Shortcodes for Annotating Physical Books

I probably read 80% of my books on Marvin these days.

I actually prefer reading physical books, but my workflow for processing and paraphrasing book notes is greatly expedited when I can send the digital highlights directly to Evernote or Roam Research.

When I do read a physical book, I still highlight, underline, etc., but I try to keep my annotations simple and consistent.

A while ago, I took a screenshot of a list of shortcodes for annotating physical books, because I thought they were really interesting. I edited and expanded the list and came up with this:

1,2,3 = numbered lists that organize the author’s ideas
AN = Anecdote, an illustration or story
BIO = Biographical reference
BK = Book, a book is mentioned
COM = Commentary, explanatory or critical notes
CS! = Controversial Statement
DEF = Definition, definition provided or needs to be looked up
DES = Description
DLG = Dialogue
EX = Exercise, habit, ritual, liturgy
FCT = Important fact or data
FP = Foundational Principle (often in Theology/Philosophy works)
HIST = Historical Reference
INT = Interview
LA = Logical Argument
LF = Logical Fallacy
LST = List
LYR = Lyric
MET = Metaphor
NS = News Story
PL = Punchline or joke
QS = Question
QT = Quotation, a quote I might like to reference later
REF = Reference, external to the source
RS = Resource
RV = Review
SUM = Summary
TEMP = Template
TS = Thesis Statement
VI = Visual Illustration

For the next physical book I read, I'm going to us these shortcodes. I think they'll be really helpful.

I've also added them to my Roam Research workflow for processing eBooks and working with notes in Roam.