STEP 7: TAKING NOTES There are generally speaking, three methds f nte-taking: summary, paraphrase, and qutatin. Summarize if yu want t recrd nly the general idea f large amunts f material. If yu require detailed ntes n specific sentences and passages but d nt need the exact wrding, yu may wish t paraphrase that is, t restate the material in yur wn wrds. But when yu believe that sme sentence r passage in its riginal wrding might make an effective additin t yur paper, transcribe that material exactly as it appears, wrd fr wrd, cmma fr cmma. Whenever yu qute verbatim frm a wrk, be sure t use qutatin marks scrupulusly in yur ntes t distinguish the qutatin frm summary and paraphrase. Keep an accurate recrd f the page numbers f all material yu summarize, paraphrase r qute. When a qutatin cntinues t anther page, carefully nte where the page break ccurs, since nly a prtin f what yu transcribe may find its way int yur paper. In taking ntes, seek t steer a middle curse between recrding t much and recrding t little. In ther wrds, try t be bth thrugh and cncise. Abve all, strive fr accuracy, nt nly in cpying wrds fr direct qutatin but als in summarizing and paraphrasing authrs ideas. Careful nte-taking will help yu avid the prblem f plagiarism. (MLA Handbk fr Writers f Research Papers, 6 th Ed., 2004) 1. Number all f yur surces (articles). 2. Wrk with ne at a time. Read each surce and highlight r underline everything yu think may supprt yur thesis. Cntinue with the thers as needed. WHAT S A SLUG? See next page. 3. In the margins write the utline # r the slug which determines where this material fits in yur utline. 4. Write yur nte n a 4 x 6 index card. The tp red line will have the surce card number in the upper right hand crner, the slug (wrd frm yur utline) in the upper left hand crner, the parenthetical reference in the lwer right crner f the card. 5. Use pen if yu are writing nte cards as pencil is smetimes hard t read. 6. Write n nly ne side f the card. 7. Using ne f the three methds summary, paraphrase, r qutatin take ntes fr each highlighted r underlined item. 8. Writing cmplete sentences and/r thughts is generally mre helpful when reviewing ntes later in the prcess. WHAT TO WRITE ON THE CARD? 9. Omit the bvius, well knwn, r general facts. Write nly thse facts that yu find fr the first time. D nt repeat the same facts when yu find them in anther surce. As yu read, yu will find yu take fewer ntes since yu have already recrded many f the facts. 10. Tip! After yu have written yur nte, crss ut the used infrmatin in the riginal text. Nt everything yu highlighted r underlined may be used. If yu d nt finish taking ntes at a particular time, crssing ut material will let yu knw what yu still need t d with that article when yu return t it at a later time. 11. Write accurately and cmpletely whatever yu chse t qute. Use qutatin marks. Make sure yur nte card has the surce number in the upper right hand crner f the red line, the slug n the upper left hand crner f the red line, and a parenthetical reference n the bttm right hand crner.
TAKING NOTES ON INDEX CARDS SLUG ges here SOURCE # - ges here DIRECTIONS WRITE SENTENCES; PARAPHRASE OR SUMMARIZE USE QUOTATION MARKS FOR DIRECT QUOTES DO NOT REPEAT INFORMATION SOME CARDS MAY HAVE FEW IDEAS OTHER CARDS MAY HAVE MANY IDEAS DON T SKIP LINES USE LARGE CARDS (If prvided, write authr s last name & pg. # in right crner) (If nt prvided, write title and pg. #) See sectin n Parenthetical References fr mre explanatin. WHAT S A SLUG? Definitin: A slug is a wrd frm yur wrking ROUGH utline OR Research Plan that tells what the nte is abut. The entries n yur rugh utline r plan will serve as yur slugs (reference pints) as yu take ntes. A slug must be written in the upper left-hand crner f each nte card. ------------------------------------------------------------- USING THE ROUGH OUTLINE TO CREATE SLUGS & ORGANIZE NOTES WORKING OUTLINE OR RESEARCH PLAN I. Intrductin Thesis II. Backgrund III. Achievements IV. Impact SLUG Taken frm utline at left SAMPLE NOTE CARD Impact 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We have refrigerated trucks tday because f the wrk that Frederick McKinley Jnes pineered. (Brwn 12)
NOTETAKING - SAMPLE ARTICLE This article belw has been used t demnstrate tw nte cards n the pages that fllw. Cwley, G. "Secndhand smke: Sme grim news." Newsweek. 11 June 1990:59. MasterFILE Select. EBSCO. Schenectady High Schl Library. 