Golden rules for critical reading and note-taking

Select readings carefully
Choose the material carefully, so you don’t
waste time on readings that aren’t relevant.
Skim the contents to help you decide whether
the material will be useful.
Note the main ideas
Don’t try to get everything down. Stay
organised and selective, and use a framework
where you can note the main ideas and their
development.
Identify useful citations
Be on the lookout for other useful material
to include in your assignment. What sources
has the author referred to? If they look useful,
note down their location and content.

Reference details Evaluate ideas

Before you begin reading, note down the
reference details of your book. You will need
these when referencing this work.
Use a framework
Use a framework to guide your note-taking,
like the Cornell System (as cited in Pauk &
Owens, 2005, pp. 207-212), linear framework
or mind-mapping.
As you read, identify the claims and
theories that are being made by the writer
and look at the evidence they supply to
support those ideas. Are they persuading
you to their point of view? Are they
presenting a convincing argument?
Provide evidence to back up your
evaluation in your
assignment.

Click here for examples.

Get an overview
First of all, try to get a quick idea of what
the book or article is about. For books, the
blurb, the contents and chapter headings,
and the introduction will help you get an
overall view. For journal articles, the abstract,
the introduction, the conclusion will help.
Follow the structure of the text and look
for signals, eg, headings, topic sentences,
keywords and phrases.