BUILDING RESEARCH SKILLS NOTETAKING FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES

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BUILDING RESEARCH SKILLS NOTETAKINGFROM A
VARIETY OF SOURCES
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REMEMBER!Variety is the Spice of Life, or One
Stop Shopping Just Wont Do

• For better understanding
• For other points of view
• For more in-depth information
• For a better mark

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Just what makes a good set of notes?
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The First Step

• Skim and scan for an overview
• Read for understanding
• Understand what you read
• Ask questions
• THEN AND ONLY THEN, put pen/pencil/keyboard to
  paper

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Quality of Notes

• Bad Grammar!
• Use key words/phrases ? NO SENTENCES
• Point form only
• Abbreviations/symbols/personal code(s)
• Use summarizing and paraphrasing
• Read over the material carefully (maybe more than
  once), close the book, then write down in your
  own words what you read
• A picture is worth 1000 words

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The Format

• Cornell (two-column) notes
• Remember to use
• Headings/subheadings
• Group the concepts
• Numbering or bulleting
• One idea per line
• Colour or highlighting to emphasize
• Indentation

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Keep Track of Sources

• Each source must be carefully recorded
• Not your idea? Document/reference/cite it!
• Ideas (paraphrasing or summarizing) AND
• Exact words in quotations (direct quotes)
• Images or music
• Why?
• To easily go back to the information again
• To accurately state where you got the info for
  quotations AND for Works Cited
• Beware of plagiarism
• Review the following example

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Topic Japanese-Americans in WWII Source
McKinnon, Paul Pearl Harbor pp 14 17

• Internment

• 1. civil liberties withdrawn
• 2. internment policy reflected anti-Japanese
  sentiment on the West Coast that was rooted in
  economic rivalry, racial prejudice, and fear of
  Japanese sabotage after Pearl Harbor (16)
• 3. Feb. 1942
• 4. pres. auth. evacuation from West C.
• 5. 120,000 interned
• 6. 2/3 native born U.S. citizens
• 7. forced to sell land/homes

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Ultimately

• Copying ? understanding ? A
• Use your own words as much as possible
• Notes must make sense
• Notes must be legible
• Sources must be carefully recorded

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Guess What?!?

• The slides on notetaking are also good set of
  notes
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• Use them as an example to follow

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Be Organized!

• State your source at the top of each page of
  notes
• If you are photocopying and highlighting remember
  to clearly record the source
• Bookmark good sites in a folder created
  specifically for your project
• Put all your paper in a folder clearly labelled
  with your project name

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AND When You Find the Information You Are Looking
for

• Think about what you are trying to say
• Use the information and facts to support your
  argument
• TAKE NOTE ?
• Your presentation will be more interesting if
  you compare, analyze, and contrast, rather than
  just repeat the information back to the reader

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THE NEXT STEPS FOR THIS PROJECT

• As you work review your preliminary outline it
  is your game plan (Remember, your outline may
  change along the way as you further hone in on
  your topic)
• Gather sources in small batches remember, use a
  variety of types!
• Read over the information (a paragraph or section
  or short chapter) BEFORE starting to take notes!
• Think about what you have read and how you will
  put it into your own words
• Lastly, take pen/pencil/keyboard to paper
• Do not try to cram too much on each notesheet

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TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR NOTES!

• Due at the same time as your PowerPoint
  presentation
• Will be marked out of 20