23 May 2007. <http://search.ebschst.cm >. SECONDHAND SMOKE: SOME GRIM NEWS #5 Studies New studies suggest it's a leading cause f death There's n denying that cigarettes are a lethal addictin: smking kills mre than six times as many Americans every year as died in the entire Vietnam War. But secndhand smke remains a surce f bitter cntentin. Is it really a public health hazard, as the antismking frces cntend? Or is it just an annyance? Fur years ag, the U.S. Surgen General's ffice and the Natinal Research Cuncil tackled the questin. In separate reprts, bth firmly linked passive smking t lung cancer. They als fund that smkers' children suffered mre than their share f respiratry infectins. But neither panel tried t gauge the verall impact f passive smking n the natin's health. The evidence was still t sketchy. That was fur years ag. The big picture is nw becming clearer, and tw new studies suggest it's nt ging t be pretty. In a draft reprt t be released this mnth, the EPA will cnclude that secndhand smke is causing 3,800 lung-cancer deaths in the United States every year. If apprved, the dcument will declare airbrne tbacc smke a "class-a carcingen"--a substance knwn t cause cancer in humans. The secnd new study, by San Francisc heart researcher Stantn Glantz, suggests that lung cancer is nly the beginning f the prblem. Indeed, Glantz calculates that passive smking causes 10 times as much heart disease as lung disease, making it the natin's third leading cause f preventable death. The nly bigger killers, he says, are active smking and alchl abuse. The new EPA reprt--based n results frm 24 epidemilgical studies, including 11 that weren't n hand in 1986--culd carry a lt f plitical weight. An accmpanying "guide t wrkplace smking plicies" will recmmend that emplyers create separately ventilated smking lunges, since segregatin alne ffers nnsmkers little prtectin. The EPA desn't regulate cigarette smke, but declaring it a knwn hazard culd make way fr tugh lcal smking rdinances. Already, Ls Angeles City Cuncilman Marvin Braude has prpsed an utright ban n smking in restaurants, saying the new studies take us "way beynd the days when restaurant smking laws were intrduced just t make dining a mre pleasurable experience." Heart disease: Lung cancer aside, the accumulating evidence n heart disease shuld give the industry pause. By pling and analyzing the results f 11 recent studies, Stantn Glantz and his cllabratr, Dr. William Parmley, shwed that living with Studies a smker has rughly the same effect n heart-disease mrtality that it has n lung cancer mrtality: bth rise by abut 30 percent in the nnsmker. But because heart disease is 10 times as prevalent as lung cancer, the same risk factr yields 30,000 t 40,000 annual deaths. Cmbining that tll with 3,000 t 4,000 lung-cancer deaths, and factring in an estimated 10,000 deaths frm nnlung cancers caused by passive smking, Glantz gets a grand ttal f abut 50,000 deaths. In shrt, ne nnsmker dies fr every eight smkers.
SAMPLE NOTE CARDS PARAPHRASE Studies Glantz and Parmley 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The study by Stantn Glantz and his cllabratr, Dr. William Parmley, shwed that the death rate rse by abut 30 percent fr nn-smking peple living with a smker. (Cwley 59) PARENTHETICAL Authr s last name -page # NOTE: When ntes are taken frm a database article, fllw this rule: If the page numbers frm the riginal surce are nt given, give nly the authr r title in the parenthetical reference. SUMMARY Studies 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Smking kills six times the number f peple that died in the Vietnam War. It is a lethal habit. T prve whether secndhand smke is a health hazard, bth the Surgen General s ffice and the Natinal Research Cuncil linked secndhand smke t lung cancer and an increase in respiratry prblems amng children f smkers. (Cwley 59) PARENTHETICAL DIRECT QUOTE Studies Luisiana 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fntham said the study shwed that the mre secndhand smke wmen were expsed t, the mre likely they were t develp lung cancer. (Elizabeth T. H. Fntham f Luisiana State University Medical Center) ( Smking 13) PARENTHICAL REF When n authr is given, use a shrten versin f the title. Include pg # if knwn.
QUOTE WITHIN A QUOTE NOTE the use f bth single and duble qutatin marks Studies Luisiana 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yu have t be expsed fr a lng perid f time fr there t have been an effect, said Fntham. (Elizabeth T. H. Fntham f Luisiana State University Medical Center) ( Smking 22) PARENTHETICAL WHAT TO QUOTE D nt qute facts (names, dates, places). A few qutatins can be effective in referring t experts pinins. When material is already quted in the riginal text, yu must make a qute within a qute. When yu believe that sme sentence r passage in its riginal wrding might make an effective additin t yur paper, write the material exactly as it appears, wrd fr wrd, cmma fr cmma. (MLA Handbk fr Writers f Research Papers, 6 th Ed., 2004) STEP 8: ORGANIZING AND SORTING NOTE CARDS 1. On yur desk separate yur cards int stacks accrding t slug. 2. Review yur cards and check fr accuracy f slugs. Yu may decide that sme slugs are incrrect. Make the apprpriate changes. 3. If ne pile f cards cntains a majrity f cards, decide n necessary subdivisins, and make the changes in yur utline and yur slugs. 4. If a pile cntains t few cards, yu have three chices A. D mre research B. Mve these cards t anther sectin f yur utline if pssible (be sure t change the slugs when yu d this) C. Remve this infrmatin and this sectin f yur utline. 5. Save all yur unused nte cards. They may be f use in yur intrductin r yur cnclusin. SOME UNUSED NOTE CARDS MAY BE CANDIDATES FOR THE TRASH, BUT FOR THE MOMENT, DO NOT THROW OUT THE UNUSED NOTES! YOU MAY NEED THEM LATER!