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# An Introduction to Tufte Sidenotes

Tufte sidenotes are a unique annotation method utilized in document design, frequently seen in academic and research publishing. They are named after [Edward Tufte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tufte), a renowned statistician and artist, well known for his work in the field of information design and data visualization.

One notable technique advocated by Tufte is the sidenote. Let us dive into the sidenote, but first, we must visit our old faithful friend, the humble footnote.
### Footnotes

Traditionally, footnotes or endnotes are used to provide supplementary information, references, or explanations in a document. These notes are typically located at the bottom of the page (footnotes) or at the end of a chapter or book (endnotes). The following image is how Obsidian shows footnotes from a Markdown file:

![[tufte-footnotes.png|600]]
Footnotes are very useful. However, if this was a long document, you have to scroll to the bottom to read the footnote and then go back to the main text. 

However, Tufte proposed a different approach with his concept of *sidenotes*.
### Sidenotes
Tufte sidenotes, as the name suggests, are placed at the side (usually the right side) of the main body of text, aligning with the text that they annotate.  This is demonstrated in the following image:
![[tufte-sidenotes.png||600]]
Notice the footnotes have been repositioned to be in the right-hand margin.

One of the main advantages of this approach is the enhanced readability. Unlike footnotes or endnotes, which require readers to move their focus away from the main text, sidenotes allow readers to access additional information without disrupting their reading flow.

To implement Tufte sidenotes, a margin wide enough to accommodate these notes is required. They are usually marked with a superscript number in the main text, corresponding to the number preceding the note in the margin.

### Tufte Sidenotes versus Cornell Notes Cues
You may have noticed that Tufte sidenotes and the Cornell Note [[03 CUE Callouts|cues]] look very similar. They both show additional information in the margin.

Basically, they are doing very similar things. However, cues are really intended as mental triggers to help identify key ideas or questions based on the content of our notes, while sidenotes, like footnotes, provide supplementary information to the reader without losing context. This supplementary information may not be crucial to the reader, but potentially useful. [[03 CUE Callouts|Cues]], on the other hand, are designed as important memory aids.

One is not better than the other, instead, they serve different purposes.

While both sidenotes and [[03 CUE Callouts|cues]] were not likely intended to be used together in the same document, the Cornell Notes Learning Vault offers a solution that allows you to use both types of margin notes in your vault.
### Sidenotes in Obsidian
While Obsidian supports footnotes, it does not support sidenotes. This Cornell Notes Learning Vault includes a solution that enables Obsidian to display footnotes as sidenotes.

The benefit of this approach is that your document contains footnotes and does not require this solution for others to read your documents. In other words, your documents remain portable across editors.

This solution allows both *Cornell Note [[03 CUE Callouts|cues]] and summaries* to work alongside *Tufte sidenotes* in the same document.

To begin to use sidenotes in your vault, read carefully [[Installing the Tufte Sidenotes Solution]] and also [[Using Tufte Sidenotes in Obsidian]].

##### More information on Tufte Sidenotes
- [Tufte Style Sidenotes in Obsidian](https://medium.com/obsidian-observer/tufte-style-sidenotes-in-obsidian-89b0a785bc54)
- [Sidenotes in Web Design](https://gwern.net/sidenote)
- [Obsidian Tufte-style Sidenotes by Stowe Boyd](https://medium.com/workings/obsidian-tufte-style-sidenotes-d8d69b839fd7)