HOW TO TAKE NOTES WHILE DOING RESEARCH

Goal: To teach students the most effective and time efficient way to take meaningful notes.

Procedure:

1.  Do not start taking notes on your subject matter until you have done your preliminary reading. Get acquainted with your subject. If you take notes before you have a working knowledge of your subject, you will not know what is important. Furthermore, you will not know the difference between common knowledge (like that found in a textbook or reference book) and more sophisticated scholarly knowledge.

2.  Buy a set of 4x6 index cards and a few 3x5 index cards.

3.  Set up your note cards in an organized manner. Use the following as a model to help you. I expect to see some version of the following:

Standard note card (4x6)
Subtopic: Label the subtopic here or the main idea at the top. You only want one main idea per topic.
Source: #1 (make sure you know where you obtained the info. You will have corresponding source cards with the correct information on it.
Key ideas – take the essentials. Bullet points, etc. If you want to write down a passage, make certain to write down the pages from which you took it.

It is important that you take responsibility to avoid plagiarism while you are taking notes. Keep the following in mind:

1.  You will need to cite each time you use a writer’s idea(s). Keep track of the source and page numbers from the beginning – do not do sloppy research. Do not think you can go back at the end and find the correct information.

2.  Read over the material from which you will want to take notes.

3.  Use your index cards to write down highlights or quotes from the text. Make certain to place “ “ next to anything you may want to cite later.

4.  Highlighting computer printouts of sources is not considered notes. You will not receive any credit for these type of notes.

Main idea: Golden Retrievers are good babysitters
Source: #2 (Green)
--“A Golden Retriever once saved my little Isaac’s life. At 9 months, my little boy was starting to crawl everywhere and I could not keep up with him. Luckily, Otis, the Golden, could. I was making dinner and Isaac was about to go down the basement stairs. Someone had left the door open! Otis, who normally lies quietly by the door during the dinner mayhem, arose from his slumber, and let out a strange yelp. I glanced over and there was Otis blocking Isaac from the potential danger of the basement stairs. Now that’s a good babysitter” (p. 7).
--patient with kids, don’t mind tail pulled. Vets frequently recommend them above other dogs for families who have young children (p. 25).

Sample card – Topic Why Golden Retrievers are good pets?

Keep a small stack of 3x5 cards for source cards. You can cross reference the source cards with the information cards. For example, in the above note-card, I referred to source #2. On a 3X5 index card I would place the bibliographic information in the correct format on an index card. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!