Journal 12 - Organizing Field Notes

Why did I get so excited about the reading for today (it was Bernard, "Field Notes: How to Take Them, Code Them, Manage Them")? As I read about the challenges of field notes--consistently keeping the record, the challenge of remembering, the challenge of recording, where to keep things, and what if they get lost?--I started thinking about what my challenges would be. I will really enjoy setting up a system for recording and organizing my notes, I love organizing, and finding better solutions for things that aren't working well. I'm worried most about consistency. I remember when it came down to the last twenty minutes of the day on my mission, I was so tired and had so many little things to take care of, I rarely wrote in my journal. I have gaps of about a month between every journal entry. I treasure those entries and know there's nothing I can do about that now, but I want to do better for the field study and hope I can overcome my reluctance to record.

I'm more willing to record thoughts and notes when I'm using a computer. I'll just make sure to save a couple places and put my field notes in everyday. It will also help if I set a goal to do it for a specific amount of time everyday and schedule it in. Finally if I have a small notebook and a good planner (with two columns for each day, like a missionary planner) I can jot down notes and key words to remember and and function while I'm out in the community.

I have come to really appreciate the readings in this class (a couple things about class structure are still frustrating but I'm sure they'll get worked out). They really help me feel informed and prepared for different parts of the field study. I think about that reading on interviewing all the time! The interesting thing about each of the readings is that I find myself able to apply most of them in my life, each effects my perception of this study, but also my perception of how I live my life. Wouldn't it be great if I had a system for recording regular life and made time each day to do that? Would that be important enough that I should start doing that? How could I organize it so that it was well done and each thing easily accessible? I was thinking about this class over the weekend, and I realized a lot of little things about me have changed because of what I've learned so far. I can't imagine what will change once I leave for Ghana.