Introduction
NiCEBook is a novel paper notebook that supports taking, structuring and reusing notes. With NiCEBook, we present a solution that combines the flexibility and simplicity of taking notes on paper with the benefits of a digital representation. The capabilities of our system range from customized views of the notebook to searching and sharing functionalities.
Despite the fact that note taking is a common activity throughout all fields of knowledge work, it constitutes, upon closer examination, a very intricate practice. In particular, the physical tools that are used for taking notes play a decisive role. Usually, notes are written on individual sheets of paper that are often assembled in the form of notebooks. Any given notebook may include a variety of different notes, such as short notes, sketches or meeting logs. The information that is collected in a notebook therefore includes different types, e.g. temporary, long-term, confidential, private or public notes. Just as diverse as the content that is stored in notebooks is the motivation for taking notes. They support the transfer of knowledge to paper for memorization, facilitate thinking on paper or enable the sharing of information with others.
With this project, we explore some characteristics of note taking with paper notebooks that affect the design of combined paper and digital solutions.