I started this blog with a post back in January 2011 about the things I look at and think about when making my own work. Since then I mostly keep my visual research images in Pinterest here - it’s mostly astronomy, microbiology, communal/group organisms like mold, and urban planning.
I still prefer physical notebooks for studio journaling. For one thing, when you have a thought while looking at your own work and want to quickly jot it down, doing it in an iPad or whatever is an invitation to be assaulted with notifications, bleeps and tweets all calling for your attention...when really you just want to jot something down and turn your eyes back to what’s important. Plus most of my studio notes from back in the 90s are on pen and paper. There’s an offline archive there that’s very personal and acts as a reference point for where I’ve been and where I’m going.
But for sheer rapid research and image aggregation, internet wins.