Editing CommunityData:Automating and Streamlining Walkthrough (section)

=== Staying Organized ===
The kiddie cartoon version of the scientific method describes a linear and rather sterile process from hypothesis to experiment to knowledge---the reality looks a lot messier. We rummage around, scratch our heads, wander down dark alleys, scrape, crunch, gather....and then we look around at all the beautiful mess we've made and try to turn it into a paper: write and re-write, submit, revise, re-submit, re-revise, re-re-submit --- and then maybe a year or two later, we're announcing, releasing, publishing, and presenting. Keeping track of the weird and wild ride can be tremendously helpful when it comes time to write it up and tell the world what you've learned.

# '''Take notes''' for yourself as you go along---think of it as keeping a lab notebook. Use whatever works for you, but make sure it is:
## Searchable
## Backed up
## Filled with all kinds of context. Copy in commands, URLs, wild ideas, things you tried and why. It can be therapy, nobody but you will read it.
# Don't let data-related details fall through the cracks. [[CommunityData:Keeping Track of Metadata | Keep track of metadata]] because future you will forget.

People use quite different tools and applications for this purpose. Flat-files (.txt or .org or .md) are often handy. Literate programming systems are also handy (Jupiter notebook, R-Markdown). Others like dedicated note-taking systems like Obsidian. Talk to others in the group to learn more about any of these options and more.