The Role of Index Cards in Art, Design and Other Pursuits
I don’t remember exactly when it was that I fell in love with index cards. I suppose it could have been that magical moment when we first learned how to research for school reports using them to keep track of our bibliography and all our notes. Does anybody else remember that method? (Does anybody else still use it?) You would gather your sources, write out an index card for each book or article you were going to use, then place a number in the corner of each card. As you worked your way through the books you would take notes on other index cards, taking care to mark the appropriate number on the corner so you could later match a thought, summary or quote with the correct source. When you were done, you could easily organize them by subject matter or rearrange them according to your outline. Me? Well, I’ve already confessed a love for research reports, so I’m not ashamed to admit my golden admiration for this ingenious method. Though I will admit that I chaffed a lot at the constraints of such linear and organized thinking. Over the years I have tried to sit down and think out just how I would construct my own personal data base for research projects, but I think I just like making the cards.
I suppose it could have also been using them as flashcards — an indispensable part of language, science and history classes or other environments where rote memorization came into play. Then again, it could have been the library and those old card catalogs that I used to spend hours pouring over. I always thought it was just the most incredible labor of love, all those books each in the card catalog at least three times — once for author, once for title and once for subject (sometimes for more than one subject) — all typed out in that blocky typewriter font with occassional handwritten notes added later or words and letters crusted over in thick clumps of dried white out.
At any rate, I developed a fondness for them, and on my desk I keep a rather large stack always at the ready. Occassionally the surface of my desk erupts into chaos and it is typically littered in index cards with notes about things I want to write, read, think about. Things I need to do or just want to do. And also notes about design. I have a fancy book that is supposed to help me with the designing, but you know what? I don’t like fancy books. I never write in them. They intimidate the hell out of me. I just like my plain, unformed index cards. When things get beyond the index cards, I usually just grab a plain spiral bound notebook and work from there. I suppose someday I’m going to have to graduate to a little graph paper for charting lace or cable, but once I’m there, I might as well just be working on the computer, which is probably what will ultimately happen.
As I continue to give some thought to the upcoming deadline for Amy Singer’s book, I have been scribbling down some thoughts and ideas on my various index cards. I feel a little intimidated by the whole design process and I think that working on small 3 x 5 pieces of paper at this point helps me keep it a little more manageable. Bite sized chunks of design. Still, I think it is time to branch out a little. Right now it feels as if I am just poking at the idea without really committing to it. I think I’m going to need a bigger piece of paper…
November 3rd, 2005 at 8:02 am
I remember that index card method. I graduated to one involving 5″x8″ index cards with the bibliographic info at the top and notes on the card, smaller index cards for direct quotes. Haven’t used it in ages but I might teach my daughter-the-budding-historian.
I also understand your preference for scraps of paper/index cards and spiral notebooks over fancy books for designing. Feels more like you can rip out, crumple up and throw away the really crap ideas. That potential liberates you to put down all the ideas, probably.
You may want to invest in some graph paper though. I find it easier to work out a chart on paper. The only symbols I’ve found for charting can’t be typed in the way you knit them (bottom up, R-L). I recently charted a cable on graph paper and then used different coloured highlighters to emphasize where different bits were travelling so I could see it better. Much erasing and fixing was undertaken.
November 3rd, 2005 at 9:39 am
Would you believe they’re still teaching that method for research papers. My 12 year old son is doing this now and for some reason it brought me much joy to see some things still done the “old fashioned” way.
November 3rd, 2005 at 10:02 am
I remember the index card method and have used it off and on ever since. I am back “on”. For a long time I used little spiral notebooks but it is hard to look things up.
I love index cards for research, for notes, for my fabric and yarn stash, for ideas and inspirations. I like those little spiral notebooks that contain index cards you can tear out — great for carrying around in a purse or backpack when inspiration hits. I have a palm but its not the same.
I remember seeing an interview with Robert Caro some a couple of years ago in which he talked about index cards and how he loves to use them. In his office he has files and files with all the index cards he has ever used for any book or research project and he can look things up easily. That kind of inspries me…but I am nowhere near there yet.
I wish I had saved all my old index cards and notes and notebooks from various projects, both research and otherwise, over the years. Between moves and “simplification bursts” many have been lost along the way. Now I regret having gotten rid of all my old research notes and index cards thinking I would never use them again. I feel like I got rid of a part of myself.
November 4th, 2005 at 6:13 pm
Oy. The Index Card Method for writing research papers. I swear by it, but my students on the whole find it dreadful. It’s just plain painful until the beauty of the concept ‘clicks,’ and I don’t think that happens for lots of my kiddos. I think the problem lies not in the index card method but in the writing of the research paper itself. It’s much easier to get psyched about a stack of quotes and notes if they are on a topic you care about/are interested in. That’s the ticket to seeing the beauty in the method. Sparking interest is the challenge. Otherwise, making note cards is just another sort of schoolish hoop to jump through. (Sorry…does this sound all rant-ish? I’m 5 days away from submitting my final masters paper, and you know what the subject is? Research papers! A research paper on research papers. I read a book called Beyond Note Cards. Oh, the note cards are famous, and infamous.) Ok, time to stop babbling. Index cards themselves are lovely, by the by. I have several in marbly shades of pink, purple, blue, and green. Very festive.
November 8th, 2005 at 9:00 pm
I LOVE index cards too! I also love scotch tape, pencils that have to be sharpened and whose erasers run out, cheap blue ballpoint pens, and plain old notebook paper! Maybe I’m crazy or maybe it’s the fumes from the scotch tape, but school supply shopping is my all time favorite (maybe it’s also that you don’t have to try anything on…)
Oh and by the way - check these out http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008XPMP/103-3981154-8397406?v=glance&n=1064954&v=glance