[quote post=”2329″]Oh no, Luke. I also prefer the hard copy. I just start a doc file and add my notes mentioning the page and/or paragraph in the hard copy. Sometimes, I even copy an excerpt.[/quote]

Ah, ok. Makes sense now. :P

[quote post=”2329″]And if you have an allergy or two, a handkerchief package will never be too far away.[/quote]

Thankfully, I have no allergies (knock on wood) so I actually rarely carry these packages.

When reading borrowed books I used all kinds of weird things as bookmarks: tissues, toilet paper strips, index cards, those little fake plastic credit card things they send you wit CC offers in the mail (these make great bookmarks btw), floppy disks and etc…

[quote comment=”8435″]I wonder if there’s a connection between ppl who don’t dog ear, “likes static typing but not type inference”, “is organized to the point of being…” – Steve Yegge – Good Agile, Bad Agile[/quote]

Hmmm… We can actually cross examine it, by looking at the programming language thread. ;) Let’s see if there is a correlation. lol

I wonder if there’s a connection between ppl who don’t dog ear, “likes static typing but not type inference”, “is organized to the point of being…” – Steve Yegge – Good Agile, Bad Agile

like many people here, if its anything but a technical book, i try and avoid damaging it in any way at all. i used to be that way with tech books too but realise that scribbling, highlights and note taking inline are actually pretty good in the long run for that format.

Making notes on the margins and marking text is working with the book. Dog earing is hurting the book.

My girl friend showed me this trick to mark not only the page but also the line with the closing adhesive strip of a handkerchief package. And if you have an allergy or two, a handkerchief package will never be too far away.

I’m a margin writing junkie, dogearer, and open spine lover. My train of thought is: If I bought the book, then I’m entitled to make use of it in anyway I feel – even if it includes cutting out the pages and pinning them to the wall. That being said, my book selection is pretty modest, I only buy a book if it’s been recommended, I’ve enjoyed a couple chapters of the online version, and so on…

Oh no, Luke. I also prefer the hard copy. I just start a doc file and add my notes mentioning the page and/or paragraph in the hard copy. Sometimes, I even copy an excerpt.

Of course reading a hard copy this way takes a lot more time and is a bit more inconvenient (a need my laptop nearby) but the payoffs months later are worth the effort for me.

I love my books, and I’d never dog-ear or write into. When I see my wife do it I remove the dog-ear or turn around and close the book, putting a marker where she left off.

Books are there to be loved, and there’s something special about a well-handled book. Marking the book is something that should be reserved for the book’s owner though, and it’s not something I do except perhaps in a textbook.

My mother used to run a bookstore and loved to highlight or underline passages in books she read. More than once I’ve had to stop her absentmindedly putting a marked book back on the shelves for sale. :)

@Ricardo – good point about the electronic resources. But often I find myself more comfortable reading a regular paper book rather than an electronic copy on the screen.

[quote post=”2329″]Of course there are other factors – never mark a book you don’t own (library or friend copy)[/quote]

Same here. I only mark the books which I own. I actually go out of my way and use something flat and made out of paper as a bookmark when I’m using a borrowed book.

[quote post=”2329″]If it’s a novel or comic, I do not want to harm it by dog-earing or smudging it with scribbles.[/quote]

I definitely don’t dog-ear or mark up graphic novels, as they usually don’t have margins to begin with and the creases left by the dog-ears do affect the way the artwork look.

If it’s a novel or comic, I do not want to harm it by dog-earing or smudging it with scribbles. I love to display them on my bookshelf in my room, so I prefer to have them in good condition.

If it’s my college textbook, then I wouldn’t mind scribbling all over the place. Or folding them and placing mini-sticky notes all over.

Somehow, I get the feeling that if I scribble on my novel/comics, I am spoiling or vandalizing them. But if I do it to my texts, it shows I actually read and bother to try to understand the concepts. :P