How To Format Your Note Cards For students in Mr. Bowles’ classes

Introduction The following presentation offers suggestions on how to format your note cards, based on my experiences both as a student writing papers in high school, college, and graduate school and as a teacher assisting students through the research process over the years. I have found that following these steps helps the writer keep closer track of authors’ words, ideas, and sources. This helps to prevent against accidental plagiarism.

There are six “key” steps in formatting your note card. #3 #1 #2 #5 #4A #4B #6

Step 1: Source Code I suggest labeling your source and any note card containing information from that source with a circled number. The first source that you use becomes source #1, the next is source #2, etc. Some people like to color coordinate their sources, label them with letters instead of numbers, or draw shapes and symbols. I suggest using numbers because you have an infinite number from which to choose. Put this source code in the upper-right-hand corner

Your Sample Note Card After Step One 1

Step 2: Your Heading This is a phrase indicating what the particular notes on this card are about. This is usually different than the title of the source. You may have several headings from the same source depending on its length and scope. Think of your heading as one of the subcategories of your research paper outline (since this is going to be how the headings will be used later on in the project). You may want to hold off on this until after Step 4. Sometimes it is easier to come up with a heading after your notes have been written down on the card.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Two 1 Statistics on Prison Overcrowding

Step 3: A Code For The Type of Notes You Have Taken In the upper-left-hand-corner, you should circle an S, Q, or P to indicate what type of notes are contained on this card. An “S” indicates that this is a summary card. A summary should be in your own words and provide an overview of the section you read (think of this like a topic sentence for a paragraph of your paper dealing with this information). Summaries are at least 1/3rd the length of the information in the original text. A “Q” indicates that this is a direct quote card. This means you have copied the information word-for-word from your source. A “P” means that you have paraphrased the information by writing it in your own words. A paraphrase should be about the same length as the information in the original text.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Three Statistics on Prison Overcrowding 1

Step Four A: Taking Notes I suggest putting your source aside or turning it over while you write your summary and paraphrase cards to avoid unconsciously copying words and sentence structure. Compare your card to the original when you are done taking notes. When you are writing both direct quote and paraphrase cards, make sure to include brief biographical information about the speaker or person whose ideas you are restating (this may or may not be the author of the source). Doing this establishes this person as an expert and gives your information credibility. I suggest listing the biographical details below the notes that you have taken.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Four A 1 Statistics on Prison Overcrowding 172% increase in jail and prison populations since 1980 Ohio is at 180 percent capacity The federal prison system is 37% over capacity

Step Four B: Personal Memo Sometimes, when you are taking notes, there are thoughts running through your head that will be important to remember later on. This could be a note identifying a need to verify the information in another source, it could be a reminder of a follow-up angle to pursue, or it could be an idea for where this information might eventually appear in your paper. I suggest highlighting this “memo” note to yourself so that you don’t overlook it and so that you don’t confuse it with the other notes on your card.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Four B 1 Statistics on Prison Overcrowding 172% increase in jail and prison populations since 1980 Ohio is at 180 percent capacity The federal prison system is 37% over capacity This seems to be a student’s paper. The author doesn’t give his name, his email address is snapdad@mail.utexas.edu, which doesn’t sound too reliable, and he didn’t format his works cited properly. Make sure I try to retrace his research steps and give credit to the original sources in which this information appeared.

Step Five: Marking Page #s You need to record the specific page or paragraph number for each bulleted piece of information. This is especially important when you have information from several pages or paragraphs on the same note card. Write the page or paragraph number on the left side of the vertical line across from its corresponding bulleted information.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Five 1 Statistics on Prison Overcrowding 172% increase in jail and prison populations since 1980 Ohio is at 180 percent capacity The federal prison system is 37% over capacity This seems to be a student’s paper. The author doesn’t give his name, his email address is snapdad@mail.utexas.edu, which doesn’t sound too reliable, and he didn’t format his works cited properly. Make sure I try to retrace his research steps and give credit to the original sources in which this information appeared. ¶ 3

Step 6: Recording Where You Found Your Information The purpose of this last component is simply to aid you in relocating the information on any particular note card (in case you lose the hard copy of your source or you need to look at it again to determine the context or add to what you have already written. Any information on how you found the source could help in this regard in the future.

Your Sample Note Card After Step Six 1 Statistics on Prison Overcrowding 172% increase in jail and prison populations since 1980 Ohio is at 180 percent capacity The federal prison system is 37% over capacity - This seems to be a student’s paper. The author doesn’t give his name, his email address is snapdad@mail.utexas.edu, which doesn’t sound too reliable, and he didn’t format his works cited properly. Make sure I try to retrace his research steps and give credit to the original sources in which this information appeared. ¶ 3 Googled “Statistics on Prison Overcrowding” SHOULD HAVE ADDED WEB ADDRESS THOUGH. BECAUSE I CAN’T FIND IT NOW!

The 1-1-1-1 Rule It is important to remember the following: Only one source per card Only one heading per card Only one type of notes per card (Q, S, or P) Only one speaker per Q or P card

Other Suggestions I advise numbering your note cards to be able to keep track of them and identify them when it comes time to writing your outline. I suggest doing this on the back side of the note card so that it does not cause confusion among all of the other information listed on the front. I also suggest punching a hole in the corner of each note card and threading them on “O-ring” clips or rubber-banding your note cards by heading/section. Keep track of all of your note cards. Large manila envelopes work best. You will also need to keep track of all of your sources, so photocopy or print each one.