Our Journey, Day 74

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Regina, Saskatchewan. This morning I'll be driving to Edmonton (actually, it will take most of the day). I've been thinking more about creating a new Substack called "Making Notes: How to Read, Research, Make Notes, and Write".

This will be not a complete departure from what I've been doing some of the time in my Making History Substack and channel, but rather an opportunity to be more focused on the Note-making aspect and really dig into the process. The product of a lot of my own note-making will still end up on Making History. But I think in addition to pursuing historical topics which may occasionally interest some people a bit, I can teach people how to read, research, make notes, and write about the stuff that really interests them.

The current edition of the "Handbook" is called How to Make Notes and Write. So it looks like I've got two steps to go, before it becomes a complete guide to all the things in the title of this new thing. I'm thinking I'll handle Reading and Research separately rather than trying to do them together. That will mean the next revision will be called How to Read, Make Notes, and Write. Then when that's done I'll start adding the research methods. Then a final version can be called How to Read, Research, Make Notes, and Write.

This first step toward the first revision will be something I begin immediately. It will be my 100-day project beginning soon (ideally between days 200 and 100 of my current journey). I think a part of this will be reflected in the stuff I post. And I'll probably have to make some type of schedule for when I'm going to post different content, now that I'll have several places to keep track of. Apparently I *can* create an additional "newsletter" under my existing Substack account. Then I can invite my current free subscribers to choose which interests them more, the note-making or the history content. That's not to say, I suppose, that people couldn't subscribe to both. Although now that I think of it, maybe it would be better for them to be separate. Either way, I'll gift a full subscription to paid subscribers of Making History.

Because Making Notes will be much more focused, it might be easier developing a bit more of a community. I can imagine doing chats or Zoom meetings for people focused on topics related to these specific skills more easily than I can picture random meet-ups to talk about history. So maybe that can be a perk. Also, I'll be working toward a new version of the Handbook. So that can also be a perk. This is going to take a bit of outlining and thought, I think, before I can roll it out. But it's something to work towards.

As I've been driving toward this open education conference in Edmonton, I've also been thinking about the whole "free textbook" concept. Looking at it historically, textbook affordability really only became an issue when education became too expensive. But let's unpack that. It is true that elite education at universities like Harvard and Stanford, and colleges like Carleton and Bates has risen to ridiculous heights. Even UMass and the University of California at Davis now cost about $33,000 and $38,000 respectively *for in-state students*. The University of Minnesota costs about $30,000 per year. Minnesota State system comes in a bit below that, with Bemidji State being one of the cheapest. BSU actually has no tuition differential between in-state and out, although they don't do a very good job publicizing that fact.

But another aspect of this cost question I think is very relevant is that Higher Education is trying to cast a much wider net now. We're saying college is for everybody. This is partly because American high schools don't do what they used to do, in terms of preparing people to enter the adult world with the tools they need to be successful. Higher Ed is also trying to bridge equity gaps and give disadvantaged people a leg up. And this is as much a class thing as a race thing. Bemidji State has more first-generation college students than people whose parents have degrees. This has its own challenges. The high cost of course materials is only one of them.