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E. Taking Notes
Popular Citation
SUMMARY: Guides

MLA 7 Basics:
Taking notes is a key part of the research Parenthetical

process because it helps you learn, and allows Citations

How to Cite a Website
you to see your information in a useful visual in APA Format

way. How to Cite a Website

in MLA Format
Footnotes in Chicago
LINKS: Citation Format
How to Cite a Book in
APA
Empire State College – Taking Notes How to Cite a Journal
University of Toronto – Taking Notes from Article in APA

Research Writing
Capital Community College – Taking Notes
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Once you’ve gotten a group of high-class sources, the next thing to do
is go through them in detail. When reading through your sources, it’s
How to Cite a Song
important to be taking notes. Not only does the note-taking process
Found Online
help you learn the information, the notes themselves are an important
visual aid in your paper-writing process. ISTE 2017: Finding
Your Way
There are as many ways to take notes as there are people. Everyone
has a slightly di뀋�erent method. Some prefer to type notes on a The Power of National
computer, some choose to use notecards, and others like a good ‘ol History Day Projects
pen and paper. The speci韊�c tool you use to take your notes isn’t as
important as the notes themselves. Choose the method that’s the most How to Cite a
comfortable for you. Documentary Found
Online
Here are the things that all good notes systems will allow you
to have: Quick Guide on the
Most Important
Commas
Information about the source so you can 韊�nd it
again – You’ll want to write down the author,
title, date published, publisher, and URL (if it’s a
website).
A way to group notes – You’ll want to be able to
organize your notes in a visual way so you can
arrange them in an order that makes sense.
Spaces for you to write down quotes (direct text
straight from the source), comments (your
thoughts and questions), and paraphrasing
(information from the text in your own words).

When taking notes, here are some things to keep in mind:

Skim your entire source before you read it in

detail. Skimming will help you understand how
the document is laid out and what the main
ideas are.
Search for the subject headings in the material
you’re reading and write them in your notes.
They’ll help you 韊�nd relevant information faster,
and they’ll provide you with reference points
when you review your notes later.
Write down every fact or note that may be of
use to you in your paper. Don’t write down
things you already know or would never include
in your 韊�nished work.
Break down the text into small groups of
paragraphs. Read each group one-by-one,
taking notes between groups. Breaking up the
text into smaller, bite-sized pieces will help you
process the information.
 Don’t write down information from the text
word-for-word. This takes too much time and
prevents you from using your higher brain
functions to 韊�lter out and process important
information.
If a source is too dense or has too many dates,
don’t feel like you need to write every bit of
information down. Make a note of where the
dense parts are and move on.

In the following sections, we’ll cover some speci韊�c note-taking tools.

Remember to choose the one that matches your style the best.

1) Using EasyBib’s Notebook feature

SUMMARY:

Our web-based Notebook tool (part of EasyBib

Pro, School Edition, and Library Edition) is a
great way to organize research information.
You can group and color-code your notes.
You can create an outline easily by adding
supporting information from your research.

LINKS:

EasyBib Pro
EasyBib’s Notebook Tool

2) Using notecards

SUMMARY:
 Using notecards is a great way to arrange
research information visually.
Have a “bibliography card” for each source.
Have notecards for every major idea that the
source discusses.

LINKS:

Notecard methods:

Hunter College Reading/Writing Center

South County Secondary School Resource Guide
The Historia Project Note-taking Guide

Within the method of using notecards, there are many di뀋�erent

formats to take notes. Again, the keys are to have a system that 1.
works for you, and 2. includes all of the information you need.

Here’s a note-taking system that we like:

1. Create a bibliography notecard for each source you use. It will serve
as the “title notecard” for each stack of notecards dedicated to a
particular source. On the bibliography notecard, you’ll want to include
every piece of information you’ll need to cite your source. Here’s an
example of a great title notecard for a book:

2. Using the general principles of note-taking outlined in the earlier

section, write note cards (one for each main idea) with bullet points.
 Here’s an example:

3) The Cornell note-taking method

SUMMARY:

The Cornell note-taking method is a great way

to manage notes for a lecture or any type of
source.
The Cornell system helps you commit
information to memory.

LINKS:

Cornell Notes Intro

The Cornell Note-taking System
The Cornell System for Note-taking

The Cornell note-taking method can be applied to taking notes for

research. The method helps you retain information.

The Cornell system is done on regular notebook paper that’s divided up

into four sections:
Here’s an example of a notebook page:

4) Other note-taking tools

SUMMARY:

There are a variety of electronic note-taking

tools out there.
If you like taking notes electronically, check out
some of these tools.

LINKS:
 Evernote
Springpad
Microsoft OneNote
Springnote

Tool Description

Multi-platform (computer, mobile, and web) note taker

Evernote
for to-do lists, image archiving, and more.

Multi-platform note taker for the busy person to edit,

Springpad
tag, and view notes.

Microsoft Software with ability to create organized to-do lists, tag

OneNote notes, bring in images; works well with Windows

Cloud tool where you can generate text documents and

Springnote
share them with people.

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