Video:How to Use Note Cards for Research
with Meghan Lynn AllenNote cards can save you time and stress when conducting research. Here's a video with some tips on how to properly organize your note cards and use them effectively to make your research project run smoothly.
Transcript:How to Use Note Cards for Research
Hi! This is Meghan Lynn Allen for About.com, and today we'll share some tips on how to use note cards for research.
Choose the Right Note Cards
Start with a fresh pack of notes. You want to make sure that all the note cards for the task are the same size and color if need be. You want to choose big, clear, lined cards for detailed notes, and you might want to consider color coding. If there are certain topics that fall within a larger topic that you're researching, you could use pink for one topic, blue for another, and so on.
One Note Card for One Idea
Devote an entire card to one idea or one note. Don't put two sources or two notes on the same piece of note card. You need to make sure that there's no sharing space, that there's one note to one card.
Number or Letter Your Note Cards to Save Time
As you're doing the research on your topic, you'll be citing many sources throughout the process, and numbering or lettering them. Be sure to include that number or letter in the top left hand corner of your research or note card. This will save you time later on in your research project, especially doing a large project when you need to cross-check, look up some facts, and compare them from card to card.
What Information Should You Include?
Include quotations around any information that comes directly from a source, or is a quote. And add brackets around any words that you add in yourself. Include everything. For each quote, you'll need to include the author's name; the title of the source or reference, book, article or interview, etc.; reference the publication information to include the publisher, date, place, year, issue or volume, and your own personal comments.
Don't Leave Any Research Information Out
And write everything down. Don't pass on information just because you think it may or may not be useful later. If you think it might be useful, include it. Those are usually those little cards that save you when you're writing a research paper.
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