Looking for an application that would allow you to take notes, draw sketches and insert images, it’s like i have found for you – Jarnal.
The official website of the project can be found here.
See what the developers says…
Why is this program better than Microsoft Windows Journal or One-Note? Because it is written in Java files can be edited and viewed on any platform, and the editor/viewer is freely redistributable – not to speak of customizable. MS Journal files can be edited only on a Tablet PC and viewed only with Windows XP or 2000. One-Note also uses proprietary file formats that can be viewed only on a few platforms, and edited only by purchasing the latest version of Microsoft Office. In Jarnal the files are in a standard non-proprietary format, human readable, and usable by other applications. By default, no information identifying the author is stored in the file. Jarnal also offers document annotation capabilities, collaboration and networking connectivity not available with the MS programs. [If you are interested in this software and run Linux, you should also take a look at Gournal and Xournal. Also there is another Java note-taking program NoteLab that may be of interest.] Why is this program better than PDF Annotator? Because it does for free everything PDF Annotator does and much more: cross-platform support; the ability to enter text from the keyboard; combine pdf documents and rearrange pages; the ability to annotate faxes and other non-pdf documents – to name a few. NEW: Now one of “100 Awesome Open Source Tools for Writers, Journalists, and Bloggers”.
Does this program or any of the others have the ability to search for things in the notebook? This is the only functionality I really need. I hate scrolling through things just to find one piece of information.