This article deals with the ' history of note-taking' and the different note-taking schools. Agreement and disagreement concerning the amount of notes taken, the language in which the notes are taken, the notation of tenses and cohesive elements as well as the setting out and structuring of information on the page are identified with reference to notes taken in 1963 by Hermann Kusterer, for example. The role of comprehension and general and background knowledge is also discussed.