Legal Pads

[honkycat1]

I think this is another one of those idiosyncratic things for academics and lawyers that has really little practical advantage over spiral notebooks. Oh, the other thing is messenger bags, ugh. everytime I feel the peer pressure to convert to using legal pads or messenger bags, I remind myself how uncomfortable messenger bags are and how messy legal pads are, and how it has no cover and pages fall off too easily.

/rant, but seriously, what are some practical advantages of using legal pads rather than just spiral notebooks? I use spiral notebooks for general note taking, its not highschool anymore so I don't have 1 for each class or anything, just one for all general purpose and scribbles.

Edited November 8, 2011 by donnyz89

[Sigaba]

I think this is another one of those idiosyncratic things for academics and lawyers that has really little practical advantage over spiral notebooks. Oh, the other thing is messenger bags, ugh. everytime I feel the peer pressure to convert to using legal pads or messenger bags, I remind myself how uncomfortable messenger bags are and how messy legal pads are, and how it has no cover and pages fall off too easily.

/rant, but seriously, what are some practical advantages of using legal pads rather than just spiral notebooks? I use spiral notebooks for general note taking, its not highschool anymore so I don't have 1 for each class or anything, just one for all general purpose and scribbles.

donnyz89--

A mentor and close friend of mine (who is now emeritus), uses legal pads exclusively. When I worked for him as a teaching assistant, I would mock him at least once a week for this practice. As far as I could see, they were more trouble than they were worth as the rest of the civilized world used letter sized paper.

However, on those occasions when I needed a copy of his notes, I could see that the extra inches allowed for more information on a single sheet of paper--not a bad thing if one needs to look down in the middle of doing something else (either writing or lecturing). And now and then, he'd zing me if my attention to detail and recall weren't up to speed. Maybe if you'd written it down on a piece of legal paper, you'd have remembered, was the thrust of his comments.

More generally, a big advantage of using pads rather than spiral bound notebooks is that one can more easily rearrange, replace, and/or copy loose sheets.

In any case, my two cents are these. Use what works for you and to heck with what anyone else says. That said, please use a system that is durable--assume that one day you're going to be such a titan in your field that future generations of scholars will want to consult your papers in a library-- and easy to 'back up.'

(FWIW, I myself prefer wire bound computation books <<EXAMPLE>> but when working as a T.A., I used letter sized yellow "legal pads". (In case I needed to make copies for students--ultimately a moot point as my writings is illegible.)

[dimanche0829]

I use spiral notebooks for regular note-taking during class. Works great. I cannot bring myself to use sprial notebooks when preparing to write a paper. I feel way too restricted, and the wire spiral drives me nuts, getting in the way of a comfortable writing position (I write at a very sharp angle). Legal pads afford me the room I need to jot down my crazy ideas, and all their digressions, and I don't have to worry about leaving spiral imprints all over my arm.

Edited November 9, 2011 by dimanche0829

[SNPCracklePop]

I'm a bound composition book person. Durable, bound, and they make a cheap lab notebook substitute.

[AR_ranchhand]

One reason I love legal pads, I'm left handed and any binding gets in the way of writing. I just stick any pages in a 3-ring binder when I'm finished keeping them on the pad all the time.

[Agradatudent]

One reason I love legal pads, I'm left handed and any binding gets in the way of writing. I just stick any pages in a 3-ring binder when I'm finished keeping them on the pad all the time.

you could just flip your spiral or bound notebook around and write the other way... (and upside down)

[Eigen]

I personally liked using legal pads because I can keep one with me, and then subdivide my notes out into different classes later. I kept a set of good 3-ring binders to use for each class (now recycled to use for current research projects), as well as a set of slightly less good binders for archives that I label and shelve. Personally, I also like to use a leather folio to keep everything in, and those are commonly just for legal-style pads, two cover binders don't fit in them very well. Also, I find I can get good, heavyweight paper on legal pads that I can't usually find in 3-ring notebooks, outside of special orders.

Even now that I'm done with classes, I still always keep a letter or legal pad on my desk for quick notes, calculations, etc- if they're something I want to keep, it's easy to slot them into the appropriate notebook. That and a set of several moleskines keeps me organized and happy.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Eigen