TOPIC: Note Taking Strategy for Multiple Study Sources

I'm interested in what has worked for others in terms of managing notes from multiple sources.

I've just begun studying for the PMP exam. I've gone through Modules L00, L01, and L70 of the Prepcast and have decided to use Google Docs to manage/maintain my note materials. I have separate note documents for each module.

However, I also have Andy Crowe's Exam Prep kit to supplement the PMBOK and the awesome PM Prepcast materials. I'm curious what strategies others have used to manage copious note-taking from multiple sources. I fear this is going to get out of control rather quickly.

My goals and objectives:
Maintain a single source for the notes for each knowledge area/subject, expanding/clarifying information from my various sources so the notes make sense to me without having to wade through multiple sets of notes from each source.

Thanks in advance for input/suggestions!

Hi Jeffrey,

i am not a native speaker (german) but i think i get your point.
I am also actually studying for the exam (hopefully i will tkae exam in June or July latest) and i am also using several study sources (PMP Prep Cast as Nop.1 of course ).
My suggestion would be to use mindmapping as solution to manage all the infomration and the several ressources.
There are good sw mindmapping solutions like mindmanager (expensive) or freemind (totally free) or u can use also totally online solutions therefore (a short google search should bring u a ton of options).
I know and use mindmanager (it is a standard sw at my company) and u have a lot of export options there like word, excel, pdf or even ms project ...
There are also allready some PMBOKwise structured ready to use mindmaps on the web which could be used as a starting point for your notetaking ...

I am sorry for the bad language and hope this hint could be usefull to you.

All the best for your undertaking and the exam!

Regards,

Markus

Markus,

dankeschön

Thank you for taking the time to respond and your non-native English is much better than a lot of native speakers/writers.

Mind-mapping is an interesting suggestion. I've not taken study notes in that manner before (I'm more of an outline kinda guy) but I'm willing to give it a try to see if it works for me. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm finding the Prepcasts to be an excellent resource, not only for the necessary contact hours, but for the exam preparation in general. I'm an auditory learner and I appreciate the format and constant repetition of the overviews & reviews to focus on the key highlights of the lessons for maximum retention.

Sounds like we're on the same schedule for the exam. Good luck with your studies & the exam!

Hi both,

I am a German guy as well

I passed recently the PMP exam (fifth edition) and I can really recommend that (no matter how you organize it)
the core of all your material should be the beautiful page 61 in the PMBOK
--> Table 3-1 Project Management Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping

You need to know this "in and out" in great detail. Also all Inputs and Outputs to the processes.
Only than you are able to organize all your additional material around that.

Enjoy the PMP Prep Cast and good luck with your studies & the exam!

Cheers
Sven