Effective ResearchNote Taking/Organizing Research Materials

Social Studies 7 Month Project

Statement of Controlling Purpose

A sentence or pair of sentences that tells what you want to accomplish in your report.

Example:The purpose of this report is to describe the impact the railroad had on the settlement of the western United States.

A good deal of preliminary research is needed here, you need to know enough about your topic to know what you will report on.

Many of your topics have had multi volume works written about them, you have to narrow the focus and decide what information is important to present.

Preparing Note Cards

As you read through your gathered resources do not read or view every part of the source. Concentrate on those parts that relate to your topic.

You will gather information on note cards, this will help you organize your information later.

Preparing Note Cards Sample Note Card

Topic Bibliograpy Card Number (Refer to Part I)Page Number if ApplicableSub Topic

One fact /quote or paraphrase written on the card.

Name, Date, Period

Oregon TrailSource 1Page7Trail Supplies

Oregon Trail travelers packed flour, bacon, sugar, yeast, cornmeal and dried beef to eat on the trail.

Jay Echternach, 12/3/08, Period 5

Noodle Tools Note CardsSubtopic

Choose a SourceAdd URL and page numbers if they are available.

You can organize you cards into piles as well.

Noodle Tools Note Card

One fact /quote or paraphrase written on the card. You may do up to 3 related facts if this will help you organize your thoughts.

You can use this space however you see fit. You do not need to write a direct quote, paraphrase and then write notes for yourself. Notes in your own words can go directly into the first space. I would rather you summarize the information instead of copying and pasting at all to avoid plagiarism issues later on.

Taking Notes There are three types of notes:

Direct QuotationsParaphraseSummary

Each card should get one fact or group of no more than three related facts.

Each note should relate to your purpose. Each card should have a page number,

source number, subtopic, topic and your name and class period.

Avoid Plagiarism

Effective note taking will help you avoid plagiarism (intentionally or unintentionally presenting work done by someone els as your own).

This system makes it easy to give a source credit for information because you can easily identify the source you collected your information from.

Preparing a Preliminary Outline

This can be a web or traditional outline. Webs make this process easier to organize at first.

List the key ideas or subtopics that you want to include in your final report. (These come from the subtopics on your cards).

**Remember you may not use all of your notes or all of these subtopics in your final report. This is just a starting point.

Preparing a Preliminary Outline

As you learn more about your topic this preliminary outline will change and possibly grow.

**Even a short or incomplete preliminary outline will be very helpful.

A preliminary outline may start with just a few large bullet points with a few supporting topics beneath them. (p.66 of handout)

Note Taking Outlining Cycle

Writing a report is a cyclical process. You will constantly be going back and forth

between your notes and your outline. While taking notes you may add or change the

topics in your outline. This may require you to take additional notes or reorganize your note cards.

The notes and outline will change together as you work through the process.

Today in Class:1. Read a little about your topic and begin to

brainstorm the subtopics you plan to cover. (This may become your outline.)

2. Begin to read and take notes on cards. (electronically or paper) As you take notes, record information specific to the brainstormed topics you created.

3. Organize your card by subtopic or by source.