QR codes and index cards?

When I write a quote or note on an index card, I try to record some version of a reference. Most often this is just a title, author, and date of the article or book. When I need to revisit the source, I then need to look it up based on what I'd written on the card. This is fine for physical books, but I had an idea today that could make it easier for digital sources.

What if I put a QR code pointing to the source right on the index card?[1]

I have a little Niimbot label printer that can print QR codes. I just paste the URL, and it generates the QR code automatically. What I don't love about it is that I have to get out my phone to make the labels and the app is pretty awful. And trying to run the iOS app on macOS is an exercise in frustration[2].

Here's my first run at this:

The QR code could contain anything, really. Not only URLs. I could encode a link into an Obsidian vault, or the path to an Org-mode file, etc.

I'm not sure yet if this is a terrible idea or not, but I feel like it's worth a try.

  1. Maybe everyone is already doing this, but I've not seen it mentioned. ↩︎

  2. I'd love to hear recommendations for better label printers. ↩︎