Snipped 1-4, as I don't have anything to add...

>  5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
>  notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
>  headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
>  to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
>  formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
>  would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
>  more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
>  breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
>  comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
>  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

I posted something similar a bit back. I do use org for todos, but
also write papers/reports, and take notes on things I'm reading. You
might want to check out that thread. [1] In particular, there were
some great comments about using inline tasks with custom export
options (one of them being the todonotes pacakge). [2] [3] Hope that
offers at least some input.

I think inline tasks can do what you want -- can be exported or not,
they stay out of the way, and don't break the flow. Good luck!

---

All from the same thread, but I skimmed it and picked these out in particular:

[1] Top level thread:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40356.html
[2] Inline tasks suggestion:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40359.html
[3] Todonotes variant:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40589.html


John

>
> --
> Florian Beck
>
>