by Rebecca Moore Howard and Amy Rupiper Taggartfaculty.uml.edu/evlahakis/documents/howardtaggart2_ppt_ch10.pdf©2013, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1 Taking

©2013, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1

Taking Notes and Taking Notes and

Keeping RecordsKeeping Records10

Research MattersResearch Mattersby Rebecca Moore Howardby Rebecca Moore Howard

and Amy Rupiper Taggartand Amy Rupiper Taggart


Good Notes and Records

1. Free your intellect from the burden of

having to remember details

2. Validate your authorship and scholarship

3. Let you see the larger research

conversation in a snapshot

They are well worth the effort!


Choosing an Organizer

The most common organizing systems for

note-taking and record-keeping use

• Note cards

• Computer files

• Weblogs

• Wikis

Each has advantages; pick the one that matches

your work style


Taking Notes on Index Cards

Advantages:

• Offers a tactile appeal

• Lets you spread out your work around you

• Low-tech, low-cost, foolproof, and portable


Taking Notes on Index Cards

Disadvantages:

• Difficult to back up work

• Cards are easy to ruin, drop, lose


Taking Notes on a Computer

Advantages:

• Typing is faster than handwriting

• Easy to copy, move, reorganize, save, and

back up

• Lets you save in outline order



Disadvantages:

• Can lose all materials at once, so back up on

another source

• Can misplace files (name them so you can find

them again)


Consider setting up a double-entry journal.

• Two columns

• Promotes critical reading

• Respond to sources

– New vocabulary

– Summary of main points

– Freewriting on the topic

– Your responses to the text

See a sample in Research Matters 10a



• One entry per source

• Insert links to online texts

• Allows ―tagging,‖ a way to classify sources

according to categories you set up

• Accessible from anywhere via the internet

Taking Notes in a Weblog


• Collective work environment

• Recommended for collaborative projects

• Same advantages as blogs

• Requires set-up

(Google Documents, wikispaces, and

Wetpaint offer free help)

Taking Notes on a Wiki


• A simple table on paper or computer

• Include:

• Search date

• Location (database, search engine, catalog)

• Keywords, terms

• Search strategies (including Boolean or other

operators used)

• Notes on what you found

• Do not include content notes

Keeping Search Notes


Elements to Include in

Research Notes

• Source annotations, summaries, paraphrases

and quotations

• Analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of

sources

• Critiques and evaluations of sources

• Documentation information

• See Quick Reference box in Research Matters

for further elaboration


Taking Content Notes

1. What is worth recording? Consider:

• Relevance to topic

• Accuracy, reliability

• Balance, bias

What are the main points?

Counterevidence?



1. What is worth recording?

2. How should the information be recorded?

A. Summary

• Conveys basic argument

• Omits specific details

• Most content notes use summary

• Synthesize with your argument later




A. Summary

B. Paraphrasing

• Helps you understand the logic of difficult passages by

forcing you to ―translate‖ it into your own words

• Lets you mention examples and details from the

source that would not appear in summary but that

would be cumbersome to quote





A. Summary

B. Paraphrasing

C. Direct Quotation

• Gives a sense of the source’s vivid language

• Reproduces ideas without inadvertent distortion

• Prevents ambiguity or misrepresentation of specialized

language used in a source

• Facilitates analysis of the language itself

• Emphasizes key points from source

• Preserves primary source integrity



To summarize:

• Annotate the source and close the book

• Repeat the main idea and major supporting points

on a clean sheet of paper or new document on your

computer

• Check against the text to assure that you have not

distorted the meaning or recycled the source’s

words and sentence structures

Taking Notes to Avoid Plagiarism

and Patchwriting


To paraphrase:

• Read the source until you understand it

• Walk away from the source

• Come back and write down what you

remember

• Check your paraphrase with the source


and Patchwriting


After paraphrasing, confirm that you have:

• Quoted key terms exactly

• Used synonyms rather than the source’s

language

• Rearranged the ideas to fit your text’s

purpose, pattern, and structure


and Patchwriting


After paraphrasing, confirm that you have:

• Provided adequate transitions

• Restructured the source’s sentences in

terms of pattern and length to create fresh

language of your own

• Omitted details not relevant to your work


and Patchwriting


Patchwriting example – Can you spot the similarities?

Patchwriting:

Children’s early speech consists

mostly of lexical or open class

words. But some closed class or

function words also appear fairly

early. This often happens at the

onset of two-word speaking.

(Fromkin, Victoria. Linguistics: An

Introduction to Linguistic Theory.

Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000. 336.)

Source:

Although early speech of children

consists largely of lexical or open

class words, some closed class or

function words also emerge early,

frequently at the onset of two-word

speech. (Fromkin, Victoria.

Linguistics: An Introduction to

Linguistic Theory. Malden, MA:

Blackwell, 2000. 336.)


and Patchwriting


Source:

Although early speech of children

consists largely of lexical or open

class words, some closed class or

function words also emerge early,

frequently at the onset of two-word

speech. (Fromkin, Victoria.

Linguistics: An Introduction to

Linguistic Theory. Malden, MA:

Blackwell, 2000. 336.)

Patchwriting:



words. But some closed class or

function words also appear fairly

early. This often happens at the

onset of two-word speaking.

(Fromkin, Victoria. Linguistics: An

Introduction to Linguistic Theory.

Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000. 336.)

Patchwriting example – the similarities


and Patchwriting


Compare:

• Word-for-word copying, with no quotation marks

• Only slight rewording—―early speech of children‖ vs.

―Children’s early speech‖; ―frequently‖ vs. ―often‖

Taking Notes to Avoid Patchwriting

Patchwriting:



words. But some closed class

or function words also appear

fairly early. This often happens

at the onset of two-word

speaking.

Source:

Although early speech of

children consists largely of

lexical or open class words,

some closed class or function

words also emerge early,

frequently at the onset of two-

word speech.


Quoting

Using the exact words from the source material

• Always copy word for word, putting quotation

marks around each selection

• Adjust quotations in drafting to conform to your

sentence mechanics, indicating changes in

brackets, but copy verbatim when taking notes

• Limit the number of direct quotations from

secondary sources


and Patchwriting


• If you are copying extensively but paraphrasing

and summarizing very little, try the following:

– Reread the source, defining unfamiliar words

– Look up new words

– Consult (but don’t patchwrite from) reference

sources

• Still having trouble? Consult your instructor or

discuss the source with classmates or friends.


and Patchwriting


Using Analysis, Interpretation,

Synthesis, and Critique in Your

Notes

• The note-taking stage is also the time to begin analyzing,

interpreting, synthesizing, and critiquing what you read

• Begin with summary that includes analysis and

interpretation

• Follow with critique

• Conclude by noting connections you see emerging

between the current selection, other sources, and your

own original ideas


Taking Notes and Taking Notes and

Keeping RecordsKeeping Records10

Research MattersResearch Mattersby Rebecca Moore Howardby Rebecca Moore Howard

and Amy Rupiper Taggartand Amy Rupiper Taggart