Research Skills - Taking Notes

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Kaushal Desai

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Research Skills: Taking Notes


               

"The act of writing something down is basically the decision to forget it.”

            Pictured: Aristotle &Homer
            Subject: Note-Taking

Introduction

The activity of note taking can be considered part of Writing across the Curriculum. A research paper is a form of written communication. Like other kinds of nonfiction writing-letters, memos, reports, essays, articles, books-it should present information and ideas clearly and effectively. You should not let the mechanics of gathering source materials; taking notes, and documenting sources make you forget to apply the knowledge and skills you have acquired through previous writing experiences.

When you determine that material is reliable and useful, you will want to take notes on it.

◙ Methods of Note-Taking

Although everyone agrees that note-taking is essential to research, probably no two researchers use exactly the same methods. Some prefer to take notes by hand on index cards or sheets of paper. Using a computer might save you time and should improve the accuracy with which you transcribe material, including quotations, from your notes into the text of your paper. However you take notes, set down first the author's full name and the complete title of the source-enough information to enable you to locate the source easily in your working bibliography. If the source is not yet in the working bibliography, record all the publication information you will need for research and for your works-cited list, and add the source to the working bibliography.



◙ Types of Note-Taking

There are, generally speaking, three types of note-taking:

• Summary:

Summarize if you want to record only the general idea of large amounts of material. You took notes that did not distinguish summary and paraphrase from quotation and then you presented wording from the notes it were all your own.

•Paraphrase:

If you require detailed notes on specific sentences and passages but do not need the exact wording, you may wish to paraphrase that is, to restate the material in your own words.

• Quotation:

When you believe that some sentence or passage in its original wording might make an effective addition to your paper, transcribe that material exactly as it appears, word for word, comma for comma. Whenever you quote verbatim from a work, be sure to use quotation marks scrupulously in your notes to distinguish the quotation from summary and paraphrase. Using electronic materials calls for special vigilance. If you download a text and integrate quotations from it into your paper, check to see that you have placed quotation marks around words taken from the source.

◙ Recording Page or Reference Numbers


The functional complexity of note taking has not been sufficiently ac­cepted by researchers and teachers, undoubtedly because the representation concerning the knowledge and skills it involves has been minimized. Too often, note taking is seen as the rapid transcription of information by using a few condensing techniques, such as shortened words and substitution symbols, for the creation of an external memory whose only importance will be its later use. The work presented in this article shows that we can go much further than this minimalist view.
In summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting, keep an accurate record of the pages or other numbered sections (e.g., numbered paragraphs in an electronic text) that you use. When a quotation continues to another page or section, carefully note where the page or section break occurs, since only a small portion of what you transcribe may ultimately find its way into your paper.

◙ Using a Computer for Note-Taking

Using a word processor to store notes is handy, but while you are doing research, you may find yourself in a situation-for example, working in the library-where you do not have access to a computer. Then you will need to write your notes by hand and transfer them into a computer later. Strategies of storing and retrieving notes vary for using note files during writing). A few common strategies follow:

• For a short paper for which you have taken few notes, you mayplace all notes in a single file and draw material from it wheneveryou want.

• For a longer paper that makes use of numerous sources, you may create a new file for each source.

• Another strategy is to write out summaries and paraphrases of the source by hand and to enter into computer files only quotations, which you can electronically copy into your text as you write. At the least, this strategy will eliminate the time and effort and, more important, the possibility of error involved in transcribing quoted words more than once.

• By downloading quotations from a database to your computer, you of course do not need to transcribe them at all.

When you use a computer for note-taking, be certain to save all note files and to keep copies of them on paper and in a backup location.

◙ Amount and Accuracy of Note-Taking

In taking notes, seek to steer a middle course between recording too much and recording too little. In other words, try to be both thorough and concise. Above all, strive for accuracy, not only in copying words for direct quotation but also in summarizing and paraphrasing authors' ideas.The point in common with all these inhibiting indicators is that they are the product of a real, oral communication situation. Because of this, information considered not planned because not written with consciousness.

◙ At last…
The three main types of note-taking are summary, paraphrase, and quotation. There are, however, varying methods and strategies for note-taking. You may take notes by hand or use a computer. If you are using a computer, you can type in or download material,you can create one file for all sources or separate files for different sources, and so forth. Whichever method or strategy you follow, be sure to save and back up all computer files, to set down or verify publication information you will need for research and writing, to keep a careful record of page or other reference numbers, and, most important of all, to take accurate notes. Precise note-taking will help you avoid the problem of plagiarism. With all this matters must be seen in this Taking Notes.

Reference Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/110590.MLA_Handbook_for_Writers_of_Research_Papers

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