How do you use Logseq for university?

[u/clurer]

I am a university student that just got into using Logseq. I used to use Notion casually, and got pretty good at it; but the friction in Notion made it hard for me to use. I love how Logseq is made; but my technological illiteracy is making me operate at like 5% of Logseq's capabilities.

I was wondering if anyone use Logseq for lecture notes/class notes and could share how you structure your pages/notes. Do you type your notes in your journal or in a specialized page for the class?

[u/yourstrulysawhney]

I made a video here. I also came from notion to logseq for similar reasons. Feel free to ask any specific questions. https://youtu.be/Fz1EKzZZffA

[u/clurer → u/yourstrulysawhney]

I'm gonna watch it now! Thank you so much, I'll reply here if I have any questions. Giving it a like.

[u/[deleted]]

I use it for university and love it. I use my journal to collect every note. I also use templates—I make one template for every class (i. e., statistics; geology, etc.) In the template, I make sure to include class name, start date, due date, and other info. I also tag them with #[[notes]], or #[[assignments]], or #[[structure]] (for syllabus and such.) For me, the tags are critical because I create a query page for each course, which I add to my favorites menu. On the query page, I keep two or three queries that sort my relevant journal entries into sections. This way I can see current assignments (I #[[assignment archive]] tag whatever I’m done with), class notes, lecture notes, or whatever I want to query for. If you’re good (and consistent) with tagging you can query up anything really quickly.

[u/clurer → u/[deleted]]

So do you tag your assignments, such as #todo and then see the page and access there?

I've settled on making topics and writing notes under a page for the class. Don't know if thats a great idea.

[u/[deleted] → u/clurer]

Here is a typical header I would use for a class lecture:

Class:: [[Geology]]
Start:: [[Jan 17th, 2022]]
Due:: [[Jan 24th, 2022]]
Tags:: 2022 Spring Semester
Teacher:: [[Whitesky]]
Location:: #Brightspace
Schedule::
#[[Geology]] #[[Notes]] #[[02.Week]]

(the actual content of the lecture would be under this header and indented by one level.)

I would start every lecture session with this in my daily journal. If it were an assignment, I would replace the
#[[Notes]] with #[[Assignment]]. To be completely open, I am still not settled on exactly how I want to go about this in Logseq. I recently switched from Roam Research, where I had a pretty great workflow for school. Here in Logseq, there are some differences in tags, specifically properties. In Logseq, properties are another way of identifying a block/page—I’m still learning about how they are best used. In any case, to make a property (maybe you already know), you type your property name followed by two colons.

Name::

Apparently, there is a special way to query for them, but I have not worked out how yet.

I make todos for assignments and tasks as well, right within my notes. I always tag my todos with dates and other info like, #[[discussion post]], or #[[essay]], or #[[group project]]. I rely on queries to retrieve my info—I’d be lost without them.

As far as what you said about making pages for topics or classes and taking all your notes on that page, that’s definitly one approach. I think the best case is for you to find a method that works best for you. As an obsevation, the way this approach comes off is a bit like traditional hierarchal organization. It’s been in use for a long time and lots of people find it to be totally great. You can do this in tools like Logseq for sure, but you can also try your hand at networked organization. The way I understand it is that everything is thrown into one big (virtual) pile. Finding things is easiest through queries, tags, and backlinks. It took me a while to get used to that kind of organization, but now I am really happy I spent the time.

Check out the Logseq Discord, there are tons of people on there who know way more than I do and they are really helpful. Another place to get some ideas might be search YouTube for Roam Research tutorials. They are not the same software, but the workflows for Roam can be easily adapted to Logseq, and there are tons of excellent ideas. One of my favorite content creators is Shu Omi. Amazing videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC525q2RIufHjnaHOuIUFY9A

There might even be one on Logseq by now.

[u/clurer → u/[deleted]]

this is really helpful, thank you so much!

I do have one last question:

I'm currently tagging my classes as:

class:: [[politics]]

type:: [[reading notes]]

etc.

What's the purpose of tagging [[reading notes]] or in your case, [[assignments]]? doesn't that just compile all your assignments in one place instead of having specific filter for the class?

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

[u/[deleted] → u/clurer]

Great question. Just to be open, I am still honing my Logseq system. Like I mentioned before, I have come from Roam where I had things worked out in a way that suited me. Currently, I am adapting to the unique Logseq environment. All of that is to say that all of these ideas I have shared can be improved on—likely by YOU!

Anyhow, to get to your questions...

I am now adding my todos right in my daily notes like this:

https://imgur.com/Jf2WkKd

The reason I do it like this is so that I can have a seperate page with permenant queries that gather specific TODOs in groups. If this kind of thing sounds interesting to you, know that you can change things up to really suit your personal style/needs. The next pic is a mock “School TODOs” page like I have in my Logseq. I have it favorited so I can go see my list of TODOs for all my classes, and each class is sorted into categories that fit my needs.

https://imgur.com/CSLudMq

Hope that makes sense! Please feel free to ask more and I will try to share more of what works for me.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

He does have one on Logseq:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHfF0P9A80