Research Using Notecards

What is a Notecard? Index card for notes & information from reference material 5 x 7 is preferred These note cards are your reminders of what you might include in your written report.

What to include on a Note card Bibliographical information Main ideas: Select & put in your own words Important statistics: Include these in notes

Remember…. Taking good notes is a very important part of researching. It is from this information that you will be writing your research paper. The more information that you gather and summarize on your notes cards, the easier your research paper will be to organize and write.

Hints for taking notes The more notes cards you have, the easier your report will be to write. Organize note cards by color or number. (Numbers go in upper left.) Write a heading or question at the beginning of the notes to notate the type of information on that card.

Summarize the information from the resource. Write down main ideas and facts. DO NOT copy word for word unless you plan to quote the author in your paper.

Make sure to write down the page number(s) where you find information, whether using a direct quotation or not. Write the page number for any charts or statistics. Make sure you have all reference information.

Bibliographical Information Needed for any reference that you use while researching. Include name of article, book, web site, etc. (May = 2 or 3 things) Include name of author. Include publisher, date, city, state, and pages used in the research process.

Books Name of author or authors (last name first) Title of book (Underlined if typing or writing & italicized if using computer) Place of publication (city and state Publisher Date of publication

Magazine Articles Name of author or authors (last name first) “Title of the article” (quotation marks) Name of magazine (italicized) Month and year of publication Page numbers of article

Encyclopedia Articles Title of encyclopedia (italicized) Date of edition (followed by “ed”) “Title of the subject” (quotation marks) Author’s name (if available)

CD-ROM Give all information available Author’s last name, first name “Article title” (quotation marks) Periodical title Title of database Name of vendor/company/or service Date (of publication)

Internet & Web Sites Provide the following categories of information. Author’s name (last, first) “Article title” Date posted (if available) Name of site Posted by.. Date accessed <URL address>