The Boston Globe Ideas section explores the increased interest in the study of notes, which unlock conversations around great works. In examining the scribblings that were once dismissed, scholars are unlocking real insights into the way people in the past read, thought, worked, loved, and joked. “Take Note,” a Radcliffe Institute conference addresses the rise of these once-marginal jottings as a topic in their own right.

Blogger Christine Frost attended Radcliffe's lecture and 20 questions with Roger Chartier and writes, "The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has become an amazing place. It serves as a hub for collaborative projects that span Harvard University, and all disciplines, from humanities to the sciences, are explored in a variety of symposia and events." 

Harvard English professor Leah Price, one of the co-organizers of TakeNote, a conference dedicated to the history, theory, practice and future of note-taking, opened her introductory remarks with a much-circulated picture of Biden holding up his notes after this year's vice-presidential debate.

Institute conference brought together experts in book history and the digital humanities to look at notes as artifacts of creative thought.