Using Book Tabs! Why? How? Tips and Tricks for Book Tab Annotations

 ANNOTATING - BOOK TABS - TOP TIPS

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What is Annotating?

Let me start by being clear, annotating books was completely alien to me until I went back to college last August, and was expected to reference my work. To help me find my way back to important chapters, quotes I wanted to use, key charts or tables, and generally keep myself on track, I started throwing coloured post-its into my reference texts. Green ones were quotes, purple were research studies, pink were charts/graphs, you get the idea. That's annotation. It's a way of flagging something significant within the book that you might want to look at again, use as a discussion point, or, like me, need to use the information again. Doing the same for my personal reading was a natural progression. 

Some people use highlighters or write in books to indicate important sections. It's all very aesthetically pleasing, but I can't (and won't) do that with library books, expensive texts, beautiful editions, or any other book to be honest. Equally, a book could have important annotations, but I would have to open and practically read it again to find what I was looking for. It's personal preference, everyone's different and you may find that one of the other methods works better for you, or that you don't enjoy annotating at all. It's all part of the journey! 

Annotating books using book tabs works for me. It provides a quick visual indicator of where the information is, without rigmarole.  

Why Should I Annotate Books?

Well, you don't have to. It's a completely personal choice, it works for some people and not for others. I review books in my blog and on YouTube, so it's helpful. I can stick a book tab somewhere important and refer to it when compiling my review. 

You might be in a book club discussing specific topics when you meet up, such as symbolism or world-building. Annotating may help you recall specifics and give you some great discussion points. 

I've already pointed out the benefits of annotating for study, whether reference texts, fiction, or non-fiction. 

How Do I Get Started?

First, you'll need book tabs. I usually order these or something similar. There are lots of colour palettes to choose from to suit your style and preference. I'm not too fussy, I would love to have goth ones but black only comes in one colour :)

Next, you'll need a key which tells you what elements each colour refers to. 

Some people use the same key for all books. I find that doesn't work for me personally as I read such a broad range of genres, my annotations aren't always for the same thing! Quotes are important for every book, but spice for example would only be needed in my spicy books. I pop a key into the front of my book, one tab in each colour with their category written clearly. 

I keep it simple, 5 or 6 tabs work for me, though sometimes I have to sneak extras in as I work through the book and discover an unexpected theme or concept! 

In the example below, given the topic, and the literary style (it is a Nobel Prize-winning book about the fall of communism in Romania), I've added tabs mainly focussed on emotion and prose. The tabs would be entirely different for a Rom-Com, I'd have "romance", "spice", and "humour" in there instead. 

Final Thoughts

I'd like to close by saying that if you're worried that tabbing your books will take away from your reading experience, I can speak from the heart here when I say that once you are comfortable with it, and your key, it will be second nature and you won't even realise you're doing it. Like turning the page! 

Hopefully you find these tips helpful, it's incredibly simple but equally effective. Let me know if you have any other questions, or tips that might be handy in future! I'm not too far into my annotating journey so will no doubt hone my techniques and add to this post as time goes on!

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