I am a student, but not a history student. However, history happens to be a subject I am interested in and when searching for tips for taking notes on history most of the results are for students.
Now, I'm not going to be tested on any history I might read, but I would still like to get the most out of it. Apparently there's some research showing that taking notes is bad for memory at least insofar as people taking notes might shut down their brains while doing so, but it still seems like there would probably be long-term benefits for me doing so.
My question is, does anyone have any tips in the realm of note taking that might be helpful for a non-history student when reading history? Or perhaps any general non-student, amateur historian study tips, for instance, how should I read a history book to get the most out of it?
I wrote a thing on how to read an academic book for Monday Methods awhile back. As written, it's perhaps more relevant for people who have to read a whole bunch of books in a short span of time--it's pretty much the standard history grad student method. But if you add "actually read the book" as a late step in the list, I suspect it would help you get the most of your chosen books. :)
As a meta topic, I'll provide what allow me to remember things more easily. I read as much history as I can, and then try to covey that information to game developers.
I would say, if you apply what you learn to something else, your ability to remember is amplified because you can remember the experience more vividly than simply reading it in an abstract way. Maybe someone challenged you, or you started thinking about how the information you've gained worked for the people at the time in a practical sense based on how you're going to apply the new information. Maybe you've met a problem or a hole in your concepts, and so you need to investigate things which forces you to question what you think you know. Generally speaking, I would try to apply these things into another product. Maybe you're making a video game, like me. Maybe you're writing a book (which others will read), a comic, create costumes, part of a living history group, a history blog, woodwork, etc. The point I'm making is to try to interact with what you're reading, rather than just keeping it in the abstract sense, before moving on again. A primary example of a bad thing is binging on Wikipedia or an online arts collection a whole night without any purpose or aim. It's a waste in my humble opinion. A primary example of a good thing is Tobias Capwell who, while being an academic, also applied his knowledge as a practicing jouster, constantly improving the methods he learned as a scholar. I hope this helps you. Good luck.
Try to write things in your own words, historians often have a way of using excessive and complicated language, and this way you'll understand what you have written when you look back. Always write a page number next to your notes, and take them under a heading of a book title, publisher, year of publication, and edition. This way if you ever look back and think you want to use these notes, or even look back at books to look at their references for further reading they're easily accessible to you. Hope this somewhat helps