Notetaking Help (page 2)

Writing Note Cards—How to Take Down Important Information

Knowing how to take notes from the many resources you use during the research process can be one of the most important skills you master. As you sift through volumes of information during the research process, you might ask yourself:

1. Which facts will I need when I write my draft?
2. Which material is important and which isn't?
3. How do I determine exactly what to write on my note cards?
4. Should I paraphrase or should I use direct quotes?

Basically, as you read through the books and articles you have chosen, you should be looking for ideas, facts, statistics, statements, speeches, or other information—whether it be a sentence or a complete paragraph—that you feel will be important support material when you assemble your notes into a research paper.

There are many different ways to record this information. First, you can always copy a statement directly from a source as long as you place quotation marks around any words you have copied. You must give credit to these sources because you do not want to plagiarize another person's work. To make sure you have pertinent information when you need it, note the title of the book, the author, the publishing information and the book's page number on your note card. You will need to document this information at the end of the research process.

You can also put important information from a book or an article into your own words. This is called paraphrasing, and it simply means that you are summarizing an author's thoughts and ideas. A good way to assess or evaluate what kinds of information you can paraphrase on your note cards is to remember the 5 W's that you used when you wrote your thesis statement. Any information or statement that addresses the fundamental questions, who, what, where, when, and why is usually important and critical. For example, let's revisit the topic of President John F. Kennedy in the excerpt that follows. The task is to decide what is important and how to record and/or paraphrase the necessary facts. Let's look at different ways that you might put the information into your own words or how you can quote it directly. As you practice, remember that you are always striving to be accurate and precise as you paraphrase.

Read the following passage which is taken from the book The American People, Creating a Nation and a Society, Second Edition by Nash, Jeffrey, Howe, Frederick, Davis and Winkler (Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., New York, 1990.) In these sentences, the authors of this American history textbook describe the last moments of President John F. Kennedy as his motorcade rode through the streets of Dallas. They wrote:

"As the party entered the city in an open car, the president encountered friendly crowds. Suddenly shots rang out, and Kennedy slumped forward. Desperately wounded, he died a short time later at a Dallas hospital. Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, was himself shot and killed a few days later in the jail where he was being held." (p. 963)

Clearly, this paragraph describes the last moments of President Kennedy's life and is an important quote. If you paraphrase, or put the same information into your own words, your note card will begin to look something like this:

In Example A, you have recorded vital information such as who was hurt (Kennedy) and what happened (shots were heard) in your own words. However, you may want to emphasize that at first the reception for President Kennedy seemed friendly, but this was deceptive because there was a killer in the city. With this perspective in mind, another way to record the information might look something like the following:

In Example B, you have recorded the exact same information that the book provided; however, you chose to arrange the material to emphasize that Kennedy's initial welcoming reception was suspect. You have not changed any of the facts; you've only chosen to put emphasis on a different aspect of the historical situation. Again, as long as you have recorded all the precise information about the book and as long as you list it in your bibliography, it is acceptable to write a note card this way. A third way of taking down the same information might be the following.

In Example C, you decided to include a direct quote from the text about Lee Harvey Oswald to emphasize the point that he was acting alone. Perhaps you liked the way the authors stated this fact and wanted to use their exact words in your paper. Exact quotes add support to a research paper. Just be sure to fully credit your sources.

To summarize, be precise when writing notes on your note cards because you are accumulating facts for your paper. Take down information accurately and complete your note cards thoroughly. Factual material, direct quotes, unique ideas, unusual phrases, perspectives, or statistics are all good information to add to note cards for future reference. Simple facts are easy to paraphrase, but sometimes you might want to use the exact words of an author because you may like the way he or she states the case. You can make that decision as you continue your research. Be sure that you note the page number of any information you use from a source, regardless of whether it is a direct quotation or information you have paraphrased.