Information Literacy Playbook: Taking Research Notes, Add Method to the Madness...

When it comes to taking research notes there is a lot more to think about than one might realize. While there is no one right way to take notes, note taking that supports good scholarship have some common characteristics.

Whatever the method, good research notes:

• Allow the researcher to connect a specific fact or quote to a specific source
• Allow the researcher to manipulate his/her content to support analysis and organization

Research notes we are seeing at Mid-Pacific fall into two main forms: note cards and document-style notes.

Note Cards:

Some students love note cards. They are easily manipulated and for a student with the ability to keep track of numerous loose pieces of paper, the paper note card is a wonderful option.

Document-Style Notes:

Note cards don't work for some students for a variety of reasons. Many students find document-style notes more agreeable. Document-style notes mean fewer pieces of paper to lose.

Notes on things we have learned since the publication of these two videos:

• Have students create an Easysbib project at THE BEGINNING of the research process. They will use the author/title information in the note taking process.
• Require students to use parenthetical citation with the author's last name or title information next to each item, skip spaces between each fact/quote, and ONLY WRITE ON ONE SIDE OF THE PAPER. 
• Should you need to physically manipulate facts/quotes in the analysis/organizational step of the research process these guidelines will allow students to cut their note pages up into strips and glue/tape like facts together.
• Use of the parenthetical citation format with (Name pg#) also reinforces the format for in-text citation in the final paper.

Here's document-style note taking work flow presented another way.

Online note cards or note taking?

Because of the nature of the iPad in it's current form, most students find online note taking quite challenging. The inability to have windows open side-by-side means the researchers must navigate from tab-to-tab. It's hard. Given the technological constraints at this time, most students find it more efficient to use their iPad as their reading screen while they take notes on paper or on note cards.