Note cards

The entire dish was scraped with a razor. The crystals bunched together and dissolved into a caramel gum like substance. This substance was smeared across a 3X5 note card. 

Often, you will not be able to take out a specific book. What if there is information in that reference book that you desperately need Maybe you don t want to spend ten or twenty dollars to copy every page of information. How do you walk away with the most important information a book has to offer without taking the book home from the library Each index card should function for you like a miniature photocopy of that book. In other words, if you suddenly threw all your index cards up in the air and they came down again, you would be able to pick up any of those index cards and get precise, reliable information from it. To do this, here are a few helpful hints. Every single note card should contain ... 

A subject heading (put this in the center of the note card)... 

If you use this procedure, every single note card will serve as a precise, miniature replica of the book. In other words, by keeping note cards, you will automatically have an instant, accessible record of ... 

How many note cards you took on a particular book... 

How valuable each source was (based on the number of note cards taken)... 

Writing Note Cards—How to Take Down Important Information... 

How do I determine exactly what to write on my note cards ... 

There are many different ways to record this information. First, you can always copy a statement directly from a source as long as you place quotation marks around any words you have copied. You must give credit to these sources because you do not want to plagiarize another person s work. To make sure you have pertinent information when you need it, note the title of the book, the author, the publishing information and the book s page number on your note card. You will need to document this information at the end of the research process. 

You can also put important information from a book or an article into your own words. This is called paraphrasing, and it simply means that you are summarizing an author s thoughts and ideas. A good way to assess or evaluate what kinds of information you can paraphrase on your note cards is to remember the 5 W s that you used when you wrote your thesis statement. Any information or statement that addresses the fundamental questions, who, what, where, when, and why is usually important and critical. For example, let s revisit the topic of President John F. Kennedy in the excerpt that follows. The task is to decide what is important and how to record and/or paraphrase the necessary facts. Let s look at different ways that you might put the information into your own words or how you can quote it directly. As you practice, remember that you are always striving to be accurate and precise as you paraphrase. 

Clearly, this paragraph describes the last moments of President Kennedy s life and is an important quote. If you paraphrase, or put the same information into your own words, your note card will begin to look something like this ... 

To summarize, be precise when writing notes on your note cards because you are accumulating facts for your paper. Take down information accurately and complete your note cards thoroughly. Factual material, direct quotes, unique ideas, unusual phrases, perspectives, or statistics are all good information to add to note cards for future reference. Simple facts are easy to paraphrase, but sometimes you might want to use the exact words of an author because you may like the way he or she states the case. You can make that decision as you continue your research. Be sure that you note the page munber of any information you use from a source, regardless of whether it is a direct quotation or information you have paraphrased. 

Keep aU your note cards in your index card container and use the alphabetical tabs to keep... 

Notetaking and note cards are a handy, foolproof way for you to record important information in a format that you can easily access. Keep all of your note cards in one place, and organize them according to subject heading. Make sure that all relevant information is contained on those cards so that you do not have to duplicate any of your work or hunt down sources after you have consulted them. Having neat and detailed note cards makes writing your paper easier. 

Learning to write an outline is the most helpful process you can complete before beginning to write your paper. Although it may seem ditficult, if you have compiled your note cards, you are already well on your way towards completing your first outline. This lesson will show you how to construct a preliminary outline from your note cards, and use it as a guide tor writing and thinking about the tirst draft of your paper. 

Looking at your note card arrangements is both fun and instructive, and is a litde bit like piecing together a puzzle. Since each note card is a valuable piece of information—an idea, or a portion of a book—the way they are distributed can tell you a great deal about how you might structure and write your paper. For instance, by arranging your note cards by book or source, you can easily teU ... 

Are there only a few basic topic headings that most of the note cards fall under or are there many more topic headings ... 

Finally, after you have studied these piles and answered these questions for yourself, group your note cards into a third sample arrangement. Try to sort through aU of them now, regardless of the source of the material, or their topic headings, and put together three basic stacks by asking yourself ... 

Which note cards might be useful or important at the beginning of my paper ... 

Which note cards do I need at the end of my paper for my conclusion. ... 

Writing Your Preliminary Outline from Your Note Cards... 

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