NOTE TAKING

The Basics

WHY TAKE NOTES?

G

ather important information• Support your thesis (or subtopics)• Show evidence

G

ive credit to your source• Avoid plagiarism

I

f you have good notes, writing the paper will be easy.• All you have to do is organize your notes.

HOW DO YOU TAKE NOTES?

R

ead or listen to the information

R

eflect - think about what the information

F

igure out what’s important

R

ecord it (index card or sheet of paper)

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?

T

hat depends on your thesis… (or topic/subtopics)• You need to know what you are looking for before you decide what is

important (answer your guiding questions)

W

hat do you want to prove?

W

hat are your keywords?

W

hat questions do you want to answer in your research?

W

ho, what, where, when, why, how?

TYPES OF INFO. IN NOTES

D

irect quotes (use quotation marks)• Include: quotation marks, page number, author, information exactly as it

appears in text• When the original wording makes an effective addition to your paper (power of

the author’s words, powerful phrase or passage)

P

araphrase• Putting the author’s idea into your own words, you still have to cite the

info.• When you don’t need the exact wording – restate the info in your own

words

W

hat do you cite?• No need to cite common knowledge