I think that I used notecards for my papers and whatnot as a student as a
physical arrangement tool more than anything else. Especially for larger
documents like my master’s thesis, I was able to write out quotations and
such on cards and then physically move them about—one pile for the
historical background, another for the description of the manuscript,
another for literary influences, etc. I even used different sizes and
colors. I think the bib citations were all on 3 by 5 cards, maybe 4 by 6.
My notes were all on bigger cards (8 by something?).

The cards gave me the opportunity to move ideas around and sort them
easily, and as I’m typing this, I’m wondering if things would have been
different if I had grown up knowing that it was easy to move ideas around
and sort them digitally. Then it might not have been such a big deal to be
able to arrange and stack notecards.

I’m sure it’s a sign of something horrible to say that also there’s just
something intriguing about a pile of notecards for me. It feels like an
accomplishment to have a large pile of cards. Hmm. It also occurs to me
that when I took programming classes originally, it was back in the era of
punchcards. Even then I was arranging and sorting cards.

Maybe this is why I feel so confused and lost now. In my practice, long
papers are written by sorting things out on cards. The writing that I do
with sources now is, I’m guessing, 99% very focused. No need to sort
anything around or about. Hmm. Maybe I am getting somewhere. At least I
know why I feel so confused about notecards and working without them.
Part of the problem for me now is that because of carpal tunnel issues, I’d
never survive handwriting notecards. Maybe it’s time to figure out how to
send notecards through the printer :)