For Writers of Original Fiction

I'm working on a fantasy book that is part of a series of related books and I had no clue as to the sheer volume of notes I would be dealing with. The paper notes I keep in 3-ring binders so they're under control and some things are kept in files on the computer. Both methods keep things under control (mostly) but it makes finding specific things time consuming and really annoying if you have to keep digging for the same data over and over again.

Having hit about midway through the WIP the need to have quick and easy access to the notes was hitting critical. I found that the data I kept having to look up really needed to be in one place for one stop referencing. So, I made an Excel workbook and put things that naturally lent themselves to tables and charts in the workbook. Things like, how far does it take to ride from city A to city B and such.
( cut for length )

Then I read something about Word's Document Map feature. My ears perked up and I read through the thread. It sounded like it would do what I needed so I tried it out. It works like a charm.

After you've set it up (and that was pretty easy), it looks like you have a table of contents over on the left side of the word processor screen. the results is that I now have one note document with all my notes in one single document(except the stuff I prefer to use over in Excel) and I can click on the subject I need and go right to that section of the document.

Here's how you can set up the Document Map to organize your notes:

( Cut to spare the disinterested )

This is what ended up suiting me best. YMMV.

What are your note management methods?