There are several different ways to take notes and everyone has a preferred way. Have a look at the different styles and choose the one that suits you best.
Highlighting and Annotation
- Firstly read through the text and Highlight the main ideas or keywords . This can be on a printed piece of information using a highlighter or on a web page on the computer using www.scrible.com to highlight the main points.
- On your second read make notes on the text explaining why yopu highlighted what you did
Copy, Paste and Summarise
When researching online, a simple way to take notes is to copy and paste information, then summarise it in your own words. Try this approach:
- Separate a page into three columns of the same size
- In the first column note the bibliographic information or insert the citation if using Microsoft Word 10
- In the middle column paste the information from the webpage or the notes from your text
- In the last column, write down three or more points summarising the key ideas from the text you've pasted into the middle column. Also include questions, any observations, things you agree or disagree with, things you don't understand, related resources, relevance to the question, etc.
Online note-taking applications
You can create and save notes online using a range of free software, like Evernote. This means you can read and edit work anywhere you can access the Web.