Ivy Research

Call it archaic, but nothing beats old-fashioned note taking when it comes to organizing your research. Those little note cards put all your research within reach—no need to scroll through pages of online material for every single detail. Here’s a step-by-step guide to taking useful notes for research and term papers.

Step 1: Write your bibliography cards. Be sure to include everything you’ll need for documentation later on, such as the author/s, publisher, page number, and place and date of publication. Number each source so you can refer to them by number in your note cards, instead of citing the title and author.

Step 2: Go through each of your sources and jot down all the useful information you can find. Write down one piece of information for every card, using direct quotes, paraphrases, or anything you think will help you remember it. Make sure to write down the page number where you got the information. To save space, indicate the source by the number you assigned to your bibliography cards.

Step 3: Use subject headings to organize your data by subject. If you’re writing a paper about photography, your headings may include equipment, technique, and history. This way, you won’t have to leaf through all the cards when you start writing.

Step 4: As you work on your note cards, create a working outline based on the subject headings you come up with. This outline will change as you get more information, so don’t let the outline limit your research. As you get a clearer idea of how your paper will flow, you can look up more sources to fill it out.

Step 5: When you’ve skimmed through all your material, cross-check your references to make sure each note card is linked to the right bibliography card. Arrange your note cards according to your outline (you may have to get it approved by your professor) so everything will be in order when you start writing.

Some useful tips

1. Use different colors for your note cards and bibliography cards to avoid mixing them up.
2. If you’re writing a very long paper, use slips of paper instead of index cards. They’re easier to carry around.
3. Be generous with research. Take down even the most remotely significant ideas—it’s easier to delete excess information than to run back to the library for information you missed.
4. If you come across a promising piece, make a hard copy and highlight significant points and passages.
5. Write your cards in ink. The cards will rub a lot as you work through them, and pencil marks will easily smudge.
6. Write only on one side of the card. You may need the back later for personal notes.
7. Learn how to condense and abbreviate while still being understandable. The key is to put as much information as possible in each card.
8. Bind cards with a round fastener instead of rubber bands or staples. It’s easier to leaf through them this way.
9. Make copies of your cards and keep them in a safe place. You don’t want to have to start over if you lose them.