Do you prefer footnotes at the bottom of the page or at the end of the chapter? Do you read every footnote, just the ones that are on sections that are interesting, just the big ones, or none at all?
I like mine at the bottom of the page. I’ll read the ones that are more than just a cite of someone else’s work. Sometimes that’s where you find the most juicy stuff!
Bottom of the page. Since I’m usually reading legal writing, I train my eyes to skip over the citations and head for the small nuggets of information in the footnotes. Although, in some legal texts, the footnotes cover more than half the reading space on many pages!
DEFINITELY at the bottom of the page. At the end of the chapter is less convenient. Far far at the bottom of my preferences is endnotes at the end of the book all clumped together. However, I also abhor the parenthetical, superficial citations that are used in a lot of scientific/ social sciences texts (especially when students have been told that that’s okt o use in other kinds of papers). It’s jarring to the flow of reading AND doesn’t tell you much. (Smith, 1990) Oh THANKS! That helps a lot.
I read many of them-- a lot of the most interesting information hides in there, as well as primary sources so you can go back and find your own conclusions if need be. A lot of neat stuff is sacrificed to the coherence of the primary text’s narrative so the footnotes hold all the anecdotal and specific bits.
Style: Turabian.
At the bottom of the page. Especially if it’s a Terry Pratchett story.
Depends on the context. I’m very used to the scientific convention, which makes sense in that sort of writing. Footnotes are set as footnotes and references are separate. Most readers won’t examine every last one of the latter, but will want to chase up specific points of interest. They will read every footnote. With humanities publications, as a default, I’d prefer everything at the foot of the page. In practice, I tend to fairly quickly pick up a strategy for whatever it is I’m reading. Sometimes it’s a matter of deciding to ignore the footnotes unless it’s some very important point - more likely to happen if they’re at the end. Sometimes it’s a matter of reading them all at the end of a chapter. Or it’s a matter of flicking back and forth depending on interest and/or length of the footnote. I could live with a science-type convention, where the “chatty” footnotes are at the bottom and the references at the end.
Of course, that’s when one’s reading. The true mark of an academic is that one can fillet the footnotes, references and/or bibliography while ignoring the text.