Magic and illusions have fascinated me my entire life. I remember spending hours sitting in the Tunkhannock library pouring over magic books. Since then I have built a sizable collection of books, instructions, magazines, videos, and electronic newsletters. Each item has a gem that I want to focus on however, there is a lot that I am not interested in. I have begun to catalog the effects that interest me and I am using Evernote to help me.
Using Evernote
As I noted, I have many artifacts in my collection. I have read each word and I know that I have something I want to reexamine in my collection but it takes a long time and energy to find it. Last year, I found Rhode IsLand Society of Magicians, a local magic club. This has provided me with impetus to better organize my collection. I have turned to Evernote for assistance.
Evernote is a popular note-taking and organization tool that can be used to track and organize a wide range of information and collections.
There are common things I am doing to aid with my organization.
- Single note per item: Each book, video, instruction, etc will get its own note.
- Title: The title is the title of the book, video, etc.
- Tags: I am adding tags to help find desired effects. Each note will receive the /magic tag. Other tags will be based on the effects such as /cards, /packettricks, /rope, /cupsandballs, etc.
- Images of table of contents: I include the table of contents for videos, electronic newsletters, books, and magazines.
One of the powerful aspects of Evernote is its ability to search through images. As a result, it can search through an image of instructions or a table of contents.
Cataloging My Collection
Here is what I am doing to curate and organize my collection:
Videos: I know of specific effects that I want to learn that are on videos that I have. In Evernote, I I have create an individual note with a listing or what is on the video. I first search the internet to see if a table of contents is available, otherwise, I will take a picture of the back of the video that has a description. If neither is available, I will type it in. Naturally, I will add appropriate tags to the note.
I can also create notes based on effects I find on YouTube. I simply use Web Clipper to send the note to Evernote. It captures it as a YouTube note. I just need to add tags.
Books: I have two shelves of magic books. Right now, I am creating notes from pictures of the table of contents and adding tags. If I find a specific effect I want to learn, I take pictures of the pages so that I have the instructions with me when I want to practice. Having a list of my books makes it easy to find a reference when it is discussed during a meeting.
Electronic Grymoire: In the 1990s, I subscribed to an electronic newsletter. Leaving Europe, I had hundreds of these newsletters printed and stored in binders. When I moved from Wyoming to New York, I scanned all of them into Evernote. This has made it easier to find different effects as well as saved a lot of shelf space.
Magazines: I have hundreds of magazines from Linking Rings, Genii, Magic, and MUM. They are part of individual subscriptions as well as memberships with magic organizations. Like books, I am capturing the table of contents and effects that I find especially noteworthy.
Instructions: I have picked up magic tricks over the years. Each comes with a set of instructions. I have scanned these instructions to make them easy to have on hand when practicing.
Notes: I also have my personal notes that I took will taking lessons or while attending club meetings and conferences. I have scanned them into Evernote using my phone. It is nice to look abck at what I thought was important.
I have collected a large number of resources on magic tricks, including books, videos, instructions, and magazines. Evernote is making it easier for me to find and reference specific effects in my collection. I can’t wait for the end result.
Ideas for Other Collections
Here are some other examples of how you might use Evernote to track collections:
Recipe collection: You can use Evernote to keep track of your favorite recipes and cooking tips. You can create a new note for each recipe, and use tags to organize your notes by category (e.g., “breakfast,” “dinner,” etc.). You can also use Evernote’s built-in camera feature to take photos of recipes from cookbooks or magazines and save them in your Evernote account.
Book collection: If you’re an avid reader, you can use Evernote to keep track of the books you own and the books you want to read. You can create a new note for each book, and use tags to organize your notes by genre or author. You can also use Evernote to keep track of notes and highlights you make while reading a book.
Art collection: If you’re an artist or art collector, you can use Evernote to keep track of your artwork or the artwork you admire. You can create a new note for each piece of art, and use tags to organize your notes by medium or artist. You can also use Evernote to keep track of notes and observations about the art you encounter.
Travel collection: If you love to travel, you can use Evernote to keep track of your travel plans and experiences. You can create a new note for each trip, and use tags to organize your notes by destination or type of trip (e.g., “beach vacation,” “city break,” etc.). You can also use Evernote to keep track of travel documents, such as flight itineraries and hotel reservations.
Project collection: If you’re working on multiple projects at once, you can use Evernote to keep track of your progress and tasks. You can create a new note for each project, and use tags to organize your notes by project type or priority. You can also use Evernote to keep track of notes and ideas related to your projects.
If you are looking for other ideas for using the power of Evernote, check out my book Evernote: A Success Manual for College Students.
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