source notes, literature notes, book / video notes, etc. are the primary record of how you’ve engaged with a *thing* from which you *sourced* new thoughts, ideas, or [[{4.1a} atomic notes]]. 1. create a page for the book to collect your notes; you might call this a source note, lit note, book note – doesn’t matter. 2. import your highlights and annotations. 1. if using the obsidian web clipper, you can highlight and comment on files directly. 2. if using an app like zotero, readwise, or kindle, you can use an importer plugin. 3. if reading a physical manuscript, you can skip this step, transcribe your highlights, or use an ocr app. 3. re-read your highlights and annotations, bolding especially resonant text and taking any initial notes. 4. read back through your bolded text and rough notes; depending on the complexity, you might go through the book (or article, etc.) chapter by chapter to get additional context and flesh out your ideas. 5. group your rough notes into similar themes, concepts, or topics. 6. create an atomic note for each theme / concept / topic / idea, each in its own note, transferring and rephrasing any bullet points as necessary. link the titles for each atomic notes in your source note page. 7. add any metadata to your source notes and atomic notes, like topic tags. >[!info]- what gets an atomic note? >i only create a dedicated note if i write several atomic notes related to that source. if i only capture one or two, i like the atomic notes to the source url or clipping. ## sample source note ![[doctorow.webp]]