So ... this is a topic of great importance I'm very interested in. Thanks for writing about it!
I have a giant banker's box full of journal articles organized by chapter (I also have this in my computer). I also have a file called "papers that fit in more than one chapter" for those papers that apply to multiple chapters on which I've scribbled which chapters they fit into on the front of each paper. I work by reading one paper or book at at a time, scrawling all my first impression ideas and comments on the paper's physical margins, and then putting everything from that paper that's relevant to the chapter I'm working on right away into the draft text file of the chapter, in approximately the right place. I have to through the "papers that fit in more than one chapter" file many times. Then as I'm editing, I write transitions, delete stuff that now seems to extraneous, and make it all flow together smoothly.
My method for interview transcripts is the same as yours. I do have organizational spreadsheets I use to keep track of to-do lists, sources, super key quotes, etc. for each chapter, so I don't forget anything.
I once tried making research material files with quotes, data, etc., but I found not only was it extra work, it was basically wasted time because I always wanted to go back to the original article to see the context of whatever it was I wanted to add, and then I had to find it all over again, which was also more work. So I said: to hell with it!
So ... this is a topic of great importance I'm very interested in. Thanks for writing about it!
I have a giant banker's box full of journal articles organized by chapter (I also have this in my computer). I also have a file called "papers that fit in more than one chapter" for those papers that apply to multiple chapters on which I've scribbled which chapters they fit into on the front of each paper. I work by reading one paper or book at at a time, scrawling all my first impression ideas and comments on the paper's physical margins, and then putting everything from that paper that's relevant to the chapter I'm working on right away into the draft text file of the chapter, in approximately the right place. I have to through the "papers that fit in more than one chapter" file many times. Then as I'm editing, I write transitions, delete stuff that now seems to extraneous, and make it all flow together smoothly.
My method for interview transcripts is the same as yours. I do have organizational spreadsheets I use to keep track of to-do lists, sources, super key quotes, etc. for each chapter, so I don't forget anything.
I once tried making research material files with quotes, data, etc., but I found not only was it extra work, it was basically wasted time because I always wanted to go back to the original article to see the context of whatever it was I wanted to add, and then I had to find it all over again, which was also more work. So I said: to hell with it!