Re: Problems retaining what I study

On 19/08/05, Ram K <lambu999_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> Recently this happened to me. I studied a good Oracle book by an
> author some months ago. It was a tough read for me, took several weeks
> to study, understand some important parts of the book.

That possibly indicates that the book wasn't that great or just didn't fit in with your mode of learning. Not everyone learns the same way.

> How do people who read lots of technical stuff remember and retain
> what they read?

I don't tend to just study from books, I can't really retain information that way. I find it's best to read enough to get the general overview but concentrate your detailed reading on solving problems or performing tasks you have at the moment. Read then do, it fixes the information in your mind.

I also find it useful to have several different sources that provide a different perspective on the information. I might have a couple of books, the Oracle documentation set and a few web pages all open if the problem is gnarly.

>
> How many hours of reading do other DBAs put in per week and do others
> have problems retaining what they read?
>

Depends on what tasks I've got on at the moment. Whatever it takes to find the information I need . Anything from none to several hours depending on the complexity of the problem/task and how long it is since I last did it (if ever). Sometimes I might only need to spend a few seconds checking the syntax of a command, other times I might need to dig through pages of material to get my head around a problem.

Stephen

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