Is there a difference between "note-taking" & "notation"?

Is there a difference between "note-taking" & "notation" when referring to the process of writing notes? I've read the dictionary definitions and I'm still not clear on it.

Solution 1:

This question borders on general reference, I think, except that (1) note-taking doesn't show up in many dictionaries, and (2) both note and notation have multiple definitions to wade through, and some of those definitions overlap. First, let's look at the definition of note-taking in Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1986):

note-taking n the act or process of taking notes

Here it seems probable that the "notes" in question involve one or the other of the following meanings of note (from the same source):

note n ... 3 b (1) : a brief writing intended to assist the memory or to serve s the basis for a fuller statement . MINUTE : MEMORANDUM {made a note on a piece of paper —Barnaby Conrad} (2) : a condensed record of a speech, lecture, lesson, or discussion made at the time made at the time of listening {takes extensive notes in all his classes}

In contrast, notation in many instances refers to "a system of characters, symbols, or abbreviated expressions" or to the act, process, [or] method of representing" in such a system (again I'm quoting from MW's TNID).

What complicates this seemingly straightforward picture is that notation can also mean something very much like note definition 3b(1) or 3b(2). The relevant TNID definitions:

notation n ... 2 a : ANNOTATION, NOTE {damage, according to the constable's notations, consisted of broken front bumper —Richard Joseph} {if a letter refers to an enclosure, add the appropriate notation to the closing lines —D.D. Lessenberry & T.J. Crawford} b : an act of noting : OBSERVATION ... 5 The act or an instance of recording (as natural appearances or states of mind) through artistic or literary means ... {the whole purport of literature ... is the notation of the heart —Thornton Wilder}

It follows that, in actual practice, "note-taking" and "making notations" can sometimes be very difficult acts or processes to tell apart.