I used to travel a lot while preparing for UPSC. It would either be to meet my girlfriend (now wife) who was working at the time in Mumbai, or going on trips with my friends to calm my nerves. I wanted to save myself the difficulty of carrying my books everywhere I used to go. So I decided to digitise my entire UPSC notes.
I need to say here, that I normally read only digital books. However, all my handwritten notes were physical. In addition, all NCERTs etc where I had done all the markings, written on the margins, everything were in the Physical format. It would be a humongous task to digitise the entire collection.
I contemplated on the pros and cons, and finally decided to completely digitise every single book that I was using.
I bought a scanner, and started scanning every single book, handwritten note and question paper that I had with me. I even digitised the test booklets and answer sheets and OMRS and A4 sheets. I also converted my normal evernote subscription to premium. The result? I had a custom made Digital Preparation Book which covered almost every single topic that I had to read about.
Though it was a one time effort, subsequently the effort needed to maintain the library was very less. Every single article I read, I would clip it to evernote and index it. Every book that I read, after reading I would digitise the pages I read. If I could get ebooks instead of physical books, I would buy them and then convert them to text, chapter by chapter and then read it in Evernote, highlighting and making notes on the go.
I could carry the notes that I prepared during UPSC anywhere I go without any additional cost. I could refer it from any place from my smartphone, or computer. I think that was the “height” of my UPSC preparation. Here are some screen shots of my Notes.
